2001 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape
This isn't aging well. Medium weight with flavours of smoked meat and red fruits over dried herbs, savoury earth and some leathery funk that suggests brett, but it's starting to thin out on the palate while the tannin's still quite prominent on the back end. The alcohol's quite prominent on the back end; this finishes with serious heat and only gets hotter and more tannic with air.
2009 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Riesling Kabinett
Really impressive, full of fresh, floral-tinged apple and white fruited flavours over saline and mineral notes. While it's quite ripe, this still feels like Kabinett with a sense of clarity, lightness and incredible refreshment.
2007 Schäfer-Fröhlich Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese
Even with a couple of days' worth of air, this still comes across quite closed. Reticent aromatics that slowly open in the glass to show orange blossom, ginger and nectarine, but it's still tightly coiled on the palate and doesn't show any of the explosive fruit or depth it had right on release. Hands off for a while.
2007 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Spätlese
Hmm, not sure what happened here but this had none of the balance or elegance that this wine normally has. Seems a little closed aromatically with gentle scents of smoke, petrol and earthy notes - there's plenty of rich fruit in the mouth, but it feels very disjointed and awkward.
2009 Von Hövel Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese
AP #4-10 for those who care. Beautiful aromatics, full of incredibly fresh pear, guava and green apple flavours tinged with herbal flavours. Very elegant and precise in the mouth with clear, fresh green fruited flavours over vivid slatey minerality and a nice acid backbone, only quibble is that this finishes a bit short.
2009 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Spätlese
Wow! Hard to put this into words; just a kaleidoscope of fruit accented with all sorts of floral and mineral elements. There's tremendous power and richness here with Auslese-like sweetness, but everything is in perfect balance with fantastic acidity that cuts through the sugar and keeps it razor-sharp. Once again: wow! I'm glad I have a few more bottles of this.
2003 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Spätlese
Surprisingly developed aromatics, starts out with a blast of petrol and smoke over ripe cherry and apple fruit. This is a powerhouse in the mouth, full bodied with savoury earthy and smoky notes beneath the ripe fruit and gentle honeyed aspects emerging with air; there's decent acidity here that just manages to balance the richness and sweetness, though it finishes a touch warm with more alcohol (9%) than I've noticed in the other Schäfer-Fröhlich Spätlesen.
2006 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Spätlese
Starts out with slightly shy aromatics of citrus, red fruits and touches of sulfur that give no indication of the fireworks ahead in the mouth. This is stunning; lots of power and intensity with layers of cherries, tangerine and apple fruit over shards of rock and mineral. It's very ripe but there's a sense of amazing purity and clarity to the flavours with serious acidity and no signs of botrytis at all. Staggering length, amazing balance and presence - stunning now, and I can barely imagine what this might turn into with some age. The best Felseneck I've had from SF.
2009 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Spätlese
Wild aromatics; full of talc, fresh herbs and flowers over ripe white fruits. This is unusually rich and sweet in the mouth, full of very ripe, luscious white fruited and tangerine flavours over minerals, but the sweetness is a bit too heavy right now - this finishes a little sticky, not showing the acidity to balance the weight right now. I'd like to check in on this after a few years once the baby fat starts to fade, but given the strength of the other German (esp. Nahe) '09s, this is a bit disappointing.
2009 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Drachenstein Riesling Dragonstone
I don't think I've tasted a better Dragonstone than this. Packed with fresh lime, apple and peach flavours accented by softer mineral and herbal notes, the sweetness is quite understated and nicely balanced by the vibrant acidity here; this is incredibly refreshing and a bottle disappears ridiculously quickly.