09 German Riesling test-drive

S

Salil Benegal

Salil Benegal
Various bottles over the last few weeks.

2009 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Senior Fa 6
Gone through a handful of bottles of this in the past few weeks. This is really delicious Riesling with bright fruit ranging from tarter pear and lime flavours to more tropical pineapple and melony notes, gentle herbal accents and fantastic balance - there's just a touch of residual sugar here to balance the bright acidity, which makes it all too easy to drink.

2009 Schfer-Frhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Sptlese
Wild aromatics; full of talc, fresh herbs and flowers over ripe white fruits. This is unusually rich and sweet in the mouth, full of very ripe, luscious white fruited and tangerine flavours over minerals, but the sweetness is a bit too heavy right now (particularly when contrasted with the razor-sharp cut of the '08) - this finishes a little sticky, not showing the acidity to balance the weight right now. Would like to check in on this after a few years once the baby fat starts to fade.

2009 Meulenhof Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett
Very primary right now, but really delicious with a blast of red and green apples up front, slate and saline minerality emerging on the middle and a finish of fruit and florality that just stays. It's quite rich, more Sptlese-like than Kabinett, but it's incredibly refreshing and elegant and I'm glad to have a bunch more of this.

2009 Dnnhoff Oberhuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett
Full of bright apple, peach and pear fruit at first, but with air a vivid slatey and saline mineral character emerges underneath. It's certainly on the ripe/sweet side for Kabinett, but it's still delicious with incredible freshness and clarity to the flavours.

2009 A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberger Riesling Sptlese
Auslese alert. This is *really* ripe. Starts out with the wild aromatics I always expect from Adam's Hofberg; exotic floral notes, ginger and red and white fruited flavours, but on the palate it's very rich with bright fruit veering towards the tropical, and some brown spices/apricot notes on the back end hinting at botrytis. That said the balance is fantastic and it's a wine I'd certainly like to have more of - though for sheer drinkability and lightness, I may still look for more of the '08.

2009 Kruger-Rumpf Mnsterer Dautenpflnzer Riesling Sptlese
This was one of a few wines that really caught my attention at the Theise/Skurnik DI tasting in June, and sitting down with a bottle over dinner my impressions are still pretty much the same. It's a powerhouse and makes an impact straight away; packed with apples, citrus and red fruits over a vivid stony and saline mineral base. There's tremendous acidity beneath and this has incredible energy and cut, Riesling with a livewire running through it. Stunning!

2009 Dnnhoff Schlobckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Felsentrmchen Sptlese
This is delightful and makes me glad I went long on this; incredibly delicate and light but at the same time conveying so many flavours with such intensity. Full of white cherries, apples and peaches accented by delicate straw, floral and herbal notes and a saline minerality beneath, wonderful precision and really impressive length. Fantastic.
 
2009 Schfer-Frhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Sptlese
Wild aromatics; full of talc, fresh herbs and flowers over ripe white fruits. This is unusually rich and sweet in the mouth, full of very ripe, luscious white fruited and tangerine flavours over minerals, but the sweetness is a bit too heavy right now (particularly when contrasted with the razor-sharp cut of the '08) - this finishes a little sticky, not showing the acidity to balance the weight right now. Would like to check in on this after a few years once the baby fat starts to fade.
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I've tried two bottles of the '08 Bockenauer Felseneck Spatlese; the first about 9 months ago, the second only 1 month ago. That first bottle was ungainly, awkward, and frankly, very disappointing. The second was simply breath-takingly beautiful. I know it was a great bottle because my wife, who doesn't usually like young Riesling, drank 1/2 the bottle all by herself. I have high hopes for the 09.
 
Hey, I didn't say "fuck" once. And that comparison's just going to put an icepick in Vandergrift's heart, you know.
 
Fair enough, though I don't see the similarity between Rahsaan and me, either, although I'm flattered by the comparison.

Somehow I don't see Nathan as brittle. May he forgive me for taking a liberty with his name.
 
originally posted by Andrew Zachary:
2009 Schfer-Frhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Sptlese
Wild aromatics; full of talc, fresh herbs and flowers over ripe white fruits. This is unusually rich and sweet in the mouth, full of very ripe, luscious white fruited and tangerine flavours over minerals, but the sweetness is a bit too heavy right now (particularly when contrasted with the razor-sharp cut of the '08) - this finishes a little sticky, not showing the acidity to balance the weight right now. Would like to check in on this after a few years once the baby fat starts to fade.
Click to expand...

I've tried two bottles of the '08 Bockenauer Felseneck Spatlese; the first about 9 months ago, the second only 1 month ago. That first bottle was ungainly, awkward, and frankly, very disappointing. The second was simply breath-takingly beautiful. I know it was a great bottle because my wife, who doesn't usually like young Riesling, drank 1/2 the bottle all by herself. I have high hopes for the 09.
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My experiences with the 08 are much more like your second bottle - or your wife's second bottle. I loved it.
 
2009 Peter Lauer Riesling Barrel X
Wild aromatics right off the bat; a bit of sulfur/gunpowder, bright citrus fruits, flowers and a funky sponti yeast element that makes this smell quite similar to a young Lieser or Schafer-Frohlich. It's quite dry in the mouth but very intense with bright, piercing pear and citrus fruit over slabs of stone and fantastic acidity. Seriously good value.

2009 Dnnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Groes Gewchs
Starts out taut, herbal and minerally, tightly wound but it opens out with air to show incredibly pure pear and citrus fruit flavours along the herbal and stony elements. There's a sense of restrained power here, incredibly breadth and depth with really good acidity and amazing length.

2009 Dnnhoff Niederhuser Hermannshhle Riesling Groes Gewchs
More forward and open aromatically than the Dellchen GG, showing a broader range of fruit spanning tarter lime and pear flavours to riper melony notes and exotic spicy and smoky accents - but while this is lovely to drink with a rich, faintly creamy texture and good depth, I preferred the Dellchen's precision and freshness.

2009 Dnnhoff Schlobckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Felsentrmchen Groes Gewchs
This is the most aromatically expressive of the three '09 Dnnhoff GGs, exotic and floral with bright iris and lavender scents over ripe fruit and minerality. There's bright citrus and pear fruit up front combined with a stony minerality and bright acidity, but this feels relatively light on the back end, not showing the same presence or depth as the Hermannshhle or Dellchen.

2009 Zilliken (Forstmeister Geltz) Saarburger Rausch Riesling Kabinett
Pretty much everything I'd expect from a Saar Riesling; slightly tart pear and green apple fruit accented by fresh herbal and aloe notes and lifted by really bright, racy acidity that makes the richness and residual sugar here barely noticeable.

2009 Kruger-Rumpf Mnsterer Rheinberg Riesling Kabinett
Thrilling; a combination of bright apple and citrus fruit over a base of slate and saline minerality with fantastic acidity cutting through the sweetness and keeping it very light and precise. Comes across more like a Sptlese in terms of richness and depth, but the overall package is stunning.

2009 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Sptlese
One stupid thing I've been doing in the last couple of years is buying mostly the Selbach single-parcel Anrecht/Schmitt/Rotlay bottlings when I've seen them available and paying less attention to the 'regular' Sptlesen, and this just reinforces what I've been missing. Beautiful, classical Sptlese, filled with all the lime, green apple and slate I'd expect from the Schlossberg, light on its feet and finishing just barely off-dry.

2009 Schloss Lieser Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Sptlese
Stephen Bitterolf raved about this and said I had to buy some - glad I listened to him. Wild aromatics; floral and ripe fruited with the slightly funky sponti-yeast scents Lieser usually tends to show, and a palate full of fresh Riesling fruit and minerality that's incredibly crystalline and precise with really bright acidity and a sense of tremendous refreshment. Fantastic Sptlese!

2009 Dnnhoff Niederhuser Hermannshhle Riesling Auslese
Incredibly primary and undeveloped right now, but it's already irresistible. There's a sense of incredible purity to the flavours here; just really fresh Riesling fruit ranging from apples and ripe pears to more tropical elements with gentle floral and honeyed accents and tremendous minerality beneath. What really stands out is how drinkable and light this is - this has none of the heaviness or botrytis of so many Auslesen, just pure, crystalline fruit and fantastic acidity that balances the sweetness perfectly and keeps it very light on its feet, and a half bottle of this disappears as if it's Kabinett.
 
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