Hi
Is there such a thing as lousy expensive wine? Almost everyone shuns mildly
sweet Riesling, particularly the sophisticated drinkers. I'd come across
statements like "Those candy coated German plonks", " These wines will not
sell...they are sweet". Sweet Rieslings are for oddballs like me who pays
$55 for a J.J. Prüm Kabinett where a Hugel Riesling costs a mere $30 and
it's FRENCH.... the World's most renown wine producer. Twenty-Five bucks
went to the precious sugar. Perhaps wine merchants have gone nuts putting
such price tags on those unpopular sugar water. Is it true, experienced
drinkers can detect subtle sweetness even the r.s. level is below 5gms/l?. I
would rather think the wine smells friuty but not sweet unless honey is
added.

Regards
Ray

You are really mixing, apples and oranges here, IMHO. The only thing in
common between Alsace and Germany is the riesling grape. Almost all Alsatian
wines are dry as opposed to QMP wines from Germany which try to reach a
balance between sweetness and acidity. Wines with riesling and chenin blanc
are not bad just because they are sweet. Thunderbird and Manishevitz Cream
Concord has given sweet wines a bad rep. JJPrum is one of the best wineries
in Germany, while Hugal's regular bottling are very good but not at the
highest levels. The Germans have tried to readjust their image, putting
trocken(dry) and haltrocken on labels to penetrate the American market.

The best wine I've ever tasted was a 1959 TBA by Schloss Vollrads and I've
had 45 Latour, 82 Petrus and countless d'Yquems. There is nothing like
eating an apple with a favourite from the Moselle.

--
Joseph B. Rosenberg
"Raymond" > wrote in message
...
> Hi
> Is there such a thing as lousy expensive wine? Almost everyone shuns
mildly
> sweet Riesling, particularly the sophisticated drinkers. I'd come across
> statements like "Those candy coated German plonks", " These wines will not
> sell...they are sweet". Sweet Rieslings are for oddballs like me who pays
> $55 for a J.J. Prüm Kabinett where a Hugel Riesling costs a mere $30 and
> it's FRENCH.... the World's most renown wine producer. Twenty-Five bucks
> went to the precious sugar. Perhaps wine merchants have gone nuts putting
> such price tags on those unpopular sugar water. Is it true, experienced
> drinkers can detect subtle sweetness even the r.s. level is below 5gms/l?.
I
> would rather think the wine smells friuty but not sweet unless honey is
> added.
>
> Regards
> Ray
>
>
>
>
>

I think most of these eggheads read something about the taste of a
particular wine and than take it as Gospel.
"Raymond" > wrote in message
...
> Hi
> Is there such a thing as lousy expensive wine? Almost everyone shuns
> mildly
> sweet Riesling, particularly the sophisticated drinkers. I'd come across
> statements like "Those candy coated German plonks", " These wines will not
> sell...they are sweet". Sweet Rieslings are for oddballs like me who pays
> $55 for a J.J. Prüm Kabinett where a Hugel Riesling costs a mere $30 and
> it's FRENCH.... the World's most renown wine producer. Twenty-Five bucks
> went to the precious sugar. Perhaps wine merchants have gone nuts putting
> such price tags on those unpopular sugar water. Is it true, experienced
> drinkers can detect subtle sweetness even the r.s. level is below 5gms/l?.
> I
> would rather think the wine smells friuty but not sweet unless honey is
> added.
>
> Regards
> Ray
>
>
>
>
>

Plenty of sweet wines are expensive. For example, Sauternes. One of my
favorite wines is Kracher Beerenauslese, which is very sweet. Whether
you've been ripped off or not is up to you. I had a 2000 Latour and I
felt ripped off, too.


Dimitri

Some random thoughts:

First of all, sure there's plenty of lousy expensive wine (in my
opinion).

Are these restaurant prices or in Australian dollars or something(I
think of Hugel Riesling as $10-12US, JJ Prum generic Kabinett as
$12-15, and JJ Prum single vineyard kabs as $15-20)?

I do not personally shun off-dry to sweet Riesling, nor do many of my
friends. They can be some of the great wines of the world.

Among the great Riesling producers of the Middle Mosel, JJ Pr=FCm is a
standout. But I will say that the wines are often difficult young
(especially if you are not especially sulphur-tolerant).

Are you saying France or Hugel is world's most renowned wine producer?
If former, much as I love Alsace wines, Germany is probably most
renowned (and Austria could challenge Alsace in quality in dry wines).
Hugel makes some good wines, but in some ways is the Gallo of Alsace.

Everyone has different tastes, and your impressions are valid for you.
But I just would caution against making large generalizations about the
quality level of the wines of 2 countries based on your impressions of
2 wines.

best, Dale

Taste is very subjective and varies quite a bit from person to person.
For example, consider lemon juice and sugar. Most people do not like
pure lemon juice and find it much too sour for their taste even when
considerably diluted with water. Most people do not like pure sugar,
even when it is diluted with water. However many will like a mixture of
sugar and lemon juice, but the best balance of each component will vary
from person to person. Some grapes grown in rather cold climates produce
wines with much acid. Some Rieslings and Chenin Blancs can be quite
acid. If there is no sugar to balance the acidity, many will find them
too sour for their taste. However if a little sugar remains in the wine,
many more people will enjoy them. At the other extreme, Riesling and
some other grapes can become extremely ripe under certain conditions.
The wines they make can contain very high sugar levels. However they
also have enough acidity to balance the sweetness. Such wines are rare
and can be extremely expensive. Often a vineyard can produce only a very
few cases of such wines in a very few years. Louis XIV of France was one
of the most powerful kings Europe ever had and could have any wine in
France he wanted. However he called Tokaji Essencia the king of wines
and wine for kings. This is a very rich Hungarian wne that can contain
well over 50% residual sugar, but is well balanced with acidity. It can
last hundreds of years. Catherine the Great of Russia sent troops to
Hungary to escort her wine back to Russia. A recent example is Egon
M=FCller's Scharzhofberger Eiswein 1983. In the US the very small amount
of this wine availble came on the market for about $US 700 a bottle.
Such top wines do not need any advertising. Little is available, and
there are people who can afford to snap them up very rapidly when they
are available.

Reply to .

"Almost everyone shuns mildly sweet Riesling, particularly the
sophisticated drinkers."

"Sophisticated" drinkers, maybe... but sophisticated drinkers as a
group do no such thing IMO. Agreed that they don't sell well in
Amurrica, but that is our loss.

Andy

"Agreed that they don't sell well in Amurrica, but that is our loss."

And of course you've heard the saying that Americans TALK dry but DRINK
sweet.
But that's another generalization!

e.

I might be the only American to buy exclusively semi-sweet to very sweet
wines, but hey- I'm a trendsetter. I just found a Schoffit Pinot Gris
sgn with only 4.5% alc and 450+ grams R.S.! Woo Hoo!