Browse Tag

riesling

Riesling rising

[bottle]Rosemount 2005 Riesling (South Eastern Australia) – Full of varietal character, and quite drinkable in a pinch, but there’s nothing else to add to that description. It’s basically dry, with the usual high Aussie acidity scraping any remaining sugar from every interior surface, and the finish is a bit abrupt. Still, one can do a lot worse in the Rosemount stable. (8/07)

JP II

JP&JF Becker 2001 Riesling Kronenbourg (Alsace) – A composite note. The first bottle is advanced, with creamier and more oxidative notes in concert with a quartzy mineral spice and flashing whiteness, while the second bottle is much more along expected lines, with firm malic acidity and a fresh, glacial wash over white rocks. Well-stored and with cork intact, this has years yet to go. (7/07)

JP I

JP&F Becker 2005 Riesling (Alsace) – All the riesling notes are here, but they’re vague and tentative, and there’s neither intensity nor elegance, polish nor verve. Becker’s quite capable of interesting, terroir-revelatory rieslings, but at the lower end things are weaker than they should be. This is insubstantial and diffuse, and I doubt it’s going to improve either. (7/07)

Sparrs and stripes

[label]Sparr 2001 Riesling Schoenenbourg “Grand Cru” (Alsace) – A softening sweetness can’t detract from the pure terroir on display here: crushed white flowers, a little chalk, a rounded and polished core that tails off a bit on the finish. Classic and ageworthy, though there’s definitely that sugar to contend with. (9/07)

Hair N. Wegg

[herrenweg de turckheim]Barmès Buecher 2004 Riesling Herrenweg de Turckheim (Alsace) – The Herrenweg de Turckheim isn’t my favorite site, especially for riesling, because the wines from there are far too often wishy-washy, lacking the nerve and precision that make riesling distinctive. There’s a soft, floral aspect to the wines that, typically, falls flat in the glass, or even under the influence of a stern gaze. Kudos to Barmès Buecher, then, for marrying the expected aromatics to a firmer structure than is typical. It’s not so much crisp or brittle as it is sandpapery, and so, texturally, this is somewhat unusual, but it may be the best possible mitigation of this site’s natural tendencies. Also of note: the wine is markedly dry, so those used to a dollop of sugar (or its more abrasive cousin, ponderous alcohol) may want to keep that in mind. (9/07)

Squished Dionysus (Alsace, pt. 7)

[andlau]30 March 2006 – Andlau, France

Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss – One of the major proponents of biodynamism in Alsace, Kreydenweiss doesn’t get the press or acclaim of some of his fellow practitioners. But he is an evangelist, constantly pushing the soil-revelatory aspects of his agricultural practices, and any visitor to their tasting room will receive at least a short lecture (including rocky props) on the soil types of the Andlau-area vineyards, which are myriad.

We’re received at the door by Marc, but it’s his son Antoine that conducts our tasting. In retrospect, I wonder if there might not be a reason.

(Continued with photos, an in-depth tasting at Kreydenweiss, and a rather remarkable lunch, here.)

Ready, willing, Abel (New Zealand, pt. 44)

[inlet]One adventure awaits. Just one more commune with nature, before we jet off to Sydney and the bustle of the urban life. We don’t know what we’ll find there. There’s more to do here, of course…wine tasting, food, perhaps even a restful afternoon on a beach. But on a trip punctuated by the relentless beauty of the wild and framed by its inexorable seduction, this is the final chapter.

But first, we have to get there.

(Continued, with tons of photos and an instruction manual on how to catch a taxi in a place with no roads, here.)

TN: Jabba the Hütte

[vineyard]von Hövel 2003 Oberemmeler Hütte Riesling Eiswein * 12 04 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Butterscotch and vanilla, layered with thick maple syrup. The acidity barely rises to fair, and that only on the finish. Too obvious for my tastes, and I’m not sure time will help matters. (6/07)

Benedict Loosen-Erben 1990 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese *** 003 92 (Mose-Saar-Ruwer) – Still strong, showing sugar over old waffles, plus ripe apple lending a bit of lift. (6/07)

[vine]Karlsmühle 2002 Lorenzhöfer Riesling Auslese 15 03 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Extreme intensity in liquid form. Very sweet, dominated by pineapple, but just way too forceful to really enjoy right now. Revisit in a decade, at the earliest. (6/07)

Zilliken 2002 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese 5 03 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Sulfurous, with great acidity buoying graceful lavender notes. However, the palate is absent and the finish is shockingly abrupt. A sulfur artifact? Or mild TCA? Hard to tell in this setting. (6/07)

TN: Hune are you?

Trimbach 1995 Riesling Clos Ste-Hune (Alsace) – 375 ml. This bottle’s off, showing flat, waxy oxidation and few of the qualities that make CSH special. (6/07)

TN: Oberhäus, in the middle of our street

Dönnhoff 2001 Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett 004 02 (Nahe) – Ripe apple with some steel. Simple and tart on the finish. This seems to be eroding rather than aging, as predicted by many…as if a protective layer of pleasure were being sand-etched from an archeaological structure. (6/07)