Last night, amidst a frenzied effort to finish a mammoth proposal to the
NIH, Jean and I ducked out for a quick dinner at one of the most
interesting dining options in town, a wine/tapas bar with the best wine
list in town.

With various small plates (shrimp cocktail, bruschetta, "crab bread") we
got a bottle of:

2004 Schloss Vollrads Riesling Kabinett
color: very pale
nose: lime, minerals, a hint of petrol, peaches
palate: light, fairly crisp, good acidity, some RS, citrus, minerals

While not a profound wine, certainly a nicely appealing one and
perfectly suited for the night at 9.0% ABV. And, since this was 1/2
price night at the wine bar, a good QPR option at $16 a bottle.

Side note: this was the first bottle I've seen with that newfangled
glass stopper thingie. We had an amusing moment when I first went to
pour from the bottle and nothing came out...

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Mark Lipton wrote:

> Last night, amidst a frenzied effort to finish a mammoth proposal to
> the NIH, Jean and I ducked out for a quick dinner at one of the most
> interesting dining options in town, a wine/tapas bar with the best
> wine list in town.
>
> With various small plates (shrimp cocktail, bruschetta, "crab
> bread") we got a bottle of:
>
> 2004 Schloss Vollrads Riesling Kabinett
> color: very pale
> nose: lime, minerals, a hint of petrol, peaches
> palate: light, fairly crisp, good acidity, some RS, citrus, minerals
>
> While not a profound wine, certainly a nicely appealing one and
> perfectly suited for the night at 9.0% ABV. And, since this was 1/2
> price night at the wine bar, a good QPR option at $16 a bottle.
>
> Side note: this was the first bottle I've seen with that newfangled
> glass stopper thingie. We had an amusing moment when I first went
> to pour from the bottle and nothing came out...
>
> Mark Lipton

This is the first report that I have heard of a "glass stopper
thingie." Could you describe it further? Is it in place of a cork,
synthetic stopper, screw cap, or ???

Godzilla

Godzilla > wrote:

> This is the first report that I have heard of a "glass stopper
> thingie." Could you describe it further? Is it in place of a cork,
> synthetic stopper, screw cap, or ???

Take a look at the producer's (ALCOA Germany) homepage:

<http://www.vino-lok.de/>

You need special bottles for the stopper.

M.

On Jun 27, 9:34 am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Last night, amidst a frenzied effort to finish a mammoth proposal to the
> NIH, Jean and I ducked out for a quick dinner at one of the most
> interesting dining options in town, a wine/tapas bar with the best wine
> list in town.
>
> With various small plates (shrimp cocktail, bruschetta, "crab bread") we
> got a bottle of:
>
> 2004 Schloss Vollrads Riesling Kabinett
> color: very pale
> nose: lime, minerals, a hint of petrol, peaches
> palate: light, fairly crisp, good acidity, some RS, citrus, minerals
>
> While not a profound wine, certainly a nicely appealing one and
> perfectly suited for the night at 9.0% ABV. And, since this was 1/2
> price night at the wine bar, a good QPR option at $16 a bottle.
>
> Side note: this was the first bottle I've seen with that newfangled
> glass stopper thingie. We had an amusing moment when I first went to
> pour from the bottle and nothing came out...

I find your notes interesting, because this is the "new" Schloss
Vollrads, and I know only the wines from Erwein Count Matuschka who
died suddenly in 1997. The property had been in his family for many
hundreds of years. He apparently had trouble with finding enough funds
for the huge(by German standards) estate. This likely contributed to
some decline in the more basic wines and likely to his very tragic
death. Some think the average quality of the wines from this estate
has increased since 1998. The count did much to encourage matching the
dryer wines with food.

However the quality of the top late harvest wines from this estate was
never in question, at least to me. I think tasting the very great 1976
TBA would prove this point to most people.

After the tragic death of the count Dr. Hepp took over the winery for the
bank that controls it. He fired the cellar staff and brought the quality of
the wines up so they are now some of the best in the Rhiengau.


"cwdjrxyz" > wrote in message
ps.com...
> On Jun 27, 9:34 am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
>> Last night, amidst a frenzied effort to finish a mammoth proposal to the
>> NIH, Jean and I ducked out for a quick dinner at one of the most
>> interesting dining options in town, a wine/tapas bar with the best wine
>> list in town.
>>
>> With various small plates (shrimp cocktail, bruschetta, "crab bread") we
>> got a bottle of:
>>
>> 2004 Schloss Vollrads Riesling Kabinett
>> color: very pale
>> nose: lime, minerals, a hint of petrol, peaches
>> palate: light, fairly crisp, good acidity, some RS, citrus, minerals
>>
>> While not a profound wine, certainly a nicely appealing one and
>> perfectly suited for the night at 9.0% ABV. And, since this was 1/2
>> price night at the wine bar, a good QPR option at $16 a bottle.
>>
>> Side note: this was the first bottle I've seen with that newfangled
>> glass stopper thingie. We had an amusing moment when I first went to
>> pour from the bottle and nothing came out...
>
> I find your notes interesting, because this is the "new" Schloss
> Vollrads, and I know only the wines from Erwein Count Matuschka who
> died suddenly in 1997. The property had been in his family for many
> hundreds of years. He apparently had trouble with finding enough funds
> for the huge(by German standards) estate. This likely contributed to
> some decline in the more basic wines and likely to his very tragic
> death. Some think the average quality of the wines from this estate
> has increased since 1998. The count did much to encourage matching the
> dryer wines with food.
>
> However the quality of the top late harvest wines from this estate was
> never in question, at least to me. I think tasting the very great 1976
> TBA would prove this point to most people.
>