TN: Rieslingfeier 2019: The Grand Tasting (Jan 19, 2019)

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by MarkS:
So Points, in other words?

No. I make no claims about a three being three times a one for any sensory quality. I could just as well use

and convey all my meaning.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

Riesling. It's not just for breakfast anymore.

The event was held -- starting 10:30 am -- at Craft Restaurant, as it has been for a couple of years now. The crowd was quite manageable for the first half-hour with VIP bottles shown in the first hour (or until they run out). Alas, that my tasting style is somewhat painstaking and requires plenty of chat time, so I was there for 2.5 hours, missed some of the VIP wines and missed some tables altogether.

The NYC crowd had good representation. I saw Jayson Cohen, Seth Rosenberg, Robert Dentice, and Sasha & Delia. I hope they'll fill in my gaps.

Among the pros I recognized David Schildknecht.

All are riesling wines unless otherwise noted.

Regions reprsented:
- Kamptal... Jurtschitsch
- Wachau... Alzinger, Hirtzberger, Nikolaihof
- Pfalz... Von Winning
- Rheingau... Eva Fricke, Spreitzer
- Rheinhessen... Gunderloch, Keller
- Swabia... Beurer
- Nahe... Donnhoff
- Mosel... Selbach-Oster, Julian Haart
- Saar... Egon Muller

Most houses were represented by the winemaker, often a married couple. They poured four wines at each table: a basic bottling, followed by two of the better wines, followed by "something for the VIPs". (I had a VIP admission but so did many others and sometimes the VIP wine was finished before I got there; so it goes.)

As this was a walkaround event, I assign a grade that is too hard for all y'all here to understand so I render it here as: square - good, triangle - better, circle - best.

Furthermore, I will abbreviate Grosses Gewachs as "GG" and Erste Lage as "1L".

Jurtschitsch - Alwin Jurtschitsch poured. He was happy and a little surprised to be at Rieslingfeier as 80% of his output is gruner veltliner. He has a preference for whistle-clean grapes and works hard to make it so, tossing out the rotted ones, noble or otherwise. But when everything is botrytized, well, then, that's what must be made. All wines here see 1 year on the lees and only old oak barrels.
2016 Gruner Veltliner, Kaferberg 1L - one of the estate's most important vineyards; fresh and full, a touch of lanolin, this is great

2016 Heiligenstein 1L - the other important vineyard; also fresh but thinner by comparison;
2016 Heiligenstein "Quelle" - grape selection of those vines near a particular aquifer; not much different today;
2005 Zobinger Heliligenstein TBA - made only with 'clean' botrytized grapes, modestly sweet but pure and charming;

Alzinger - did not visit

Nikolaihof - Niki Saahs explains that they do cask aging, an old practice that is almost extinct in Austria. She explains that Vom Stein is a vineyard of loam and other loose soils while Steiner Hund is basically rocks with a thin layer of humus over it. (And they brought 6 bottlings instead of 3 for the tasting!)
2017 Vom Stein Federspiel - clean... and closed; waiting a bit, eventually some chalk and stones come out;

2011 Vom Stein Federspiel - the wine spent 6 years in a 20,000-liter cask; still lightweight but definitely older, a bit of white cheese maybe, more interesting;

2004 Steinriesler - 12 years in cask; a bit of vinyl maybe? also somewhat closed down;

2014 Vom Stein Smaragd - also fermented dry but a later trie; intense, a lot of 'there' there; ripe enough to register as pit fruit

2013 Steiner Hund - wow, rich, glyceral, complex;

2014 Steiner Hund - taut and rocky; definitely needs time to come around;

2002 "Vinothek" - always a single-vineyard bottling but can be either Steiner Hund or Weingebirge (which this one is); just bottled; rich and fine but not better;

Hirtzberger - Franz & Theresa Hirtzberger came with a great photo of the vineyards showing clearly how Setzberg is in the flow of cold air coming from the west, Hochrain sitting on the valley floor, and Singerriedel getting sunlight long after every other vineyard is in shade. And he still likes his wines best at 5-7 years from vintage.
2013 Setzberg Smaragd - zingy, pretty, Kabinett-ish but a bit thin (as if from a cold site, eh);

2013 Hochrain Smaragd - clean and full, maybe a tad sweeter but meh;
2013 Singerriedel Smaragd - wow, very rich and complex;

Von Winning - Andreas Hutwohl pours.
2017 Paradiesgarten 1L Trocken - lots of stuffing but unforthcoming
2017 Roterpfad 1L Trocken - similar;
2017 Sauvignon Blanc - good and refined; unusual cepage but they are only 50 km from the border of Alsace so...

Spreitzer - Andreas Spreitzer pours... "Welcome to the Rheingau!"
2015 Hendelberg Alte Reben Trocken - their 1L; vines are 40-45 years; the hill is very steep; the wine is quite full with hints of Pez

2015 Rosengarten GG Trocken - their monopole; penetrating and vinous; I like this;

2016 Jesuitengarten Alte Reben Feinherb - round and mild; 12g;
2017 Lenchen Spatlese "303" - similar but softer yet;

Eva Fricke - did not visit

Gunderloch - Johannes Hasselbach pours. His family has owned these properties for 6 generations. All soils are red slate hence the crus are really grape selections. "Jean-Baptiste" is the mid-level quality label.
2016 Estate Trocken - a mix of three vineyard, good
2016 Rothenburg GG - the main property; sappy and rooty, showing well today

2017 Kabinett "Jean-Baptiste" - feinherb; Johannes describes it as "full of energy" and he's right, this is a great Kab: taut and twitchy and tingly

2008 Rothenberg Auslese - a case of this was lost behind some other boxes so it is not for sale but makes a great wine to bring to events: lightweight but long and pretty

Keller - Klaus Peter & Julia Keller pour. Or, rather, he stands around talking to Sasha and Seth while Julia pours.
2017 Silvaner "Feuervogl" - 60-year-old vines; eh
2016 Westhofen "R" (Liebesnest) - "R" stands for Reserve; typical riesling flavors but with a bit of apple juice too (not certain whether that should make me worry?)
2017 Kabinett "Limestone" - good energy here, too; lively

Beurer - did not visit

Donnhoff - Helmut & Gaby Donnhoff are great to talk to. She likes her wine with considerable age on it.
2016 Hollenpfad Trocken - OK;

2017 Oberhauser Brucke GG (auction bottle) - 3g, full and rich and wonderful

2017 Leistenberg Kabinett - lots of acid and 20g RS, but I like others' Kabinetts better

2017 Kirschheck Spatlese - good balance and very long;

Selbach-Oster - Johannes & Hannah Selbach: "In older vines you get less peach and apricot and more of the deep root flavors" (...presumably, sap and stones)
2016 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spatlese*** Trocken - first bottling; from grapes mid-slope on the hill, picked ripe but not too ripe; GG quality; reticent at first but then comes out rich and phenolic, long;

2015 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spatlese Feinherb "Uralte Reben" - The same wine he brought two years ago(?); spontaneous fermentation and he lets it go until it stops of its own accord; in this case, that's 12% and 21g; he says this is known as a "joker" wine: you can add it to anything else that needs a little boost; the wine is tangy with great complexity

2017 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr "Rotlay" - "block picked" meaning no berry selection; BA specs but made as if it would be dry; this is a happy wine

2009 Schlossberg Auslese - shapely acids, attractive, a bit slutty

Julian Haart - Julian & Nadine Haart pour.
2017 Moselle Trocken - eh
2016 Goldtropfchen Grand Cru Trocken - Holy Matchsticks, Batman; judgment deferred
2017 Goldtropfchen Kabinett - also reduced but it eventually opens toa pretty wine

2013 Ohlingsberg Spatlese - shows a bit of age already, acidity milder
2017 Ohlingsberg Auslese -

2010 Ohlingsberg Auslese - surprisingly delicate and light

Egon Muller - did not visit
2016 Chateau Bela - ...but I heard that this smelled of halvah and paint thinner
2014 Scharzhofberg Spatlese - ...but I heard that this was an extremely difficult cru in the vineyard and in the cellar but that is has come together beautifully

Wrap-up: These are the wines that made me perk up and pay more attention:
Hirtzberger 2013 Singerriedel Smaragd
Nikolaihof 2013 Steiner Hund
Spreitzer 2015 Rosengarten GG Trocken
Selbach-Oster 2015 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spatlese Feinherb "Uralte Reben"
Jurtschitsch 2016 Gruner Veltliner, Kaferberg 1L
Gunderloch 2016 Rothenburg GG
Gunderloch 2017 Kabinett "Jean-Baptiste"
Keller 2017 Kabinett "Limestone"
Donnhoff 2017 Kirschheck Spatlese
Donnhoff 2017 Oberhauser Brucke GG (auction bottle)
Selbach-Oster 2017 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr "Rotlay"

Finally, Robert Dentice was spreading joy and happiness -- and, one assumes, sulfur dioxide -- wherever he went:

 

[Rahsaan]

originally posted by Jayson Cohen:

Beurer

I really tried to get these wines. He seems like a really nice, down to earth guy who it would be fun to hang out with. But I literally didn’t like a single one. And I thought the 2013 Kieselenstein out of magnum and with a little bottle age was even less interesting than the 2016 out of bottle.

Interesting comments here. I obviously don't know what the wines were like at the tasting, but in my experience they are often a bit on the cranky side, and not always showing their best. But, when did that ever deter us from wines!!

More seriously, it also raises issues of taste. I really like the wines because they speak to me, but I wouldn't say they are *better* than wines that speak more to someone else. I like the salty slender approach to Southern German wines, which stands out to me. But perhaps it would not be as unique if I had more exposure to wines from Württemberg.

 

[georg lauer]

originally posted by Rahsaan:

originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
But perhaps it would not be as unique if I had more exposure to wines from Württemberg.

They are rather unique within the region as well. Which is why I love them so much (I come from there). And to me they are actually super easy drinking in almost all stages, though I prefer them with some age, even the simpler wines.

Overall it is super interesting to see how different people react to certain wines.

 

[Pavel Tchichikov]

originally posted by georg lauer:
They are rather unique within the region as well. Which is why I love them so much (I come from there). And to me they are actually super easy drinking in almost all stages, though I prefer them with some age, even the simpler wines.

there is also a question of getting used to closure.

I opened a '13 gipskeuper under SC 2 months ago that I was sure was permanently reduced. Well, it was *spectacular* 24 hours later; fresh, mineral, bright, deep, floral, you name it. You live and learn.

'13 Kieselsandstein was a touch reduced at Rieslingfeier as well, which is why I suspect Jayson preferred the '16.

 

[georg lauer]

originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:

originally posted by georg lauer:
They are rather unique within the region as well. Which is why I love them so much (I come from there). And to me they are actually super easy drinking in almost all stages, though I prefer them with some age, even the simpler wines.

there is also a question of getting used to closure.

I opened a '13 gipskeuper under SC 2 months ago that I was sure was permanently reduced. Well, it was *spectacular* 24 hours later; fresh, mineral, bright, deep, floral, you name it. You live and learn.

'13 Kieselsandstein was a touch reduced at Rieslingfeier as well, which is why I suspect Jayson preferred the '16.

I pretty much always dump them as brutally as possible in a carafe.

 

[Jayson Cohen]

This event is not really fair to the wines, like any rapid-fire tasting. I didn’t get a strong sense of reduction in the Beurer wines, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Day 2 is totally different. In fact, with young German Riesling, I would surprised if it wasn’t true. That’s why I keep an open mind. I’m half expecting that at some point Pavel will blind me with a brilliant, open Beurer, and I will be a convert.

 

[mark e]

originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
This event is not really fair to the wines, like any rapid-fire tasting. I didn’t get a strong sense of reduction in the Beurer wines, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Day 2 is totally different. In fact, with young German Riesling, I would surprised if it wasn’t true. That’s why I keep an open mind. I’m half expecting that at some point Pavel will blind me with a brilliant, open Beurer, and I will be a convert.

All true, I suspect. I don't think reduction - often (and particuarly in young German wines) - is the presence of anything detectable, it is its absence. I would think that the winemakers know this (and how can they not), so they should decant the wines whenever that is possible, even at tastings.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by georg lauer:

originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:

originally posted by georg lauer:
They are rather unique within the region as well. Which is why I love them so much (I come from there). And to me they are actually super easy drinking in almost all stages, though I prefer them with some age, even the simpler wines.

there is also a question of getting used to closure.

I opened a '13 gipskeuper under SC 2 months ago that I was sure was permanently reduced. Well, it was *spectacular* 24 hours later; fresh, mineral, bright, deep, floral, you name it. You live and learn.

'13 Kieselsandstein was a touch reduced at Rieslingfeier as well, which is why I suspect Jayson preferred the '16.

I pretty much always dump them as brutally as possible in a carafe.

Very alpha sexy.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:

originally posted by georg lauer:
They are rather unique within the region as well. Which is why I love them so much (I come from there). And to me they are actually super easy drinking in almost all stages, though I prefer them with some age, even the simpler wines.

there is also a question of getting used to closure.

I opened a '13 gipskeuper under SC 2 months ago that I was sure was permanently reduced. Well, it was *spectacular* 24 hours later; fresh, mineral, bright, deep, floral, you name it. You live and learn.

'13 Kieselsandstein was a touch reduced at Rieslingfeier as well, which is why I suspect Jayson preferred the '16.

Reminder that airtight screwcaps are not responsible for reduction, only for its non-dissipation (one might as well blame the glass bottle as well because glass is airtight). If the producer were to use screwcaps that allow controlled entry, of which there are several on the market, the reductive environment in which the wine was made and which is captured at bottling (in which reductive odors may or may not develop) would gradually dissipate.

 

[Robert Dentice]

Drank a 2012 Beurer Gipskeuper last night that was under screwcap. Fantastic wine but the screwcap did seem to change the flavor profile slightly. However I can't really describe it. I love the Beurer wines but do admit I hit one of the Rieslings every once in awhile that seems off / closed. Try the reds - Zweigelt, Trollinger or the Rose.

 

[Pavel Tchichikov]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Reminder that airtight screwcaps are not responsible for reduction, only for its non-dissipation (one might as well blame the glass bottle as well because glass is airtight). If the producer were to use screwcaps that allow controlled entry, of which there are several on the market, the reductive environment in which the wine was made and which is captured at bottling (in which reductive odors may or may not develop) would gradually dissipate.

Nice try. If you believe that a man locked up in a room with no windows for a year goes nuts because he had a predisposition for such condition to begin with, then we are cool.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Reminder that airtight screwcaps are not responsible for reduction, only for its non-dissipation (one might as well blame the glass bottle as well because glass is airtight). If the producer were to use screwcaps that allow controlled entry, of which there are several on the market, the reductive environment in which the wine was made and which is captured at bottling (in which reductive odors may or may not develop) would gradually dissipate.

But this is a guessing game... Useful ingress rate over 5 years is probably different than useful ingress rate over 30 years. Seems tricky to me.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Reminder that airtight screwcaps are not responsible for reduction, only for its non-dissipation (one might as well blame the glass bottle as well because glass is airtight). If the producer were to use screwcaps that allow controlled entry, of which there are several on the market, the reductive environment in which the wine was made and which is captured at bottling (in which reductive odors may or may not develop) would gradually dissipate.

But this is a guessing game... Useful ingress rate over 5 years is probably different than useful ingress rate over 30 years. Seems tricky to me.

Agreed, and I’m not saying it’s a game winemakers should necessarily pursue (perhaps they are best left to the romantic vagaries of corks), I’m just giving discredit where discredit is due.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

originally posted by Pavel Tchichikov:

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Reminder that airtight screwcaps are not responsible for reduction, only for its non-dissipation (one might as well blame the glass bottle as well because glass is airtight). If the producer were to use screwcaps that allow controlled entry, of which there are several on the market, the reductive environment in which the wine was made and which is captured at bottling (in which reductive odors may or may not develop) would gradually dissipate.

Nice try. If you believe that a man locked up in a room with no windows for a year goes nuts because he had a predisposition for such condition to begin with, then we are cool.

Congrats, this wins the Non-sequitur of the Year award.

 

[kirk wallace]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:


Congrats, this wins the Non-sequitur of the Year award.

We're still in January!