Ever heard of grapes like Johanniter or Helios or Blauer Muskateller? Well neither had I until a friend over here, who travels often in Germany and Austria, invited me to a tasting with these strange, little grown grapes.
We started with a couple glasses of fizz:
Lazarus Prickelndes Gold Brut 2008 - label
From the Blauer Wildbacher grape. Yeasty and herbaceous aroma, a bit of bread; very high acidity as is typical for the grape, but it isn't an acid mouthwash but instead leaves an attractive taste of fresh berries. I liked this very much.
Weingut Georgiberg Blauer Muskateller Brut 2010 - Südsteiermark; label
A rosé fizz made from a very rare grape, otherwise only grown a little in Italy and Greece. A strongly grapey scent, very obviously Muscat. The palate, though labeled Brut, seems gentle and slightly sweet. Lacking nervosity, simple.
Then we tried a group of strange white wines:
Weingut Stelzer Portugieser Blanc de Noirs 2010 - Alzey-Heimersheim, Rheinhessen; label
A very neutral, simple wine. Easy. And easily forgettable though not unpleasant.
Weingut Ewald Ruppert Helios Prichsenstadter Krone Kabinett trocken 2010 - Prichsenstadt, Franker; label
A rather Sauvignon Blanc -like aroma of nettles. Crisp and racy; nice, simple quaffer for the 4,60€ this costs ex-cellar
Weingut Ewald Ruppert Johanniter Prichsenstadter Krone Kabinett trocken 2010 - Prichsenstadt, Franker; label
Quite a neutral aroma but slightly reminsicent of Riesling, appley. Nice enough body, but still a bit neutral. But you can't ask for much for a wine that costs 5€ ex-cellar. But I do understand why it isn't grown much.
Weingut Abril Blauer Sylvaner Kabinett trocken "Versuchsanbau" 2010 - Bischoffigen, Kaiserstuhl, Baden; label
Smells of rose-water and steel. Crisp, rather neutral, steely.
Weingut Bernhard Huber "Malterer" 2009 - Malterdingen, Breisgau, Baden; label
A 50-50 blend of Weissburgunder and Freisamer. Tons of oak; smells like it tries too hard to be fancy and grand. Bitter oak follows on the palate. Not one to my liking, though a hit around the table.
After these mostly cheap and neutral whites we had some serious reds:
Weingut Meyer-Näkel Us de la meng 2009 - Dernau, Ahr; label
70% Spätburgunder, 30% Dornfelder. A bit sweaty and reductive but becomes an attractive, unoaky wine with lots of red berry aromas. Crisp and refreshing palate, juicy. Nice!
Johner Estate Cabernet, Merlot & Malbec 2009 - Wairarapa, NZ; label
A NZ ringer, tasted blind I thought this was Australian. Lush, oaky, tarry and smells of mulberry jam. Thick, tarry, creamy. Nice, I imagine, if you like Barossa!
Domäne Müller Der Cabernet Franc 2008 - Ottenberg; label
This was one I really liked. Also served blind. It had a lovely leafy, savoury and even sharp scent, smells like cherry, juniper and sandalwood so I guessed it was unspoofy Chianti. Crisp and savoury, great vitality and strong structure. Lovely.
Weingut Pöckl Rêve de Jeunesse 2007 - Mönchhof, Neusiedlersee; label
40% Merlot, 20% Zweigelt, 20% Cab Sauv, 20% Syrah. Oaky, creamy, dark fruit - anonymous. Very tannic, maybe so much so that this is over-extracted. Not very enjoyable.
Weingut Heinrich Blaufränkisch Alter Berg 2007 - Gols, Neusiedlersee; label
Soft, a little bit jammy fruit, plenty of oak; sweet fruit, good structure, but seems to be playing it safe. Good but not too exciting.
Weingut Weninger Pinot Noir Kalkofen 2005 - Horitschon, Mittelburgenland; label
Nice beetroot aromas, peachy, some oak. Sweet and some Pinosity but there seems to be a touch of dirtiness to it (oak? some not quite prime grapes? - I don't know). Attractive despite that strange dirtiness. I wouldn't mind drinking this again.
Weingut Kollwentz Steinzeiler 2005 - Grosshöflein, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland; label
80% Blaufränkisch, the rest Cab Sauv and Zweigelt. Nice aroma, slightly leafy, some coffee bean oak aromas. Sweet fruit, upright structure, nice freshness. Nice though does need time for the oak to integrate.
Finally while cleaning up we shared a decent Pinot:
Weingut Jurtschitsch-Sonnhof Pinot Noir 2006 - Kamptal; label
Nice pinosity, quite sweet and slick, though, perhaps a touch oaky. Full body and sweet, well structured but could have been a bit lighter on its feet. Maybe a few years will do good for it?
