Solihull Fine Wine Society, November tasting.

Having looked at Freddy Price's " Riesling Renaissance", Adrian decided to
put on a fiendish tasting of youthful Riesling.
I have added the UK price for interest elsewhere in the world.

Blind as usual except we knew it was Riesling!!

Les Pierrets Riesling Alsace, Josmeyer. 2000....gbp 13.50
Straw bright and old R nose, dusty petrol and flowers. Soft and off dry.
Balance, long.....scrumptious

"Mesh" Riesling Eden Valley OZ, Grossset and Hill Smith, 2003, 14.99
Pale straw, clean, an organic nose with axle grease hints. Soft fruit but
lacking middle, needs bite finished a tad short.

Wachenheimer Rechbachel Riesling Burklin-Wolf Pfalz. 2003, 13.90, spatlese
levels of sugar and then fermented out to a trocken 13% alc.
Green tinged, restrained with little R character, a bland flabby wine
reflecting the nose. Too young??

Ruppertsberger Gaisbohl Trocken, Spatlese. Burklin-Wolf, Pfalz. 2003. 20.90
( This is a Grosses Gwarchs classified vineyard.)
Very pale, sweetshop nose, no hint of R, sweetish and cloying, needs acidity
or time? Others raved about it, just not my style.

Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Spatlese M F Richter, Mosel, 2003. 10.20
Palest of the night, aniseed ball nose, fruit and sugar only. Too young?

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Kerpen Mosel, 2001. 13.00
Deep straw and bright, gentle Germanic dusty R nose like wine one, soft
entry with fruit and wonderful balance, spice and flowers, long, superb.

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Kerpen Mosel, 2003, 17.40, same vineyard
two years younger.
Pale and viscous, very dumb, floral fruit but not enough acidity, too young?

Oberhauser Lestenberg Riesling Auslese, Donnhoff, Nahe 2003. 24.50
Pale syrup!, dumb but undertones of R, very sweet, little fruit, delicate.

Erdener Pralat Auslese, Dr E Loosen, 2003, 32.90.
Pale syrup again, dumb but R hints. Pure sugar water, but with some fruit
and a little bite.

A heated discussion followed....these points raised.
Did the Ausleses fail to shine because of their youth, when to try again?
The wonderful 2001 Kerpen was a different wine to the 2003.
Spatleses were restrained and again when to try again?
Our we too inexperienced tasting young expensive German wines?

Best wine , Les Pierrets followed by the 2001 Kerpen.

John Taverner wrote:

A heated discussion followed....these points raised.
Did the Ausleses fail to shine because of their youth, when to try again?
The wonderful 2001 Kerpen was a different wine to the 2003.
Spatleses were restrained and again when to try again?
Our we too inexperienced tasting young expensive German wines?

I'd suspect that the problem lies with the vintage (2003). The wines
will probably never have enough acid to give them either balance or
longevity, but perhaps others may disagree.

Mark Lipton

John Taverner wrote:
Solihull Fine Wine Society, November tasting.

Having looked at Freddy Price's " Riesling Renaissance", Adrian decided to
put on a fiendish tasting of youthful Riesling.
I have added the UK price for interest elsewhere in the world.

Blind as usual except we knew it was Riesling!!

Les Pierrets Riesling Alsace, Josmeyer. 2000....gbp 13.50
Straw bright and old R nose, dusty petrol and flowers. Soft and off dry.
Balance, long.....scrumptious

"Mesh" Riesling Eden Valley OZ, Grossset and Hill Smith, 2003, 14.99
Pale straw, clean, an organic nose with axle grease hints. Soft fruit but
lacking middle, needs bite finished a tad short.

Wachenheimer Rechbachel Riesling Burklin-Wolf Pfalz. 2003, 13.90, spatlese
levels of sugar and then fermented out to a trocken 13% alc.
Green tinged, restrained with little R character, a bland flabby wine
reflecting the nose. Too young??

Ruppertsberger Gaisbohl Trocken, Spatlese. Burklin-Wolf, Pfalz. 2003. 20.90
( This is a Grosses Gwarchs classified vineyard.)
Very pale, sweetshop nose, no hint of R, sweetish and cloying, needs acidity
or time? Others raved about it, just not my style.

Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Spatlese M F Richter, Mosel, 2003. 10.20
Palest of the night, aniseed ball nose, fruit and sugar only. Too young?

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Kerpen Mosel, 2001. 13.00
Deep straw and bright, gentle Germanic dusty R nose like wine one, soft
entry with fruit and wonderful balance, spice and flowers, long, superb.

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Kerpen Mosel, 2003, 17.40, same vineyard
two years younger.
Pale and viscous, very dumb, floral fruit but not enough acidity, too young?

Oberhauser Lestenberg Riesling Auslese, Donnhoff, Nahe 2003. 24.50
Pale syrup!, dumb but undertones of R, very sweet, little fruit, delicate.

Erdener Pralat Auslese, Dr E Loosen, 2003, 32.90.
Pale syrup again, dumb but R hints. Pure sugar water, but with some fruit
and a little bite.

A heated discussion followed....these points raised.
Did the Ausleses fail to shine because of their youth, when to try again?
The wonderful 2001 Kerpen was a different wine to the 2003.
Spatleses were restrained and again when to try again?
Our we too inexperienced tasting young expensive German wines?

Best wine , Les Pierrets followed by the 2001 Kerpen.

The year 2003 was not at all typical in Germany. Because of the extreme
hot weather, many grapes were extremely ripe, but had low acidity. Some
of the greatest sites had drought and produced wine below their usual
standard, while some cooler, lesser sites had better wine. There are
some very good wines, but finding them may be difficult, because past
quality of a site is not a good guide for 2003. It is very difficult to
make an outstanding trocken wine in Germany. While there are a few
outstanding examples from time to time, I had rather have my completely
dry rieslings from Alsace. I guess I am of the old school when it comes
to German wine. The first duty of a German wine is to be riesling. The
second duty is to be well balanced. The third duty is to be as rich as
possible. I exaggerate, of course, but the very top classes of riesling
BA and TBA wines set the world standard for riesling in general, while
Alsace sets the standards for dry riesling. Austria also is producing
some outstanding dry riesling now, but top examples often are difficult
to find outside of Austria. Of course some other countries have
produced good riesling, but the best examples often are difficult to
find in many export markets.