WTN: 4 German Rieslings with Salil

[David M. Bueker]

Dinner chez Salil last night. He made some great jerk style chicken & beans.

Predictably we had German Riesling.

2007 90+ Cellars Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese
I have no idea what the deal is behind this label except that I hated the idea. My friendly local merchant told me that the wine actually had a Dr. Loosen branded cork, so I figured that for $18 I would check it out. Turns out it did have the Dr. Loosen cork & it was pretty darned good. More acidity/freshness than I have frequently associated with 2007, and little to none of the creaminess I associate with Loosen. This was very, very nice & I could have worked on it all night except the 3 wines that followed were each steps up.

2008 J. J. Christoffel Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spatlese
So Robert Emayel not has his name on the label in small print. I wonder what that tells us about the future...In any event, this wine from old, ungrafted vines (I'm such a trend follower) is showing a ton of bright fruit, baby fat richness & refreshing acidity. It also evolved and opened up considerably over the course of the evening. I love the screwcaps, and I would buy a lot of this if I did not have so much Christoffel in the cellar already that is begging to be drunk.

2001 Meulenhof Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
This bottle leaked like a sieve, but the cork was totally clean, so I suspect serious overfill. Anyway the wine was completely flawless with emerging cremy elements, petrol, ripe fruit and perfect balance. This actually outdistanced the Donnhoff Brucke auslese below (just by a nose) & proved that price is not the only indicator of quality as this was under $20 in fall of 2002. Flat out amazing wine.

2001 Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Auslese
Just barely starting to drink well. This took an hour open to reveal the spice and electric fruit on the nose. All the while the palate flavors danced like the Bolshoi. Stunning botrytis (not a lot of botrytis, but a notable amount) auslese that has ages to go. This will be better than the Meulenhof in time, but on this night the Mosel Auslese took the prize.

Nice show but we expect nothing less from you guys!

Are you of the opinion that there was a 'down period' at Christoffel? Was that just 2002-2003 during the transfer to Eymael? I guess I got scared off at the time but I should probably go back because I loved their 2001s, which was my first German vintage tasted on release so the producers I liked at the time made a very 'emotional' impression on me.

[David M. Bueker]

I am not of that opinion unless you count that I hated the 2003s overall. The 2002s are delicious. I know some people (who do not post here) think Christoffel has been no good since 1996, but that's dead wrong. I bought 2002s & 2004s. I stopped due to a surplus that I wanted to age, not due to any lack of quality.

That was a really fun evening, and a really fantastic lineup of wines right through.

The 90+ Cellars was a great start (though I was completely off the mark with my guesses when David poured it blind), and the wines just got better from there.
The Christoffel Treppchen was fantastic, and makes me very glad I bought a bunch of his 08s - I've really liked what I tried in the last few vintages from Christoffel (particularly the Erdener Treppchen Spatlesen in 06 and 07), and all the 08s I've had are absolutely ideal for my tastes with really bright fruit, intense minerality and seriously good acids.
And then the Auslesen - wow. Two really spectacular wines, quite different as the Brucke was still incredibly primary with a fair bit of botrytis and the Meulenhof was a bit more developed, though without any sense of botrytis and just an amazing match for food. Thanks again for bringing those wines, they were real treats.

I know some people (who do not post here) think Christoffel has been no good since 1996, but that's dead wrong. I bought 2002s & 2004s. I stopped due to a surplus that I wanted to age, not due to any lack of quality.

Thanks for the endorsement!

Interesting notes and a fun-sounding event. One question: since (I presume) that this was the jerk chicken Salil made from our recipe, I wonder how you guys (and Laura, of course) felt about the pairing of the wine with the jerk chicken. For my part, I usually eschew wine altogether with that dish, as the intense spicing and mesquite smoke tends to overwhelm most wines.

Mark Lipton

[David M. Bueker]

I am honestly not sure what recipe he used, and there was no mesquite as this was not done as a grilled dish. The wines did work very well though, especially the auslesen.

Actually Mark, I used a different method (though with the same jerk marinade/seasoning you'd written up) - cut back on the seasoning a little, cooked on the stovetop and finished the chicken in a gravy with onions, beans and blackeyed peas to reduce the impact of the sheer heat. Was aiming to try and recreate the jerk curries I've had in one of my favourite Chicago places for Caribbean food (Uncle Joe's in Hyde Park), I thought the dish was quite Riesling-friendly and worked really nicely with the baby fat richness of the Christoffel and the Meulenhof.

[David M. Bueker]

and Salil - I was doing some cellar maintenance yesterday & uncovered another leaking Meulenhof (Treppchen Auslese this time) as well as a leaking Hermannshohle Auslese. Both look like the typical overfills. Party time!

When, where and what should the food be?

When, where and what should the food be?

Tomorrow, my house and I'll serve venison-black bean chili. Thanks for the response, Salil.

Mark Lipton