WTN: Two Schaefers try to put a Hex on the Baron

[David M. Bueker]

Dinner with Salil last night. We had a delicious chicken dish that he posted on in the food forum to accompany a few wines.

2006 Schaefer-Frohlich Felsenberg Grosses Gewachs (Nahe)
Decanted (I do not know for how long), but still rather tight. I like the overall entry of the wine, but find it to be lacking a bit of fruit (not sweetness, just fruit) in the mid-palate without sufficient mineral stuffing to fill up the hole. Good but not all that this wine should be.

2001 Hexamer Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Riesling Auslese (Nahe)
Another wine that was good but not great. I very much liked the delicate, honeyed tones of the wine, but felt it lacked a touch of richness to really be in an auslese style. It also lacked a little in the acidity department. Warmer it was better, and that honeyed fruit is just lovely, but this is a pleasant wine, not a wine that commands attention.

1994 Chateau Pichon-Baron (Pauillac)
Very nice in an austere vintage Bordeaux way. The nose is lovely, and well developed, and the entry flavors are very linear and focused. Just a tiny bit more fruit depth would make this exactly the kind of wine I like to drink (say more like 1998), but it's still very enjoyable and easy to drink too much of it.

1997 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese (Mosel)
Well now, here's a wine that commands attention. Fusel, creamy, honeyed, fruity, mineral and many other things. This is integrated, vibrant & mouth-filling, with gorgeous texture and magnificent length. Delicious & from half bottle it is never going to be better in my opinion (though it may be quite different in several more years). This is a wow wine.

David,
I had the same thoughts as you regarding the '94 Pichon Baron. The 1994 Lalande, on the other hand, had everything I like about Bordeaux. It was more generous with a little bit more fruit than the Baron.

I drank a couple bottles of the Kabinett version of that 2001 Hexamer a few years ago that I really enjoyed. I liked the delicate style a lot.

Is the S-F GG Felsenberg a dry style wine?
I have tried two bottles of the 2006 Shaefer Frohlich Spatlese trocken, but I am wondering if they need more time.
The second bottle came alive on the second day after it was opened.
I haven't drank a lot of German Riesling trocken style wines to have any feeling for drinking windows.

[David M. Bueker]

The Schaefer-Frohlich Grosses Gewachs is a dry wine. It might have a few grams of RS, but it drinks very dry.

As for regular trockens, I might drink them. 2006 is an odd duck of a vintage.

David, great to have you over again and glad you enjoyed the food. Was an interesting, very varied lineup of wine - my thoughts mostly concur with yours, but I'll add on a couple of other impressions.
I enjoyed the Schafer-Frohlich, but compared to other Grosses Gewachs I've had from the likes of Weil, Donnhoff and Keller, found it a little underwhelming and austere, and I'm still struggling to understand the massive hype and praise the Frohlich wines are getting. They are quite enjoyable - but I don't see them in the same league as Schonleber or Donnhoff at least when dry wines or Spatlese is concerned.
The Hexamer was a really lovely wine - while not a big or attention-commanding wine I thought it was an excellent bottle for the dining table (particularly for the chicken kebabs) with very good balance and that really gorgeous flavour profile of peaches, red fruits, honey and a little spice. I enjoyed the Pichon a great deal as well, particularly as it gained more air and picked up a little in weight after an hour or so. Gorgeous aromatics and again, not a big wine but the acidity and a lighter touch on the palate than I've seen in a lot of other Bdx made it a really good companion for the food.
The Schaefer was indeed a 'WOW' wine. Literally nectar of the gods and an amazing way to end the night. Not much I can add to your description - between the flavours, mouthfeel, length and balance it was absolutely stunning. Could still taste the honeyed, creamy fruit flavours for a good while after dinner.

David/Salil

Sounds an excellent evening. I do however have a couple of questions. First up what did you serve with the Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese. I purchased some recently and am still working out a food paring?

Second where does the term Grosses Gewachs fit into the German wine story. I checked wiki and got a base level understanding but would really appreciate a bit more colour if possible.

cheers
mark

[David M. Bueker]

I drank the Schaefer Auslese after dinner. I think Salil had some with the kebabs & that might work given their mild spice.

Grosses Gewachs is a fancy, relatively new classification for dry wines from "classified" sites. Essentially "great growth" they are supposed to be the ultimate expression of Riesling from the named site. There's a bunch more marketing hooey as well, but that's the most important distinction.

Just a heads-up. There's a single bottle left (at the moment) at Premier Cru of the 97 Schaefer Auslese #14. I've taken the others, but you guys seem to be fans, so I figured I'd try to drop a note here.

[David M. Bueker]

Luckily I still have '97 Schaefer Auslese, both Domprobst and Himmelreich!

But the Red Baron was German too!

[David M. Bueker]

But the Red Baron was German too!

Snoopy wasn't.