WTN: 2001 Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese

2001 Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer, Mosel (8/12/2007)
Decanted about an hour. Straw-colored, mild aromas of lemon and sugar. Pleasantly soft in the mouth, moderately viscous and concentrated. Flavors are muted and, I would say, hidden. Delightful acidity pin-prickles the palate after about eight seconds. Pleasant, harmonious finish. Nicely balanced, but I would guess several years, at least, away from its prime drinking window, based on the combination of harmony and a sense of hidden flavor. Also, from a good year, producer, and vineyard, you'd expect much more complexity and mature riesling flavor than this is giving now. It's thoroughly enjoyable now, in any event.

Posted from CellarTracker

I liked this wine on release. Long finish, complex, balanced, super clean. I notice that mine is Juffer not Juffer-Sonnenuhr, though.

The MF Richter 2001 Graacher Himmelreich kabinett was one of my bargain favorites at the time.

[David M. Bueker]

I actually would not expect much mature flavor/complexity yet, especially from a year such as 2001. For spatlese from a good site and good producer it's about 2 years too early for that kind of development.

I actually would not expect much mature flavor/complexity yet, especially from a year such as 2001. For spatlese from a good site and good producer it's about 2 years too early for that kind of development.

Yes, David. I opened this mostly because the cap foil on a few of my bottles is loose, and I wanted to check for possible damage. A second reason for opening is that I read somewhere (a J. Fish posting last year?) that the 2001s appeared, mysteriously, to be maturing very quickly. I found no support for that view in this bottle.

Ian