I've had this wine three times in the last two weeks with similar results, including a Florida offline. I took no notes but feel that this special wine deserves to be reviewed. All of us who tried this in the last two weeks found none of the "alcoholic warmth" that caused Parker to rate this wine down to a 93. I found it very fruity with a light spritz and loads of crisp acidity to age, I'd go along wth the 93 rating for how the wine is drinking now, but I expect this to improve.

That review was by Rovani, not Parker. Thus, it should be taken not just with a grain of salt, but an entire salt lick.

I believe there's a reason that Rovani no longer reviews German wines, and it isn't because he's too busy.

You're right, of course. I have the habit of referring to any review from the WA as Parker. Rovani's review of this wine was over a year ago, so I suppose the wine may have changed a little, but "alcoholic warmth?" I don't know where he got that from.

That comment makes no sense to me. I do have to say that Rovani's ratings of German wines are not that bad although I stopped getting the WA a year ago.

Stemor, have you gotten any of the ***? It is a steal IMO.

I bought more of this wine than any other wine ever. 7 cases.

GATC,

I've completely missed the 2003's, and will probably also miss the coming few vintages regardless of how good they are.

We're not drinking many (young) Rieslings lately, instead holding them to mature at least a bit (since we have particularly enjoyed the 1975's that we picked up a few years ago, and now want to replicate that somewhat with the stash of 01's and '02).

I'm sitting on a little over 31 cases of these wines, many of which are stored in a dark corner of the bedroom, hoping to speed their maturity without subjecting them to extreme temperatures or wide temp variations. Having said that, though, I'm on "riesling probation", so not allowed to buy any more new releases for quite some time, until I can get my inventory down to something closer to reasonable.

Anybody need some '01 or '02 Spatlese or Auslese? I've got extras, particularly in the '02 Christoffel, Donnhoff, Leitz, Florian Weingart, & Gunderloch. I can't match Premier Cru's '03 prices, though.

I just tried the spatlese. It is also very good. Stemor, you need to get offsite storage. I'm renting a walk-in for $99 that can easily store 2,000 bottles. Much better deal than the 36 case locker that cost around $60.

Where do you rent a walk-in for $99? I would have expected about twice that price.

-Al

I use a place in Walnut Creek (I think the name is Price). Of course the bad part is that I filled it 1,500 bottles in about a year. When I had the 36 case locker (same location) and my home wine cellar was full, it did discourage me from buying wines. If you want to know more about this place, I'll look up the details.

Yep, had to pop one tonight over at good ol' Trader Vics. Definitely no heat at all - this was a real crowd pleaser even with the non-winos. Fruity, with a touch of acidity and sweet. Probably too sweet for what I was having - this would have done fine on its own. Time to hit up PC again!

WD

Give this wine 15 years and it will be great with savory preparations (e.g. herbed chicken or pork).

I have 79 bottles remaining. A few may make it that far.

Wow. I thought I liked Christoffel.

He had 84 just a week or two ago

As to the quantity, that's what a PremierCru blowout sale will do to ones cellar.

Yes, Germany went from 1% to 4% in my cellar after that sale. LOL.

LOL. Too good to resist for us addicts

I've never bought from one of those PC sales. Maybe someday.

Everyone should know that I am not a fan of PC before (since I got the short end three times before), but this is a fantastic deal. I've bought 25 cases (or is it 30?) from this blowout and every bottle that I've had (12-15) have been what I expected (and I expect a lot from Christoffel). I've saved over $3,000 in Xmas gifts for people that work for me buy giving out the spatlese instead of gift certificates or Harry and David packs and I have gotten many compliments on the wine (mainly non wine drinkers).

For me, this is not an opportunity to be missed is you are a German riesling lover. I know that I bought 11 cases of the *** (10.5 left) and I have this funny feeling that it is not going to last very long in my cellar, so I need to get more this weekend (I'd better order online since this will go first). If I don't I know I will regret it. I have to say that the *** is a little too sweet now. I served a 2002 ET** after it and that wine was singing and showed that the 2003 UW*** really needed time.

I think it's great now and I just stuck another one in the refrigerator. It's a great wine for taking to dinner since the low alcohol (7.5%) is better when people have to drive afterwards.

Board-O, is it great now. We drank a bottle over a fairly long period of time and I think it got too warm at the end. When I opened the 2002 ET** straight out of the frig, the contrast made me think that it was too sweet now.

I just ordered 5 more cases. It is 1/3rd of the price of the 5 cases of 2004 Christoffels (mix of UV spatlese, auslese* and auslese**) all of less quality that I paid through the old distribution system. Even the 2003 UW auslese* at PC is $9 more per bottle. This is insanity. I think this is a case where the deal is too good to be true so people are leery.