April 13, 2013 · 1:20 pm

Weingut Wittmann – 10/02/2012

Silvaner Trocken 2011
A slightly shy yeasty nose, bold fruit and some texture, but not much length or complexity.

Riesling Trocken 2011
fun fruity and approachable wine with nice clean lime and kiwi fruit characters.

Selection ‘S’ Weisser Burgunder 2010
The reserve wine of the variety, it had lovely volume and depth, and had the character of a pinot blanc made in a chablis style.

Brunnenhauschen Auslese 2010
Very quiet kerosene mineral nose, was somewhat rich and syrupy, but had a lovely fresh finish. There were some hints of savoury characters combining with the bright citrus notes, certainly one for ageing.

Weingut Wittmann tasting

Weingut Wittmann tasting

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April 13, 2013 · 1:14 pm

Weingut Gunderloch – 10/02/2012

Fritzs Riesling 2010
Lovely and fresh with a little R/S to keep it approachable and friendly.

Qualitatswein Riesling 2010
Orange and mango aromas and a soft acid freshness

Nackenheim Riesling 2010
Slightly more reductive mineralic nose and more rich and concentrated youth.

Nierstein Riesling 2010
Fuller and broader and certainly more approachable now.

Rothenberg Grosses Gewachs Riesling 2010
Dense in the mid-palate, and with such concentration and austerity makes you want to drink it in at least 10 years.

Rothenberg Spatlese Riesling 2010
Some lovely tropical pineapple mango characters, and had fantastic balance and concentration.

Rothenberg Auslese Riesling 2010
More juby glycol texture and viscosity.

Nackenheim Rothenberg Trockenbeerenauslese 2008
Includes the juice macerating on skins for 30 days and takes a year to finish fermenting. The wine is one of the most complex I have ever tasted, as it had the rich syrupy stone fruit and fresh acids, but then showed exquisite oxidative hazelnut and oats.

Top dry wines of Gunderloch

Top dry wines of Gunderloch

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April 11, 2013 · 9:23 am

Yelland & Papps – 10/04/2013

Delight Vermentino 2012
Clean light salty, hints of apricot. Nice weight and texture, brightness of fruit and acid, just a little RS to make things friendlier, a little citrus rind zest.

Delight Vin de Soif 2011
(Gren, mataro, Shiraz, carignan)
Nice spicy peppery rhone nose, crushed white pepper and clove, red fruits. Intense but bright and fresh, clean and great balance between fruit and savoury.

Devote Shiraz Roussanne 2011
Soft tight but open sweet dark fruits, hints of nutmeg and cumin. Soft sweet core of fruit, a lock of Indian spice on the back. Good acidity, food friendly.

Second Take Grenache 2012
A lot wilder denser dirtier and funkier, wattle leaf notes. Fantastic, fresh and light but not obvious fruit, not sweet or dense, savoury and exciting.

Second take Shiraz 2012
A little more obvious in varietal character, but nicely savoury and bloody in style. Taking cues from southern Rhone, still nice and soft with dark fruit, just enough texture and intensity of acids.

2012 Dolcetto
A bit spirity, almost tequila scotch, sharp red fruits. Pomegranate, spicy savoury notes.

2012 Barbera
Nice intense rubbery notes. Nice and soft, good clarity and intensity, chocolate on the back. Fresh and light but full of flavour.

2012 Primitivo
Deceptively expressive and jubey on the nose, candied red fruit. Soft full and wonderfully dark fruit, bold tannin structure but still relatively elegant and long.

2012 Lagrein
Good structure and depth, freshness and intensity of fruit and acid. Very solid.

2013 Dolcetto
Good core of dark fruit, really vibrant and exciting, forward and friendly. Great fruit driven wine but not classic style, different.

2013 Barbera
Mealy earthy red fruits, nice bite and thrust, freshness and friendliness with sufficient food-friendly acid.

2013 Lagrein
Very dark and intense in colour. Blueberry blackcurrant fruit roll-up. Dark and soft plenty of sweet fruit, but still fresh. Hefty tannins linger on the back.

Yelland & Papps sign

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April 11, 2013 · 9:10 am

Domain Day – 10/04/2013

Garganega 2011
Nice clean slightly oily, a touch sea salty and blossomy. Fairly crisp, forward on the palate, fresh texture, balanced through the palate.

Viognier 2009
Bright and fresh citrus blossom and almond, some oily minerality. Quite intense and full, warm texture and weight, creamy robust fruit.

Rose 2010 Pinot Noir Sangiovese
Quite dark, approaching Beaujolais. Dark cherry notes, full character. Dark full-bodied, more red wine than rose.

Sangiovese 2009
Dark and intense colour. Over extracted and fruit sweet, pleasant enough but made like a Shiraz.

Lagrein 2010
Really full inky black, lots of dark plum blackcurrant fruits on the nose, raspberry liquorice. Soft mellow full, round and juicy but also very warm and sweet. Nice clean finish, more in the merlot vein.

Saperavi 2005
Dark earthy concentration, sweet intense blackcurrant fruit, soft dark and full. Teeth-staining.

Dolcezza Garganega 2008
Honeyed citrus notes. Nice balance, not overly sweet, fresh and soft, good lines and complex sweetness on the back.

Domain Day Cellar Door

Domain Day Cellar Door

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April 11, 2013 · 9:04 am

Massena – 10/04/2013

Barbera 2012
Nice and dark, but not too intense in colour. Characteristic spicy pepperyness, dark red fruits but still extremely lively, intense but not at all heavy, and great acids with enough warmth.

Primitivo 2012
Dense spicy pepper black fruits. Really intense and full but not too clingy or heavy on the back. Great expression and energy, broad on the palate but clean and straight.

2012 Tannat
Quite dark and smoky, subtle spice. Very dense but wonderful structure, full on the palate, nice and broad, firm tannins but not too hot or extractive. Acids and savoury notes there.

2012 Saperavi
Lovely and intense dark and full sweet spice. Sweet fruit but still amazingly fresh and soft,

2013 Barbera
Juicy and bright but lacking in spice and acid.

2013 Primitivo
Dark and sweet black fruits. Dark juicy but perhaps lacking in fruit.

2013 Saperavi
Exceptional structure and velvety tannins. Good fruit weight.

The Massena Barbera and Primitivo

The Massena Barbera and Primitivo

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April 9, 2013 · 9:49 pm

Weingut am Stein – 13/02/2012

Wurzburger Stein Silvaner 2010
A slight spritz to it, a very bright fresh nose and palate, but was pretty simple.

Wurzburger Grosses Gewachs Silvaner 2010
A lot more mineral influence, good mid-palate breadth, some viscosity from residual sugar, but was quite warm at 13% alcohol.

Wurzburger Innere Leiste Grosses Gewachs Riesling 2009
An interesting sesame seed character but it tended to overwhelm the fruit.

Wurzburger Innere Leiste Spatburgunder 2008
Some pronounced dark fruit notes with some savoury spice, and a hint of chocolate. In general the wines were a little alcoholic and textural, lacking in finesse and freshness.

Weingut am Stein wines

Weingut am Stein wines

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April 9, 2013 · 9:45 pm

Rudolf Furst – 13/02/2012

Spatburgunder Tradition 2010
Nice spicy raspberry and red cherry notes on the nose, with very light delicate silky tannins and sweet fruit vibrancy.

Centgrafenberg Spatburgunder Grosses Gewachs 2008
Very concentrated red currant nose, great balance and elegance, and an earthy texture with some cumin and cinnamon complexity.

Schlossberg Spatburgunder Grosses Gewachs 2009
Much more opulent rich wine, with darker berry notes, toasted nut complexity and a savoury finish.

Hunsruck Spatburgunder Grosses Gewachs 2009
More blackforest and chocolate elements, and had a grainy tannin texture.

Hunsruck Spatburgunder Grosses Gewachs 2003
Evolved in the bottle to show smokier toasty red currant fruit, with a dark nougat macadamia complexity on the palate.

Centgrafenberg Frueburgunder 2009
Different, presenting as quite stalky and brambly on the nose, but a little salty and warm on the palate.

Riesling 2010
Quite spritzy and vibrant showing slight herbaceous notes.

Riesling 2009
Much softer and more voluptuous, with the herbaceous characters evolving into ripe cucumber and capsicum.

Riesling 2005
Showing bottle development of lovely rich kerosene, crushed hazelnut and walnut, volume and viscosity, lovely texture and length.

Burgstadter Centgrafenberg Eiswein 2001
Amazingly rich and dense in colour and viscosity. There was a very creamy vanilla texture and flavour, combining with citrus to have a lemon custard character.

Rudolf Fuerst wines

Rudolf Fuerst wines

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April 9, 2013 · 7:44 pm

Weingut Horst Sauer – 13/02/2012

Muller Thurgau Kabinett Trocken 2010
Very clean fresh and palatable, but lacked in any real character, a consistent them with the variety.

The silvaner wines tended to have the same melon and pear characters, but had a little bit more depth and finesse to them, possibly thanks to the minerality of the soil.

I then compared the 2010 and 2011 vintages of the riesling wines. The pear and honeydew melon notes were very prominent in the 2011 wines, showing consistency of terroir influence, and had good soft freshness and rich viscosity. The 2010 wines by comparison showed more intense minerality, concentrated grapefruit and pineapple, and showed more savoury olive oil texture.

The Grosses Gewachs 2010 Silvaner and Riesling were both exceptional, but I wasn’t such a fan of the sweet wines, which included the Scheurebe Spatlese 2011 and Silvaner Beerenauslese 2010, as they were a little clumsy and lacked finesse and acid balance.

Different barrels at Horst Sauer

Different barrels at Horst Sauer

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April 9, 2013 · 7:27 pm

Castell – 14/02/2012

The muller thurgau wines are fresh and light but have no personality. The silvaner wines are certainly a big step up, but aren’t as good as the Wirsching wines. There is occasionally an interesting flinty chalk minerality in these wines, which adds an extra layer of complexity.

Trautberg Silvaner Traminer 2010
Some lovely musky floral aromas, nice viscosity and texture, and a nice balanced level of ripeness.

The top silvaner wines have a slight green herbaceous edge, combining nicely with green tropical notes. I didn’t think much of the weissburgunder wines, as the variety doesn’t really offer much.

The spatburgunder wines similarly were very thin and looked sour. The wines aren’t really what I’ll remember about this amazing estate and village.

Ancient documents at Castell

Ancient documents at Castell

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April 9, 2013 · 7:17 pm

Weingut Hans Wirsching – 14/02/2012

Silvaner Kabinett Trocken 2011
The highlight, even though it isn’t one of the top wines. It represents exceptional value and shows the quality of the fruit and the skill of the winemaker in achieving such balance in the blend. It has a slight reductive dusty spice due to its youth, but then opens with lovely kiwi and green papaya with hints of green onion.

Silvaner Spatlese Trocken 2010
Richer in volume and weight thanks to the ripeness of the fruit at harvest, but the powerful acids were well-integrated with a nice finish.

Iphofer Julius-Echter-Berg Grosses Gewachs Silvaner 2010
An even richer honeyed lemon grass nose, showing some dried tropical mango, pineapple and guava on the palate.

Tri Terra 2008
One of the unique wines they produce consisting of white burgundy grapes, including chardonnay, weissburgunder (pinot blanc) and grauburgunder (pinot gris). Tasting the 2008 I was surprised to see quite pronounced malolactic oaky notes of lanolin, butter and almond oil, and on the palate it was overworked and flabby. The delicate nature of the acids lends itself to less barrel and malolactic handling, and in my opinion should use a finer-grain light toast older barrel, with almost no malolactic fermentation.

Bottles aging in the cellars of Hans Wirsching

Bottles aging in the cellars of Hans Wirsching

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