GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
 | | 03/18/2006 12:07 AM |
| The one star is usually the one that sells out first (getting any of the 2001's was a huge challenge) and this and the Erdener Treppchen auslese** are usually my favorite.
I have to say that the 2004's that I've tried (actually I have only had the UW spatlese and the one star) do remind me more of the 2001's. The 2003's, which are richer, riper, fuller and sweeter, have offset my palate since I have really enjoyed a couple of cases of the 2003's from the PC blowout. Therefore, the 2004's at first seem tart (even the one star). But after several glasses, I get adjusted to this and really start to appreciate the balance and the every changing flavors. What really attracted me to Christoffels in the beginning is the purity of the white fruit flavors that seem to explode and the balance of the acid with the sweetness which seems like a shifting from tart to sweet back to tart. I have to say that this is a beautiful wine and the reason that I love Christoffels in particular and Mosels in general. But I have to say that the 2003's have spoiled me in a way where I feel like I am drinking a BA for $15.99 (the 2003 UW***). It will be interesting to see if there will be a dumping of 2004's 6 months from now. This wine is worth getting, but I don't want to buy a lot only to see it come in for huge discount later on. It is nice to see a string of good-great vintages from Germany. I guess there is an upside to global warming. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 03/18/2006 1:13 AM |
| | Loved the notes, but PC has spoiled me. I'm looking for similar bargains to the '03 blowout now. | | | |
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GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
| | 03/19/2006 2:19 AM |
| | Me too. It may not happen but I do have over 70 cases of Christoffel and 50 cases of other German rieslings to tide me over. Plus I figure that I can still go back to PC for another month or two for the 2003's. | | | |
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Claret
Reno, NV
Grape Sorter
Posts:249
| | 03/19/2006 2:51 AM |
| | You have over 120 cases of German Riesling? Wow, that is a lot of schnitzel. More like a tidal wave to me, but certainly in a good way. | | | |
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GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
| | 03/19/2006 3:01 AM |
| | Considering that I only had a few cases before the 2001's came out, I think I went kind of nuts. The 40 cases from the PC 2003 Christoffel blow out really tipped the scale. But the deal is so good that a case of spatlese costs a much as a fairly good CA cab and the auslesen (** and ***) cost as much as a high end CA cab, so it was pretty easy to go crazy. Plus these wines really age well. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 03/19/2006 4:46 AM |
| GATC is a sick little puppy! Ain't puppies cute? | | | |
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GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
| | 03/19/2006 8:09 AM |
| | I just had the 2003 spatlese again tonight after having the 2004 spatlese a few days before. Now that I have had them back to back, I have to agree with Rieslingfan about the 2004 being more traditional. I had previously compared it to the 2004 auslese* but there is no comparison even though it may be similar in weight and sweetness. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Master of Wine
Posts:11169
| | 03/19/2006 1:26 PM |
| | We had the '03 *** again last night. Fantastic wine and wonderfully consistent. I can find no bottle variation whatsoever in the first 13 bottles we've tried. | | | |
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GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
| | 03/20/2006 8:52 PM |
| Glad to hear. I have only had the *** 5-6 times and it was consistently good each time. I have had the spatlese about the same amount of time and I go between loving it and thinking that it could be a little shy on the acid. Having the 2004 earlier probably made me think that it could use more.
Just as well since I was kicking myself for not buying more of the spatlese even though I did buy 8 of the 500 cases. I think I am down to 1 bottle. I know I will be kicking myself when the *** runs out. 13 cases is just not enough. | | | |
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