WTN: Noland Brothers + Renee do riesling on Easter

Noland Brothers + Renee Riesling Tasting Easter 2010

4 rieslings were tasted blind. First as a sipper. Second with 3 different types of cheese, Asiago with roasted red peppers, white cheddar, and aged gouda.

Wine A
Pale yellow. Light nose of apricots, melon and green peach. Nice midpalate of white peach and lemon with refreshing acidity. Floral characteristics with mock orange (James), like vigonier (Bob) and honeysuckle (Renee). Light medium to long finish. Lighter wine that is a good palate cleanser. This wine evolved the most with time. Nice balance.

Wine B
Pale yellow. Great nose of fruity petrol with undertones of honeydew melon and peack. A peaches and cream (+orange Bob) midpalate with a hint of petrol, sweetness and nice acidity. Medium to long fruity finish. Well balanced.

Wine C
Pale yellow with a green tinge. Somewhat shy nose with petrol and light fruit. Nice fruit, fruit, and more layers of fruit (white peach) on the sweetish midpalate with a touch of limestone, petrol and balancing acidity. Long luxuriant finish. Layers of flavor and stones on finish. Great balance.

Wine D
Dark yellow almost amber. Big time petrol and reduction on the nose with spicy cinnamon apple pie. A bit over the top nose that evolved as it warmed up to burnt rubber/matches. Strong to annoying petrol on the midpalate with underlying fruit. Medium to long subtle finish. As this wine warmed up the reduction got worse and worse. Then we put pennies in the glass and that helped reduce the sulfurous fumes.

Sipping wine ratings in order of finish:
Wine C rated the best by Tom, Bob and James (Renee rated it #3)
Wine A rated the best by Renee, 2nd best Bob and James, 3rd Tom
Wine B rated 2nd best by Renee and Tom, 3rd by Bob and James
Wine D rated 4th by everyone.

With food.

Difficult to rate the wines with the 3 cheeses because none of the cheeses were a great match.
Aged Gouda was not really great with any wine but was best with wine D.
Cheddar was the best match with most wines, probably best with wine B and D. Ok with A and good with C.
Asiago was good with A, B, and D but killed the finish on C.
Overall wines B and D were probably best with cheese but this was probably not a good test for any of the wines with food.

Wines revealed:
Wine A: Eroica 2008 riesling Chateau Ste. Michelle 11.5% abv James’ wine
Wine B: Schloss Schonborn 2005 Hattenheimer Pffaffenberg riesling kabinett Rheingau 10% abv Tom’s wine
Wine C: J. J. Prum 2004 riesling spatlese Mosel Gracher Himmelreich 8% abv Bob’s wine
Wine D: Markko 2002 riesling Conneaut, Ohio 11% abv Renee’s wine

[David M. Bueker]

Interesting selection. It's not too surprising that the Prum nearly swept the field. Eroica is fairly accessible so it has fans as well. Schonborn is making sound wines again, but they are not yet back to where they should (and I believe will eventually) be.

Interesting selection. It's not too surprising that the Prum nearly swept the field. Eroica is fairly accessible so it has fans as well. Schonborn is making sound wines again, but they are not yet back to where they should (and I believe will eventually) be.

Hi David,

The main complaint about the Schonborn was that it was a bit too sweet, especially for a kabinett. In the past I have had their Erbacher Marcobrunn kabinett and I really liked it. I think that they are improving, but like you, I do not like this trend of declassifying the riper grapes and making wines sweeter than there class usually is.

[David M. Bueker]

I do not like this trend of declassifying the riper grapes and making wines sweeter than there class usually is.

Unfortunately I do not believe they have much choice. The market screams for kabinett, and if they make these wines less sweet they come off as rather unbalanced or overly alcoholic(or even thin) for their level. It's a terrible position for htem to be in. I wonder if they had success in 2008, as that is a vintage with a more classic style. I have not tasted widely of Rheingau wines in '08, so I don't know first hand.

Most of the time I treat modern kabinett from ripe years as spatlese in my cellaring program.

Hey Tom, nice to see that note on the Prum Spatlese as I have an Auslese from the same year/vineyard and think I should keep my hands off of it for a few years. For $27, I'm thinking I got a real good deal.

For $27, I'm thinking I got a real good deal.

Hi Jim,

I would agree with that and I think that time will only improve it IF you like secondary riesling characteristics like petrol and caramel creaminess as the fruit can start fading after 5 or so years. JJ Prum always makes good wine and often some of the best riesling from Germany.

[David M. Bueker]

Fading fruit in an auslese after 5 years? Not so, unless incompetent winemaking is involved. That is clearly not true of Prum.

[James Roscoe]

Who the hell is Renée and where was JB?

Nice line-up. I need you guys to do more Riesling at MoCool if I ever get back.

I'm guessing Renee is the biological sister, but I'm still the only female brother! And James, we WILL see you this year at MoCool, Aug. 14th. You have no excuse.

Cheers!
JuliaB Noland Brother

Who the hell is Renée and where was JB?

Nice line-up. I need you guys to do more Riesling at MoCool if I ever get back.

Hi James,

Renee is James' girlfriend. And if you are talking about JuliaB, she lives over 200 miles from my Mom's house in northern Ohio where we had this tasting.

As far as riesling at MoCool is concerned, I am considering bringing a horizontal series of 3 2007 rieslilngs from the Mosel vineyard Wehlener Sonnenuhr. I just had a bottle of the Selbach-Oster kabinett tonight and I was impressed. Really great balance and good riesling acidity that went well with food.

Are you going to make it to MoCool this year?

Fading fruit in an auslese after 5 years? Not so, unless incompetent winemaking is involved. That is clearly not true of Prum.

Thanks David,

When does riesling fruit start fading in good wines, in your opinion? Now that I think about the last riesling vertical tasting I participated in, we had Gunderloch 'Jean Baptiste' rieslings as old as 8 years that still had good fruit (2000-2005) tasted in 2008 at MoCool). I should stop shooting from the hip and think about my replies a bit more before posting, especially since there are more experienced riesling drinkers than myself posting here.

[James Roscoe]

Who the hell is Renée and where was JB?

Nice line-up. I need you guys to do more Riesling at MoCool if I ever get back.

Hi James,

Renee is James' girlfriend. And if you are talking about JuliaB, she lives over 200 miles from my Mom's house in northern Ohio where we had this tasting.

As far as riesling at MoCool is concerned, I am considering bringing a horizontal series of 3 2007 rieslilngs from the Mosel vineyard Wehlener Sonnenuhr. I just had a bottle of the Selbach-Oster kabinett tonight and I was impressed. Really great balance and good riesling acidity that went well with food.

Are you going to make it to MoCool this year?

Tom,
I still think JB deserved an invite!
You just made it far more likely that I will be at MoCool this summer. It depends on the job situation which is up in the air at the moment. Hopefully it will be settled by then and will allow me to attend.
Riesling might be my desert island wine.
Cheers!