I will post individual tasting notes for each wine later, but I wanted to summarize the whole riesling flight in one place. Our monthly BAWE tasting was another success. We had 17 people even though we had a few last minute dropouts. Although we have varied wine experience, it is amazing how some of the people can pick out a wine in a blind tasting. JS and JO both picked out the 97 and 99 Cinq Cepages, and I heard Eric White correctly identified the Montebello. Fortunately I was able to identify the 1 Australian riesling (actually I think every one did) and I did get 4 of the 6 correctly, but got badly fooled by the Prum.

The line-up:
2001 J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese (Mosel) $28.00
2001 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermanshohle Spatlese (Nahe) WA98, +++, $39.95
2001 J.J. Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Auslese (Mosel), ++, $29.95
2001 Muller-Catoir Haardter Burgergarten (2134) Spatlese (Pfalz), +++, $31.99
2001 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Spatlese (Mosel), $29.95
2000 Leeuwin Estate Artist Series Margaret River (Australia), $20.00

The voting was pretty close between first and second and third and fourth, but the ranking came out as listed above. My ranking was the Christoffel 1st, Muller-Catoir 2nd. Going back 2 hours later to sample the leftovers, I would then give the Muller-Catoir the edge, but all 5 of the German rieslings were showing exceptionally well after 2-3 hours in the decanter - much better than when we did the flight (about 1/2 hour after decanting). The Leeuwin should not feel bad coming in last because it was facing the best of the best from the best year since 1971.

The Prum fooled me because it is notorious for being sprizy (remaining CO2) and can have petroly nose (which it did big time). But the color was pretty dark for a Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr (generally one of the lightest wines), and the flavors were very strong. This wine is notorious for showing poorly for the first 5-7 years in a good year and showing well early in bad and mediocre years. Once the petroly nose blew off, it was showing extremely well.

The biting acidity on all 5 German rieslings during the first hours was almost like experiencing tannin or alum. But it is great to see this because it will balance the great fruit. The nose on the Christoffel and Muller-Catoir were heavenly. Hours later, there were even better, if that is possible.

Another thing that hit me was the Donnhoff really evolved during the 3-4 hours. It has a good nose, but it started out flabby. Then hours later, the acidity kicked in. There is a minerality to a Donnhoff that is interesting because it seems to evolve during the tasting. Terry Theise considers Donnhoff the most complex wine in the world. Tasting it over a 3-4 hour period, you can get a feel for what he means. Very interesting wine - sometimes it has the Nahe mineral base, then at times it has the Mosel-like cleanness and purify of fruit. The Fritz Haag is generally a bigger Mosel and probably did not show well because of this.

We should not be touching these Germans for about 7-8 years, but it was really great to try them. Although we had some exceptional wines in the next two flights (many highly rated WS and WA wines), it was treat for me to go back hours later to sample the leftover rieslings.

Thanks for posting this GATC, excellent notes. This was a real treat for me, as I don't have much experience with German Rieslings. The only one of the six I correctly identified was the Leeuwin, which was quite distinctive compared to the others - and the only one that was totally dry. For the rest, I didn't have enough experience to even attempt to guess which was which, but to my palate the Prum stood out clearly as the best of the lineup.

excellent notes gatc. i may be able to get my hands on the donnhoff. were you surprised it did not show better, or should we atribute that to its youth?

One thing to remember when ranking the Leeuwin last, tasting a single bone dry wine amongst five wines that all have evident sweetness means that the dry wine (whatever it might be) will not taste good because it does not have any sugar in it. After five Rieslings, you could pour a DRC Montrachet and it will taste relatively sour (and therefore bad) because it does not have any sugar in it.

Jones, that is very true. I'm sure that impacted some of the tasters. Fortunately, as it turned out, the Leeuwin was the first one served. This was a stoke of luck since I asked Sonia to mix up the wines and number them. Since we only had one glass, we just went down the line so at least most of the people tasted this first and didn't taste it after that. Even with this, it would have been much better to have wines that had similar dryness/sweetness. The Leeuwin was the only non-German riesling that I had so I thought it would be educational to throw it in.

ojeffso, it was way too early to drink all of these wines. There is no doubt in my mind that the Hermanshohle is a "must buy". It has the potential to be the most interesting wine of the vintage. If nothing else, it is a wine that you can easily flip. But, I was blown away with the Muller-Catoir Haardter Burgergarten 2134. I have a little over 2 cases, but I'm going to see if I can get more. The first note I put down was a "great nose". 3-4 hours later, it was even better. Someone said that few estates reach the great heights of Muller-Catoir and that wine certainly showed it. I think it is safe to say that all of the Germans has sufficient acid to balance any perceived sweetness.

In a way, I was surprised by the J.J. Prum winning. I've always enjoyed the Prum and if someone asked for a recommendation, I would always suggest the J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr. They make a fine wine even in a bad year. But in a great year like 2001, they don't show well at all early on. And it had an awful petroly nose in the beginning, that fortuntaely blew off quickly. It was also fairly dark (normally it looks like water) and richly colored. Fortunately, I bought another case friday right after I got the email from the Wine Club. I called first thing this morning and it was all gone. I went to pick it up at lunch and the guy said that he could have sold 20 cases right after the email went out and they only got 2. Luckily they email after 6pm and I think I'm the only one still working.

For me, the bottom line is that there are dozens of 2001 rieslings that are so good, that it almost difficult to go wrong with any of them. People pay a premium for Fritz Haag, and it came in 5th. I was reading Bill Mayer's latest brochure last night and he is offering the Berkasteller Docktor (Weneger), the most expensive (and usually overpriced) wine because this year the quality finally caught up with the high price ($45 for a spatlese). I would have thought the Christoffel would have won easily, especially since it was an auslese. I was the only one to vote it first. Based on the Kabinett and Terry's and Bill Mayers' comments, I know that it will be intense down the road.

Gotta go - I have to sign the papers for my electric car.

Jones -
I completely agree. I actually really liked the Leeuwin, and it so happens I tasted it first - before any of the others with RS. Ranking it last was not because it was bad, but it was up against a stellar German lineup.