These are notes of a tasting of German Rieslings mated (quite well, I
would add) with Cambodian food – not too spicy but very tasty. We
(well most of us) drink these wines so seldom, it was a real treat to
sit down with some other aficionados and get stuck into them.
Sticklers for correct German spelling should take pity and make
allowance for poor lighting and sticky fingers.

2004 St. Urbans-hof Piesporter Goldtropfchen (MSR) – light floral
nose, crisp and clean with a grapefruity thing happening.

1993 Forstmeister Geltz Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Spatlese – darker
wine with a more pronounced petrol in the nose, a bit less lively on
palate due to lower acidity than I’d have liked, but definitely
richer.

1996 Gunderlach Nackenheim Rothenberg Auslese – darker straw colour,
with a very unusual nose of apricots and ash tray – really, it was a
smoke thing, but it wasn’t a bad thing. The wine was balanced and had
good length, showing the obvious late harvest qualities.

1994 Berres Zeltinger Deutschherrenberg Auslese – this one, on the
other hand, showed a lighter colour, not much in the nose or on
palate, and was fairly well balanced but thin.

2005 Dr. Tanisch Braunberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spatlese – fresh nose
with some light petrol scents, quite rich and fairly sweet but
balanced. The over all impression was a pleasant wine that was very
fresh.

1998 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Spatlese – decent nose,
lighter style, smooth and well integrated but I doubt it will be a
long ager.

1999 Dr. Tanisch Braunberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese – same vineyard
as the Spatlese and a bit controversial as it sported a highly scented
petrol nose which some though also had TCA in it. I didn’t think that
and as it abated with air I still don’t. Fairly rich and unctuous but
with good offsetting acidity. This one has a future.

1992 Sichel Kirchheimer Kreuz Beerenauslese – not normally a long
lived vintage, but the RS on this carried it very well. Amber colour,
rich oily nose, with obvious botrytis, quite sweet in the mouth but
balanced, and a long concentrated finish. Made me glad I’d bought this
one.

1998 Prinz von Hessen Winkeler Hasensprung Eiswein – a rare one,
especially in full bottle and a wonderful step up from the BA. True
amber colour even at this fairly young age, with ripe pear and honey
in the nose, with hints of spice (we argued about mace or nutmeg), and
pear and raisin in the mouth. Super concentration, probably with an RS
between a BA and a TBA.
I hope one of the other guys posts pics of the food. The crab was
delicious! Great event.

"Bill S." > wrote in message
...
These are notes of a tasting of German Rieslings mated (quite well, I
would add) with Cambodian food – not too spicy but very tasty. We
(well most of us) drink these wines so seldom, it was a real treat to
sit down with some other aficionados and get stuck into them.
Sticklers for correct German spelling should take pity and make
allowance for poor lighting and sticky fingers.


Bill
after my Riesling tasting last week, it was interesting to see your notes.

I note more classic petrol noses amongst the wines unlike mine which were
absent or reticent.

I thought the wines would have been hard work, even with the food. The last
four would have been quite " heavy???"

JT

Only the last 2 were 'weighty' John. The Auslesen worked pretty well
with the food, and then we tasted (well OK, drank) the last two on
their own as it should be.

On Aug 21, 9:23*am, "Bill S." > wrote:
> Only the last 2 were 'weighty' John. The Auslesen worked pretty well
> with the food, and then we tasted (well OK, drank) the last two on
> their own as it should be.

I have never had Cambodian food, so I have no idea what would be a
good match with various dishes. However it is difficult to predict
what an untasted German Riesling might match. If the wine is a trocken
or halb-trocken, it likely will not clash with most food for which you
usually like a dry or slightly off-dry white. If the wine is a
"normal" one it is sometimes difficult to guess just what you have. My
experience is that Saar or other cold region wines often can match
food at one ripeness level higher than wines from warm regions. For
instance a spatlese, and sometimes even an auslese, from the Saar
often has plenty of acid and is not too heavy for many foods. Also
some make their wine with much less residual sweetness than others.
The ripeness classification is based on the sugar content of the
grapes before fermentation. Thus a spatlese, and even sometimes an
auslese, can be rather low in residual sugar. However, due to the
great ripeness, an auslese fermented rather dry could have a rather
strong taste and much alcohol, so getting a balanced near-dry auslese
is quite a trick. Then there is the year to consider. In an extremely
ripe year, such as 1976, even a spatlese may have much honey-like
character and great concentration. Also, in 1976, there were so few
quality wines lower than spatlese or auslese, that many sold their
slightly less ripe spatlesen and auslesen at one grade lower, which
was legal, so they would have some wine in the lower grades to sell.