Tag Archives: Europe

April 14, 2013 · 8:42 am

Georg Breuer – 7/02/2012

The red wines are understandably lighter and fresher than most pinot noirs, showing fresh strawberry and cranberry notes, and they reminded me of the pinot noirs I tasted in the Finger Lakes.

Tasting through the Rieslings I found they displayed great purity of fruit, balanced acids and lovely fresh dryness. It was fascinating trying each of the vineyards, as they each had their own unique qualities and characteristics.

The standout of the 2009 vintage for me was the Berg Rottland.

The Nonnenberg 2009 had good minerality, but lacked any real character and definition, not bad but not exciting.

Considering the quality of the vineyards, I think there is so much more to be got out of them.

History of labels for the top Georg Breuer wine

History of labels for the top Georg Breuer wine

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April 14, 2013 · 8:23 am

Weingut Kuenstler – 8/02/2012

Finesse Trocken Riesling 2011
Such an approachable and versatile wine with a little residual sugar to offset the acids.

Hochheim Holle Riesling 2010
Very concentrated and exuberant.

Hochheim Holle Riesling 2009
More approachable now.

Hochheim Holle Riesling 2008
Tasted younger than the 2009.

Kosteim Weiss Erd Riesling 2009
A ripe tropical pineapple element to it, richer and fuller on the palate but still fresh.

Hochheim Kirchenstuck Riesling 2009
A sherbety juby character, and was more in the peach and mango spectrum of fruit. I actually found this was the best of the three single-vineyard wines I tried.

Hochheim Holle Auslese and Beerenauslese Riesling
Both had the same faint beeswax aroma I had seen before, but were both exceptionally concentrated without being overly cloying. These are wines of distinction, but also wines that require time in the bottle.

Weingut Kuenstler wines

Weingut Kuenstler wines

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April 14, 2013 · 8:14 am

Schloss Johannisberg – 8/02/2012

Rotlack Kabinett trocken and Feinherb)
More ripe tropical characters, and also a slight sweet herb note.

Silverlack Trocken Riesling 2009
Much richer and fuller, with a slight sweet corn and hot butter complexity.

Grunlack Spatlese Riesling 2010
Lovely rich ripe peach and apricot fruit notes, whilst retaining the freshness of acidity.

Goldlack Trockenbeerenauslese 2010
Sweet artichoke and olive oil viscosity and texture, lovely raisined richness and superb length.

Schloss Johannisberg wines

Schloss Johannisberg wines

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April 14, 2013 · 7:59 am

Balthasar Ress – 9/02/2012

Von Unserm Trocken Riesling 2010
Very sharp and lean on the palate, fresh and vibrant, but a little aromatically shy.

Hattenheimer Feinherb Riesling 2010
Lovely and approachable, exactly what you want out of this kind of wine, as it is malleable with food.

Hattenheim Engelmannsberg Riesling 2010
A much more textural and rich wine, and exhibited some nice wild honey characters on the back palate.

The wines in general were all very good examples of the variety and region, but for my under-developed but unbiased palate, seemed a little on the simple side, lacking distinct character or austerity. It will be interesting to see how the wine style evolves over the coming years, as there are apparently some big things happening in the winery currently.

Balthasar Ress wines

Balthasar Ress wines

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April 14, 2013 · 7:54 am

Robert Weil – 9/02/2012

Riesling Trocken 2011 and 2010 vintages
Through the process of blending and balance, these wines were almost indistinguishable. The size of the estate holdings and the volume produced (roughly 300,000 bottles) means that there is a higher possibility to maintain consistency in this wine from vintage to vintage.

Kiedricher Village Riesling 2010
Very spritzy vibrant fruit freshness, and had a little botrytis derived oxidative complexity.

Kiedrich Klosterberg Riesling 2010
Quite rich and tropical, showing more ripe characters without losing the balance.

Kiedrich Turmberg Riesling 2010
A slightly reductive mineralic nose, more vibrancy and defined acidity.

Grafenburg Erstes Gewachs Riesling 2010
Far too young to fairly assess it, as it was very tight and lean, but will develop beautifully over the next 10-15 years.

Kabinett Riesling, Grafenburg Spatlese and Auslese, all 2010
The acids in all cases were very well integrated and fresh, but there was a lot of concentrated ripe sweetness in the Spatlese and Auslese.

Robert Weil wines

Robert Weil wines

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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 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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