This is part 1 of my wine notes. If any of the narrative seems disjointed it's because I took the notes out of a longer travelogue. I also have Nahe, Rheinhessen and Rheingau notes.
MONCHOF/CHRISTOFFEL
2002 J. J. Christoffel Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese
Apple and slate aromas. There’s only the barest hint of strawberry, but when the wine warms up some the spice notes kick in. There’s lots of fruit flavor on the palate, but overall the wine seems a touch flat. It had been opened the prior day, but that’s usually not an issue with Mosel Riesling (IME).
2002 J. J. Christoffel Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese *
A step up in concentration, with strawberry chiffon aromas and very floral, spicy flavors on the palate. It’s creamy in texture, but not even close to the wild creaminess of the 2001 version. Excellent wine, but my judgment is still clouded by the 2001s.
2002 J. J. Christoffel Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese **
Very intense minerals. It’s almost salty. Lots of apple and lime flavors and solid cleansing acidity. Very fine.
At this point we discuss some aspects of the Christoffel wines. According to Emayel, he and Christoffel make the wines together. Hans-Leo also offers advice on the Mönchof wines. I ask about the Treppchen Auslese **, as it seems odd to only have a 2-star wine and no 0-star wine. According to Emayel that’s the way it’s always done, and that’s the way it will stay. Anything not good enough for a 2-star goes into the Spätlese.
Our last wine is one from Emayel’s own estate.
2002 Mönchof Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese GK
Citrus, spice, melon and minerals on the nose and palate. Rich and more mouthfilling than the Christoffel wines, with a very long, spicy finish. Excellent wine, and the best wine I’ve had from the Mönchof estate.
VOLLENWEIDER
Weingut Vollenweider is extraordinarily small. Daniel makes only about 900 cases from parcels in the Wolfer Goldgrube. It’s a fine site, as evidenced by the fact that he makes both fine trocken and lieblich wines from the same vineyard.
2002 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese Trocken
Very Mosel. Apples and slate permeate the nose and palate. It’s also relatively rich, especially for a Mosel trocken, and I comments that it seems more like an Austrian dry wine in weight. (This was the first in a series of fine trocken wines we would try during our visits.)
2002 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese Feinherb
Slightly off-dry (32 g/l residual sugar), with a bit of a salty note. Limes and apples color this slightly chalky-feeling wine. It’s a wonderful wine that would be great as an aperitif or with fish or chicken. For what it’s worth, Feinherb is an only loosely regulated term. It’s a pseudo replacement for Halbtrocken, but with higher (but not formal) limits on residual sugar.
2000 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Kabinett
Honey, pinmeapple and prickly botrytis notes. Very rich texture, but tastes quite evolved. There’s a lot of botrytis influence here. Interesting wine, but not one that fits a Kabinett frame.
2002 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Kabinett
Smells just like ripe Golden Delicious apples. Slight leesy aroma as well. Sweet, ripe and still has a touch of the chalky sensation of the Feinherb.
2002 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese AP#3
Apples, lime, slate and a terrific intensity on the palate. It’s quite sweet, but not cloying, and the acids are bright, so the wine finishes clean. This is excellent. We start discussing analytical figures at this point (Daniel asks me to guess residual sugar. I guess 68 grams, with the actual being 72.) The ripeness of this wine is into the Auslese range, but not too far (92 öchsle), with good acidity (9.3 g/l) to make a fine balance for exceptional Spätlese.
Interestingly, Vollenweider is the only place where we discuss analytical details in any depth.
2002 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese AP#4
Subtly different from the AP#3. It’s a softer wine, and while the flavor profiles are very similar there’s not as much life as in the Spätlese #3. The finish is also not as persistent.It turns out to have slightly higher sugar and slightly lower acid. I sound like I’m damning this wine, but it’s a very good Spätlese. It’s just that the #3 was extraordinary.
Daniel also bottles separate parcels of the Wolfer Goldgrube. His 2002 output includes small lots from sections called “Portz”, “Padauer” and “Reiler.” Little stickers grace the bottle necks (he’s not allowed to put the parcel names on the labels) to differentiate the three wines. There’s also a parcel known as "Gelbeweide," but it’s in the Spätlese #4. These parcel bottlings are not a total affectation, as they are all distinctly different from one another, as well as distinct from the blended wines.
2002 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese “Portz” AP#5
Leans more towards the tropical than any of Daniels other wines. Fantastic persistence at the back of the throat. It’s not as big a wine as the #3 Spätlese, but it has just as much flavor interest. I’m glad this is a separate bottling, as the tropical flavors would be in opposition to the other wines. On it’s own I love it. So does Laura, so we end up buying some of this (among other things).
2002 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese “Padauer” AP#7
The most honeyed and floral of all the Spätlesen. Also the softest, and it turns out to have the least acid of all the wines (except the auslese). There’s still some tropical flavors, but nowhere near the level of the Portz.
2002 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese “Reiler” AP#6
A little more zing than the Padauer. More of the Mosel-typical apple flavors and less of the tropical notes. The closest in profile to the wild ride of the Spätlese #3, but not quite as sweet, and with a finishing dash of lovely honeysuckle. In flavor the most complex of the bunch.
Alas that we can’t ship wine home. It would be great to have a mixed case or two of the five Spätlesen to compare and contrast. We’ll have to see what we can scrounge up on the open market.
Daniel is unhappy with the performance of an open bottle of Auslese that he brings out. So he offers us a brief cellar tour as part of fetching another bottle. He certainly has room to grow. The old stone building that he occupies has room for a winery ten times the size. It’s a fascinating building, with bare rock as the back wall. Water drips from the walls and ceilings (even in this drought year), and tiny stalactites are forming on the ceiling. Come back in 10,000 years, and Vollenweider will be offering cave tours.
With auslese in hand we go back to the world of light. Clouds are gathering for the first time on our trip, and it looks ominously like rain may be headed our way.
2002 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Auslese
This smells like honey-coated lemons. It’s very soft, and tastes like a baked Cortland apple, with all the brown sugar it can handle. It’s a very sweet wine, with delicious flavors, but not enough zing for my palate preferences. (I move back to the Feinherb, Spätlese #3 and “Portz”.)
SELBACH-OSTER
2002 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken
Based on minerals, with lime and apple aromas. Has a taste of a slightly underripe peach.
2002 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett
Very delicate. Fruity and light and with a touch of bitter vanilla on the finish.
2002 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Kabinett
Richer than the Wehlener. Lots of minerals, and fresh apple fruit. Still a slight hint of bitterness on the finish, but in this wine it comes across as a cleansing bitterness.
2002 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese
Very intense. This wine is really singing. Lots of lime flavors and stony background. Very delicious. This is the 2002 S-O wine that is showing the best right now.
2002 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
Closed. There’s lots of material here, and some citrus flavors come out to play, but it’s really a closed book. Very tough to judge. There’s not the fat and richness in the 2002s that was present in the Selbach 2001s, and the bones are showing right now.
2002 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese*
Not showing as much as the regular Spätlese. Very dense, but closed. Phillip comments at this point that many of the wines are not showing well, but that the Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese (the regular one) is just fantastic. We agree.
2002 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
Ripe and creamy. Smells and tastes like a lime cream pie. It’s still not showing a lot of what it has to give, but the texture is wonderful.
Hans Selbach had joined us during the Spätlesen, and so we relay the story of how we became German wine enthusiasts. It was back in 1996 when some friends invited us to a dinner where we would try German wines. Each couple was assigned a pradikat, and we were given auslese. Since I knew nothing about German wine I bought a bottle based on some rather odd criteria. In the shop was a bottle of auslese. It was the only one of it’s kind on the rack. I figured that if all the other bottles of this wine had been purchased then it must be pretty good, so I grabbed it. At the dinner it blew us away. We were hooked on German wine after that experience. The wine: 1995 Selbach-Oster Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese. Herr Selbach disappears briefly. He returns with a ½ bottle and pours around the table. Please guess what this is.
Well I once again fumbled on blind tasting. My immediate reaction on tasting was that it was a 1995, but I took that back (as I too often do) and gave the Selbachs credit for impeccable storage conditions. I eventually settled on 1985, because there was lots of fruit, but also some fine secondary character: smokiness, a more creamy mouthfeel and some soft honey flavors. Well of course it was a 1995, the 1995 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese*.
ST. URBANS-HOF
2002 Estate Riesling QbA
Very clean and clear on the nose, with lemony fruit, but also a thicker note perhaps from clay soils. The flavors start out very much in a lemony vein, but as the wine warms it becomes spicier and shows more breadth. Very solid fruit finish. Fine QbA.
1990 Wiltinger Schlangengraben Riesling Kabinett
We’re served this wine from an open bottle with no label, just some illegible, faded chalk markings. There’s a very pretty leafy note and green apple and smoke aromatics and flavors. The mouthfeel is quite creamy. Very fresh for a 13 year-old Kabinett.
1997 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Kabinett
Intense white peach aromas and flavors. Just starting to show some smoky notes. Very rich flavors and surprisingly vibrant acidity for a 1997. Nik thinks 1997 is an excellent vintage, and I’m not about to argue with him here. This is a lovely drink.
2002 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Spätlese
Peach, cherry, pear and apple aromas (fruit cocktail!) with fine acid balance on the palate. Great depth, but not heaviness. This is a true Spätlese, not thick, but showing the true flavors of late harvest with no botrytis or over ripeness. Truly excellent wine.
1997 Wiltinger Schlangengraben Riesling Spätlese
The cassis leaf note is back again, along with green apple, but a riper pear flavor. This is quite sweet, and starting to develop secondary flavors, but needs a couple of more years to my taste. I would like to see more secondary development.
At this point Nik is very surprised when we ask to taste their “trocken” wines. He also seems pleased, which is a good thing. So at this point he goes out, and comes back with two wines that display only a vineyard name on the label. These are in effect Spätlese Trocken, but without that designation. It’s meant to make things easier for the consumer, but we have a brief discussion about the issues of marketing these wines in the USA, and the expectations of a German wine from an American consumer. Nik is pleased that we’re so well informed on their philosophy on these wines, and for that we have to thank David Schildknecht’s excellent writing on the subject.
2002 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling
Hazelnut and leafy green aromas on the nose. Crisp lemony flavors, with properly balanced acids. This would be perfect with a lightly sauced fish, but is not at all austere on its own.
2001 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling
Very crisp apple aromas that remind me of a Macintosh or Macoun. There’s also a pepperiness to the aromatics and flavors that make me think of an Austrian wine. Very penetrating, and my thoughts are of the wine being like glass. Everything is clean and clear but there is significant substance even though one can see through it. This is one of the finest trocken Rieslings I have tasted.
2002 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling
This is a similar wine to the ’01, but it’s showing a bit yeasty/leesy right now, and as such I put it aside until later. After some time the fermentative aromas back off to reveal greener apple flavors than the 2001, but the same peppery flavors. Needs time.
1999 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Spätlese
Black currant and peach aromas. Excellent framing acidity that makes me guess (it was blind) 1998 rather than the soft 1999 vintage. There’s a tropical aspect to the flavors (mango?) and the flavors are persistent but not syrupy or heavy.
2002 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Spätlese
Very floral on the nose. Honeysuckle, lilac, cassis leaf and white peach are apparent on the nose and the palate is very minerally and clean. Well balanced, and it’s a refreshing wine that’s not at all light.
We break off here for a few minutes to discuss the great success that St. Urbans-Hof is having with Kabinett and Spätlese wines. We compliment Nik on making wines that exceed the expectations of their pradikat in terms of depth and complexity, but are also faithful to the expectations and profile of that pradikat. This is a subject that Nik is very interested in, and we spend quite a bit of time talking about declassification, and what kind of style boundaries possibly need to exist in order to give the pradikat system greater meaning in the face of ever-riper grapes. “Just declassifying an Auslese to Spätlese is not always the right thing to do” Nik says. “A Spätlese must be a Spätlese. There needs to be some kind of upper limit to preserve the integrity of the pradikat.” I tell Nik about a Spätlese that we have in our cellar that is legally Beerenauslese. It’s a dessert wine, but not labeled as such. Nik thinks the VDP needs to discuss declassification and its effects on pradikat designations. I wish I could be a fly on the wall.
Back to the wines, we move on to the higher pradikats.
2001 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Auslese
Mouthfilling intensity of fruit, but tastes drier than most auslesen I have tried. Tastes like a fresh fruit salad with a touch of exotic spice and terrific acidity. This is not just great Auslese, but great wine.
1997 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Auslese
Similarly to the other 1997s Nik has served to us, this is just starting to develop some secondary nuances. Very floral and sweet with the beginnings of a smoky tone around the edges. It’s almost as if we’re drinking the wine outside on a cool evening, and the scent of a far of wood fire is blowing our way.
1994 Wiltinger Schlangengraben Riesling Auslese
Smells just like wildflower honey. Pineapple and cashew nuts with a brown sugar coating on the palate. There’s only 10-20% botrytis in this wine according to Nik.
Fritzi (the family hund) has been doing laps most of this time. He goes out one door, and comes back in another. After a few minutes of rest he goes to a door to be let out and then comes back in again. He’s very well behaved and quiet about it (well behaved dogs were the rule in Germany), and that makes it even more fun to watch.
Nik heads out one more time and returns with a treasure.
1990 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Eiswein
Horseradish, caramel, brown spice, and honey aromas jump out of the glass. It’s fresh and racy on the palate, with apple pie and honeysuckle flavors. Very clean finish without being biting from acidity. It’s a zero botrytis Eiswein, and wonderfully fresh for 13 years old. It’s a privilege to drink this wine.
After tasting through the entire range, Nik tells us to try some or all of the wines again. We’ve worked through them relatively quickly, so that there can be time to compare and contrast them as a group. I spend some time with the “Spätlese Trocken” wines, and they continue to impress me, even after drinking dessert wines.
RHEINHOLD HAART
Theo Haart has a small tasting room in his home along the banks of the Mosel. Luckily for him there is a small, but steep bank that prevents serious flooding in all but the wettest years (e.g. 1993). Our quick discussion of floods leads into a question about the prior night’s rain, and Herr Haart says that it was not a problem. His plans for starting the Riesling harvest on 9/30 or 10/1 have not changed.
In the interest of time we immediately start tasting wines.
2002 Haart to Heart Riesling
Crisp, flinty and refreshing. Just slightly off dry.
2002 Dhronhofberger Riesling Spätlese
Floral aromatics and surprisingly sweet on the palate. Very good finishing acids keep it lively.
2002 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Spätlese
Very mouthfilling, with great slate, citrus, peach and floral notes. There’s an overriding layer of light honey as well. Delicious and complex wine.
Since we speak no German and Herr Haart is not entirely comfortable in English we stick to the language of wine. After a few minutes he becomes more animated and interested in the conversation, and we discuss his utilization of overlooked sites such as the Hofberg in Dhron. He then disappears for a minute or two and comes back with a number of bottles. Perhaps this isn’t going to be such a short visit after all.
2002 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Auslese
Significantly riper than the Spätlese. Very ripe peach flavors with a hint of botrytis. Rich and mouth coating, but the acids kick in on the finish and clean everything up neat.
Wintricher Ohligsberg Riesling Auslese
Another neglected site that Theo Haart is working to rehabilitate. If this is what the site is capable of producing then it’s an effort well worth pursuing. Limes, apples, honey and sweet flowers all come through on the nose and palate. It’s a very complex and interesting wine. I will be on the lookout for more of this. (We purchased one bottle of this to bring home.)
Laura and I are becoming more and more enthusiastic, and Theo picks up on this as well. We discuss his preference for totally clean fruit (except for gold cap wines) and what the potential will be for the 2003 vintage (he’s optimistic but as mystified as everyone else). He leaves the room again and comes back with four bottles from a tasting he did on Sunday. Even after being open for two days these wines are singing in a voice I have rarely heard.
1990 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Auslese
Smoke, blackcurrant, peach and slate run all through this wine. There’s wonderful secondary development on the palate as well, but the fruit is still very lively. The acids keep it very fresh even at 13 years.
1994 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Auslese
This wine is so young. There is no secondary development. It tastes like it could be from 2001! Herr Haart mentions that this is a favorite vintage for him, and we can see why. Tons of blackcurrant and peach fruit are nearly overwhelming, but there’s fantastic acidity here as well. Magic wine. Take the 1990 and ramp up the intensity five times.
1996 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Auslese
Very spicy on the nose. Lighter than the 1994 and tastes older, but still has great life from the high 1996 acids. There’s a lot of depth and the wine is not closed down the way most 1996s are right now. The signature flavors of the Goldtropfchen that we’ve experienced (peach and currant) are here but in a more natural frame than the otherworldly 1994.
2001 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Auslese GK
Extremely rich and ripe. Very thick texture, so much so that’s it’s more like a BA than Auslese. Peaches, apricots and honey on the nose and palate. There’s a kick of acids that keep the high sweetness in balance but it still needs time to fully integrate. This is a great candidate for 10-12 years of aging.
While we taste Herr Haart mentions that he now wants to hold back some wine from each vintage so that he can have library releases in the future. Given the obvious impeccable storage (from the ’90, ’94 and ’96 wines) this is a fine idea.
What was to be a short visit has stretched to over an hour. Theo Haart has work to do in preparation for the harvest, and we need to do a few mundane tasks to keep ourselves on track. It’s unfortunate that so few of the Rheinhold Haart wines make it to our market, as these are some of the purest expressions of grape and site that can be found in Germany. Thanking our host for his hospitality we head off to continue our journey.
HOFFMANN-SIMON
2002 Klüsserather Bruderschaft Riesling Spatlese Trocken
Crisp apple and slate notes. Very dry and refreshing, with a Granny Smith apple finish.
2002 Piesporter Gunterslay Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken
Very flinty on the nose with some lemony citrus notes. Creamy and spicy on the palate with nice acid/sugar balance.
2002 Köwericher Laurentiuslay Riesling Spätlese Halbtrocken
Very broad aromas of apple and pear with a hint of chalk. Quite rich in the mouth and good intensity of fruit on the finish.
I find myself really liking the Halbtrocken wines. Dieter says that these are a tough sell in Germany, as the average German consumer does not like the word halbtrocken. (In fact a couple of days later, Margit Strub says that Halbtrocken (the word) is just stupid.)
2002 Maringer Honigberg Riesling Spätlese
Very chalky, with melon and lime aromas. Very citrusy on the palate, with a salty finish.
2002 Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese
Tons of peach and blackcurrant fruit. Great intensity as well. The wine practically explodes in the mouth. This is super wine.
We discuss the injustice that the Goldtröpfchen Spätlese only received a silver medal during the wine competition when it is clearly the best wine in the whole lot. (Other Hoffmann-Simon wines that were not as good as this Spätlese received gold medals. Go figure) Both Dieter and his father are still obviously upset by this injustice, and I completely agree with them.
2002 Köwericher Laurentiuslay Riesling Spätlese
Ripe peach, pear and Golden Delicious apples. Similar intensity to the Goldtröpfchen Spätlese, but sweeter and a touch softer.
1998 Köwericher Laurentiuslay Riesling Spätlese
Dieter’s father wants us to taste this wine. It’s still fairly closed (not atypical for ’98) but just barely starting to pick up some smokiness on the edges. Give it three more years.
2000 Köwericher Laurentiuslay Riesling Auslese
Floral, honey and smoke. Very advanced for a wine this young, but with 2000 all bets are off. Tastes of oranges with a hint of clove spice. |