TN: Two from Grünhaus and one from Prüm

[Tim York]

A recent family gathering provided an opportunity to drink three different wines from MSR at the same sitting, so bringing their differences into sharp relief.I was not convinced by this "dry" Grünhaus Abtsberg offering and thought the traditional Kabinett from theoretically inferior Herrenberg more to my taste. The Prüm was from the awkward 2000 vintage; I thought he did a good job with it in the circumstances.

Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Superior 2007 C. von Schubert Alc.11.5%. I was rather disappointed by this bottle. Not that it was in any way a bad wine and it was liked by the company but I expect something extra from a prestige Grünhaus bottling. It was medium+ bodied, unusual from this source, and showed enough RS to be close to medium/dry. There was attractive white fruit with peach hints, stony minerals and lively acidity but it was less bright in focus and more plodding than most Grünhaus without a lot of complex aromatic development at this stage. Perhaps the fifth year is a bad time to open this bottling and I certainly enjoyed a bottle a couple of years ago more than this judging by the TN. This being my last bottle, I’ll never know what more age could do for it; 15/20++.

Maximin Grünhäuser Herrenberg Kabinett 3 2002 C. von Schubert Alc.7.5% - was much more what I want from Grünhaus; medium/light bodied and nimble on its feet with all the bright focus I want together with gentle sweetness offset by mouth-watering acidity, delicate fruit, stony minerals and interestingly fragrant aromatics; 16/20+

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett 24 - 2000 Joh.Jos. Prüm Alc.7.5% - was sweeter seeming and more complex than the Herrenberg with some fascinating aromatics but also a soft centre and even a suggestion of botrytis (noble? a vintage effect?). Very enjoyable though too rich for what I want in Kabinett and somewhat flawed; nevertheless 16/20.

 

[Bob Parsons Alberta]

Tim, same story as before with the Kabinett, one is never sure what the level of sweetness is going to be. I am seriously thinking of buying more trocken in the future if I am not able to taste beforehand.

Bob P.

 

[Tim York]

originally posted by Bob Parsons Alberta:
Tim, same story as before with the Kabinett, one is never sure what the level of sweetness is going to be. I am seriously thinking of buying more trocken in the future if I am not able to taste beforehand.

Bob P.

Bob, "trocken" allows quite a bit of RS. Without doing a formal check, I think that it can go up to a maximum of 9g/l RS if there is 7g/l acidity. The sugar/acidity relationship is key. I've had some "trocken" from Bürklin-Wolf which is far from bone dry but is still food friendly for fish, chicken and veal dishes with sauce, as also are the less rich halbtrocken and demi-sec.

Real MSR Kabinett like the Herrenberg here is more versatile. Because of its fleetness of foot and low alcohol it can go beautifully with simple fish dishes like trout or sole meunière. As you say, one has to taste in advance to be sure.

 

[Yixin]

Plenty of rot along the Mosel in 2000, some growers had yields in the single digits. Others allowed some rot and compensated with some fairly aggressive sulfuring throughout winter. Some barrels were denied AP numbers multiple times due to the amount of sulfur* - although the wines tasted fine, lab analysis showed pretty shocking levels of sulfur. The solution, in some cases, was to blend in some fresh wine from another vintage (this is allowed, and I've personally seen/done it).

*I cannot find the reference now, but there are rules governing the amount of free and total sulfur, based on the prädikat (and perhaps residual sugar, although I don't remember).