I attended a tasting of 24 VDP estates from MSR & Nahe at the residence of the German Ambassador to Britain this afternoon, and it seems clear that 2005 is yet another very fine vintage, perhaps one of the very best. There were 94 wines to be tasted, and while I didn't sample them all, I did taste well over half, but I must admit I saw little evidence of heavy botrytis, though many did have a very fine acidity indeed. Going through 24 tables, often from a Kabinett to a GKA and then starting with a Kabinett again at the next table isn't really my favourite way of tasting, but it was really the only practical way of organising it. One thing this method of tasting did bring out very powerfully is just how much each weingut's style varies from the next, and just how much influence this has on the wine, which is massive. Most of the winemakers or estate owners were there in person, including some very famous names indeed. The Fritz Haag wines were very good, as were the Scloss Lieser wines, Dr. Loosen also impressed, and of course JJ Prum and Wegeler, whose 2004 Bernkasteler Doktor eiswein was as utterly spectacular as eiswein (especially from this vineyard) should be. For me though the star of the show was Forstmeister Geltz Zilliken, whose 2005's have immense concentration, on a level I've only seen a few wines approach over the last 25 years. Very impressive indeed.
Richard Vernon.