No stars, no fanfare. This is just the plain, old no star auslese. But with nearly 15 years of age it has evolved into something that awakens the senses & stands out in a crowd.

Pale golden color, and a just slightly thick pour are both good signs. Aromatics are representative of several things: the site (spicy with some light red berry tones, along with the tart citrus and apple of the Mosel proper), the grape (touches of smoke and diesel) and the winemaker (supreme elegance with simultaneous concentration). What's truly great for me is that each of the elements I listed takes an achingly long time to puzzle out of the mix. The wine is totally integrated, and held together in a creamy matrix that has plenty of the characteristic 1990 acidity to keep things very lively. There's still a distinct sense of sweetness, but more in a way that makes the wine seem full rather than downright sweet. All in all it's just a perfectly aged Riesling from a skilled vintner in a fine year.

It is wines like this that make me leave some of my 2001 auslesen to age gracefully for a decade or two. I have some of of my stash of the '01 no-star, the one-star and the Erdener Treppchen two-star sitting in a hard to reach place in the cellar. They won't be touched for at least another decade. I hope to be drinking those wines in 2015 or 2020, and thinking back on the legacy of Hans-Leo Christoffel and the magnificent wines he has given us (and continues to give us) over the years.

Nice note. I assume you saw the thread on "another board" about the grey market for Christoffel wines? I thought it was pretty interesting.

I did indeed read the Christoffel grey market thread. It only underscored my reasoning for backing away from that particular web site.

In general I'm somewhat sick of the every man for himself attitude that I see in society. That thread only touched on a small part of the problem. Not to mention the excessive debating about what is the real Wurzgarten ***. Truly nauseating.

I wonder if many of them ever actually drink the wines for enjoyment.

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I wonder if many of them ever actually drink the wines for enjoyment.

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Perhaps only the three crazy champagne-loving danes...in their case, they might drink too much of it.

Those three seem to be drinking it all the time. At least they are happy!

If all goes well, I will have plenty of of 2001 Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten spatlese, auslese, auslese*, auslese**, auslese***; and Erdener Treppchen spatlese, auslese** for a long long time. I'll even save some Kabinetts for good measure. I bought a lot of 2002's to keep me occupied.