Browse Tag

riesling

02 arena

Trimbach 2002 Riesling (Alsace) – Doing way better than the 2001 regular, which is a little surprising, but perhaps bodes well for the domaine wines from this vintage, which were not as trifurcated as they were in 2001. Metal, melting and molten, over coal, lead, and a chilly magma core. In other words, the usual mineral-fest. Quite appealing, but I wouldn’t hold it longer than the days necessary to drink what’s left. (10/10)

Trimbach 2002 Riesling (Alsace) – Not as intact as my previous bottle, and I’m quite happy to be near the end of what was once a considerable stash. Very acidic, and while there’s molten steel, there has been considerable erosion thereof, leading to a core that’s mostly just puckering. (11/10)

Expensive balls

Karl Joh. Molitor 2008 Hattenheimer Riesling Spätlese 0013 09 (Rheingau) – Heavy, sticky (this feels far sweeter than it probably is), ponderous, dull. Really uninteresting. (10/10)

Wally

Karp-Schreiber 2008 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 10 09 (Mosel) – Sprightly dandelion wine with dusty minerals. Lemongrass, hibiscus, and bergamot. Simple, but of decent length. Whatever this wine is going to do, it’s not doing it yet. (10/10)

Owl service

Zind-Humbrecht 2001 Riesling Herrenweg de Turckheim (Alsace) – Somewhere in here, there’s a finely-poised, iron-rich, balanced expression of riesling. Unfortunately, it’s layered in lush coverlets of velour and gravity. Not, as ZH’s wines go, at all bad. Quite nice, actually. But way too heavy for its inherent presence. (10/10)

Clause

Trimbach 2001 Riesling “Réserve” (Alsace) – Vibrant, striking, and à point. Steel and iron driven into a spike, then speared through metal-jacketed apples. Mineralistic, austere, and wonderful. Such a difference when Trimbach controls the grapes, vs. the regular yellow label. Mature, but there’s no particular hurry, and a fantastic preview of what’s going to be (actually, already is) unbelievable quality from the top 2001 rieslings at Trimbach. (10/10)

Trimbach 2001 Riesling (Alsace) – Very tenuous, barely clinging to a flaky, eroded metallic life. Drink up by the end of 2007. (Oops!) (10/10)

The knife

Sipp Mack 2007 Riesling “Vieilles Vignes” (Alsace) – Juicy. There’s a certain softness to this bottling that carries though vintages, but the modulating acidity is almost always just enough to keep it fresh. This is young enough that its minerality, bare-boned and stark, still lies beneath primary layers of ground cover. Give it some time in the cellar; a few years, maybe. (9/10)

One Sipp at a time

Sipp Mack 2004 Riesling “Vieilles Vignes” (Alsace) – Soft minerality, just barely enough acidity to compensate, and a wide, planar texture. Quite fair. (9/10)

Episode 4

New Hope Riesling (Pennsylvania) – Identifiably of its variety, with the over-reliance on goop and stick so common to off-region versions fully present. A little green, a little herbal, and a little woody (akin to a woody apple’s texture, I mean, not oak). Not entirely bad, and quite drinkable, but the “for a Pennsylvania riesling” contextualization applies. (8/10)

Brown meat patty

Fritz Haag 2002 Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett 0 03 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Ever more cylindrical and starting to dust up, which is a quality I like to find in riesling as it ages. A little more confident than the last bottle, which suggests gradual emergence into a more interesting stage. (8/10)

Please, Ammerschwihr, don’t hurt ’em

Binner 2007 Riesling Vignoble d’Ammerschwihr (Alsace) – I’ve neither always nor long been a fan of Binner’s idiosyncratic and, in the past, flaw-ridden approach to winemaking. Recent tastings, as they accumulate, are making me think that whatever they needed to learn, they’ve come pretty close to learning it. These are still unlike most wines in the region, and of course there are both good and bad aspects to intentional atypicity. As for this particular wine, some will immediately dismiss it as oxidized. And it’s not without the influence of same, for sure, but when used judiciously it can achieve a layering, enveloping effect rather than just a deadening, en-stale-ing one. As it does here. The minerality is decidedly salty and yet molten, lacking the shine and brilliance of more conventionally-produced riesling, and yet what fruit is discernable is jacketed in an array of ferric armor. More acid wouldn’t be unwelcome, but the wine’s fine as it is. Finishes as melting coal. Very interesting. Whether or not it’s “good” will depend on the proclivities of the taster, though it would be a shame if this became the dominant expression of Alsatian riesling. But I’m intrigued. (8/10)