WTN: Peter Jakob Kuhn Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese 1997

After an amazing Keller TBA, Jojo thought a little blind tasting would be fun so he gets a bottle from The Cage, wraps it in newspaper, and pours. It's a tall, slim half-bottle so I'm thinking Germany or Alsace. Out comes this deep red/brown, tawny port-like liquid so now I'm thinking, looks like a hot climate wine. Spain? Southern France? but the bottle shape doesn't add up. Aroma and flavors of coffee, dates and prunes. Some burnt sugar bitterness on the finish. Very smooth and with excellent balance. Maybe late harvest muscat from a hot climate? Not quite. Although rich, it's not thick enough to be that kind of wine and it doesn't have any nutty oxidative notes.

Jojo removes the wrapping and it's a Peter Jakob Kuhn Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese 1997. Definitely the strangest TBA I've encountered. Excellent wine, though.

Anyone have experience with this wine? I'm wondering if the color matches other examples and how it got that way.

[David M. Bueker]

Your note sounds like a wine that had some serious botrytis, versus just being ripe enough for TBA (as happens a lot these days). The color surprises me a bit, but not that much. I've had TBA wines that were nearly black.

Jay, I had some Peter Jakob Kuhn Riesling Kabinett a few years back that was memorable for the creamy acidity and balanced fruit. I'd love to find more of his wines.