Arnt Egil Nordlien
Arnt Egil Nordlien
Notes from a VdP-tasting in Stuttgart in September:
In VdP's show in Stuttgart on September 13th-2010 there was a special tasting of aged lemberger. Lemberger is the german name for the blaufrnkisch-grape. It is only in Wrttemberg that this grape is allowed as grosses gewchs. It is here you mostly find this grape grown and where it gives the best results. Weingut Gerhard Aldinger organized this tasting of ten top lemberger-wines from Wrttemberg with some age on them. Unfortunately as with the sptburgunder-grape there is a tendency to age the lemberger-grape too long time in new small barrels. Making the resulting wine too oaky. Lemberger can take some oak, but this tasting showed that german producers needs to calm down the use of new barrique on lemberger much in the same manner they need to reduce the oaking on their sptburgunders. Here are our notes:
Lemberger Junges schwaben 2005, Weingut Wachtstetter
Deep red, lightly violet colour. Oaky and spicey on the nose. Sweetish fruit. Lots of berries. Powerful and oaky on the mouth. Structured style. Oak is dominating the fruit which makes the wine simpler than is necessary. Some dark berries. Medium acids. Hard and oaky finish. Fair quality.
Fellbacher Lmmler lemberger*** 2004, Gerhard Aldinger
Sweetish and quite ripe fruit on the nose. Still primary. Powerful and lightly sweetish style from lots of fruit-concentration and some ripeness. Some oak, but here it is in the background. Primary and fine fruit. Medium acidity and quite round finish with some tannins. Fine style, but needs to develop more interesting notes. Very good.
Lemberger RD reserve 2003, Weingut Drautz-Able
Served from magnum. Again lots of oak on the nose. Fruity style. Ripe fruits. Powerful, round and kind lemberger in the mouth. Again the fruit shows a lot of ripeness. Some anise. The oak is better integrated than on the nose. Medium to low acids and fine tannins in the back. Good.
Lemberger** gutswein 2003, Weingut Rainer Schnaitmann
Aromatic and fruity lemberger on the nose. Ripe red berries. Light oak. Fullbodied and quite structured 03 in the mouth. Again fruity lemberger with noticeable ripe character. Light oak-notes. Quite fine acidity for this vintage. Some tannins on the finish. Very good lemberger and a nice effort from 2003. Seems still on the young side.
Schozacher Roter berg lemberger 2001, Graf Bentzel-Sturmfeder
Lighter colour. Very pretty nose. Sweet liquorice, light red berries. Light autumn leafs. Medium bodied in the mouth. A lot brighter and transparent wine here. Little oak. Fine and transparent fruit. Lots of liquorice-notes. Some autumn-lefas and red berries. Fine development. Seems mature now. Fine acidity and light tannins in the back. Very good lemberger. One of my favorites.
Lemberger hades 2001, Weingut Ellwanger
Deep red colour. Spicey nose with more oak again. Red berries. Medium bodied and quite elegant lemberger in the mouth. Some spicey oak and almost Rioja-lke dill-notes. Red berries. Fine acidity and nice tannins in the back. More seemless and integrated oak. But aromatically a little weird for lemberger. Good.
Lemberger Der lwe von Schaubeck 2000, Graf Adelmann
Deep red colour. Sweetish nose with lots of red berries. Slightly ripe. Fine complex notes of autumn leafs, compost. Some oak. Medium bodied in the mouth. Evolved fruit. Complex. A core of red berries. Oak is integrated. Fine notes of anise, compost, some autumn leafs. Fine acidity. Matured tannins in the back. Round and pretty mouthfeel. Great lemberger and my favorite of the day. Drinks well now.
Lemberger**** 1998, Weingut Dautel
Red colour. Spicey oak on the nose. Some fine florality. Powerful and round lemberger in the mouth. Some fine notes of red berries and florality. But again the oak takes some of the fruit and is too apparent. Fine acidity. The finish shows a little hard with some oak-tannins. Good.
Lemberger barrique 1997, Karl Haidle
Deep red colour. Oak on the nose. Some anise. Dark berries. Powerful and smooth wine in the mouth. Lots of oak-notes. Some dark berries. Some ink and anise. Medium acidity. Hard tannic end with tough oak-tannins. Too much oak here. Takes the depth in the fruit and makes the wine unnecessary hard. Fair quality.
Neipperger Schlossberg lemberger sptlese trocken 1993, Graf von Neipperg
Brick-red colour. Great nose. Complex. Red berries, autumn leafs, anise. Some oak-spice in the background. Medium bodied in the mouth. Evolved fruit with some aged sweetness. Complex. More dark berries, anise and autumn leafs. Fine acidity and still some tannins on the back. Good structure. Mature, but will keep. Very good wine and the third of my favorite lembergers this day.
from vinduet.org
In VdP's show in Stuttgart on September 13th-2010 there was a special tasting of aged lemberger. Lemberger is the german name for the blaufrnkisch-grape. It is only in Wrttemberg that this grape is allowed as grosses gewchs. It is here you mostly find this grape grown and where it gives the best results. Weingut Gerhard Aldinger organized this tasting of ten top lemberger-wines from Wrttemberg with some age on them. Unfortunately as with the sptburgunder-grape there is a tendency to age the lemberger-grape too long time in new small barrels. Making the resulting wine too oaky. Lemberger can take some oak, but this tasting showed that german producers needs to calm down the use of new barrique on lemberger much in the same manner they need to reduce the oaking on their sptburgunders. Here are our notes:
Lemberger Junges schwaben 2005, Weingut Wachtstetter
Deep red, lightly violet colour. Oaky and spicey on the nose. Sweetish fruit. Lots of berries. Powerful and oaky on the mouth. Structured style. Oak is dominating the fruit which makes the wine simpler than is necessary. Some dark berries. Medium acids. Hard and oaky finish. Fair quality.
Fellbacher Lmmler lemberger*** 2004, Gerhard Aldinger
Sweetish and quite ripe fruit on the nose. Still primary. Powerful and lightly sweetish style from lots of fruit-concentration and some ripeness. Some oak, but here it is in the background. Primary and fine fruit. Medium acidity and quite round finish with some tannins. Fine style, but needs to develop more interesting notes. Very good.
Lemberger RD reserve 2003, Weingut Drautz-Able
Served from magnum. Again lots of oak on the nose. Fruity style. Ripe fruits. Powerful, round and kind lemberger in the mouth. Again the fruit shows a lot of ripeness. Some anise. The oak is better integrated than on the nose. Medium to low acids and fine tannins in the back. Good.
Lemberger** gutswein 2003, Weingut Rainer Schnaitmann
Aromatic and fruity lemberger on the nose. Ripe red berries. Light oak. Fullbodied and quite structured 03 in the mouth. Again fruity lemberger with noticeable ripe character. Light oak-notes. Quite fine acidity for this vintage. Some tannins on the finish. Very good lemberger and a nice effort from 2003. Seems still on the young side.
Schozacher Roter berg lemberger 2001, Graf Bentzel-Sturmfeder
Lighter colour. Very pretty nose. Sweet liquorice, light red berries. Light autumn leafs. Medium bodied in the mouth. A lot brighter and transparent wine here. Little oak. Fine and transparent fruit. Lots of liquorice-notes. Some autumn-lefas and red berries. Fine development. Seems mature now. Fine acidity and light tannins in the back. Very good lemberger. One of my favorites.
Lemberger hades 2001, Weingut Ellwanger
Deep red colour. Spicey nose with more oak again. Red berries. Medium bodied and quite elegant lemberger in the mouth. Some spicey oak and almost Rioja-lke dill-notes. Red berries. Fine acidity and nice tannins in the back. More seemless and integrated oak. But aromatically a little weird for lemberger. Good.
Lemberger Der lwe von Schaubeck 2000, Graf Adelmann
Deep red colour. Sweetish nose with lots of red berries. Slightly ripe. Fine complex notes of autumn leafs, compost. Some oak. Medium bodied in the mouth. Evolved fruit. Complex. A core of red berries. Oak is integrated. Fine notes of anise, compost, some autumn leafs. Fine acidity. Matured tannins in the back. Round and pretty mouthfeel. Great lemberger and my favorite of the day. Drinks well now.
Lemberger**** 1998, Weingut Dautel
Red colour. Spicey oak on the nose. Some fine florality. Powerful and round lemberger in the mouth. Some fine notes of red berries and florality. But again the oak takes some of the fruit and is too apparent. Fine acidity. The finish shows a little hard with some oak-tannins. Good.
Lemberger barrique 1997, Karl Haidle
Deep red colour. Oak on the nose. Some anise. Dark berries. Powerful and smooth wine in the mouth. Lots of oak-notes. Some dark berries. Some ink and anise. Medium acidity. Hard tannic end with tough oak-tannins. Too much oak here. Takes the depth in the fruit and makes the wine unnecessary hard. Fair quality.
Neipperger Schlossberg lemberger sptlese trocken 1993, Graf von Neipperg
Brick-red colour. Great nose. Complex. Red berries, autumn leafs, anise. Some oak-spice in the background. Medium bodied in the mouth. Evolved fruit with some aged sweetness. Complex. More dark berries, anise and autumn leafs. Fine acidity and still some tannins on the back. Good structure. Mature, but will keep. Very good wine and the third of my favorite lembergers this day.
from vinduet.org