On the second day in Mosel we went to another old friend; Martin Müllen. Here the harvest had already started with harvesting the rivaner, so things were very busy. But Martin's wife took the time for a tasting with us and later Martin joined in.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling trocken 2005, 12,5%
Bottled three weeks earlier. Yellow colour. Stoney nose, hints of apricot. Showing aome fine minerality, but not giving very much right now. Dry and high acids in the mouth. Even more closed than the nose. Fruit not showing at all. Some fine minerality. Concentration probably there. A bit aggressive and rustic style right now. Really needs time to calm down. The structure seems great. Promising wine.
Kröver Steffensberg riesling spätlese** 2005, 13,0%
Yellow/green colour. Flowery nose, some apricot, slate and minerals. Fullbodied and concentrated wine in the mouth. Dry with great structure. Slightly rustic style with fine fruit showing a lot more at this stage. Very fine. One of the better wines I have tasted from this einzellage.
Kröver Letterlay "Layen" riesling spätlese 2005, 7,0%
Straw colour. More aromatic, flowery nose. Hints of slate, less mineral. Powerful and aromatic. Sweet and quite opulent style. Fruity. Hints of flowers and apricot, but simpler. A bit less structure, still good acids and length. Good, but not my favorite.
Kröver Letterlay riesling spätlese** 2005, 7,5%
Yellow/green colour. More spritz. Fruity nose, but shows more citrus and slate than the Layen. Fullbodied in the mouth and better structured wine. Again fruity style with some more slate, but lacking a little depth. Good length. Good.
Kröver Paradies Jippi riesling spätlese** 2005, 8,5%
Straw colour. Some spritz. More complex nose, mineral, hints of slate. Flowers. Really very fine nose. Fullbodied in the mouth, but less concentration than the Letterlay-wines. More sleak elegance. Great structure and a lot more minerality and complexity. Good length. This parcel always does great in warm vintages and the 2005 is a stunner. Great wine.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling spätlese "C" 2005, 9,0%
Straw colour. Fine nose of apricot, botrytis, slate and minerals. The botrytis is very fine and integrates well. In the mouth this is a very fine wine. Shows a lot of botrytis, but still a smaller scaled wine. Greatly balanced and shows a lot of slate and minerality. Great acidic structure, long taste. My wine of the day. Tremendous wine. All grapes for this wine was affected by botrytis. This is really excellent for the price.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling spätlese* 2005, 8,5%
Straw colour. More fruity style here. Peach, citrus, slate, minerals. Powerful in the mouth, also more sweetness and with a refreshing structure. Good length. Another very good wine from the Hühnerberg, but IMO lacks some of the depth of the previous wine. Great wine.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling auslese 2005
Straw colour. A lot of spritz. Nose a little closed, but fine notes of botrytis, well integrated, fine fruit-notes and minerality. Fullbodied in the mouth. Complex fruit with fine hints of botrytis. Mineral notes and slate. Good depth. Fine structure and long taste. Very fine auslese. Great wine.
Kröver Paradies riesling auslese* 2005, 8,5%
Straw colour. More fruity nose with some more botrytis, but again very fine botrytis. Fullbodied and more concentrated fruit. More fruity and with fine botrytis. Very fine, but lacking a little the depth of the Hühnerberg. Very good structure and length. Very fine wine.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling auslese* 2005
Straw colour, some spritz. More honey, apricot and more botrytis in the nose. Sweeter and more intence. Definitely grapes with higher Oechsle used here. Fullbodied, sweeter in the mouth with more weight. More honeyed and botrytised, but again fine botrytis. Good structure and length. Great wine. It is more intence and weightier than the normal auslese, but perhaps a little less complex and more monolithic.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling beerenauslese 2005, 9,0%
Deep yellow colour. Fresh and fruity nose with hints of botrytis, citrus, raisins. Fullbodied in the mouth, but a refreshing BA. Some fat in the entrance, but fruity and structured. Young fruit. Long taste. Great wine that needs time to develop, but is very tempting now.
This was a very fine showing indeed. The 2005-vintage is a success for Martin Müllen. For me the wines of the tasting were the Jippi, the spätlese "C" and auslesen from the Hühnerberg. There was still another two selections from the Hühnerberg in the cellar that was not yet bottled. They are intended to make spätlese trockens, if not fermentation stops.
On the evening we was invited home to Phillipp Veser, winemaker at Schloss Lieser for an unformal dinner. It was just Phillipp, me and Caroline. We had three bottles of wine.
Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle riesling auslese 1971, August E. Anheuser
We started with this as an aperitif. It had a copper colour with greenish hues. Evolved and complex nose. Forest floor, faded flowers, slight petrol. Some oxidative dried fruits. Fullbodied wine in the mouth. Sweet and concentrated. Fruit on top. Fully mature. Very fine structure, fine acids, long taste. Really a great and mature riesling. Drink now. Thanks to Phillipp for sharing it with us.
Riesling Achleiten smaragd 2005, Weinbau Schneeweiss
I had planned bringing an older Grüner veltliner, but by a mistake I brought this. But it was a very fine GV that accompanied Phillipp's trout greatly. The wine had a light straw colour. Fine nose, quite mineral with hints of peach and stones. Fullbodied in the mouth. Lightly rustic style with some rs and noticable alcohol. Fine concentration, fine minerality. Young. Good structure and length. I was positively surprised by this to me unknown producer. Fine buy.
Erdener Treppchen riesling auslese** 1993, Jos. Christoffel Jr.
After dinner we ended with this. It had a yellow colour. Complex nose, quite petrolly with hints of herbs and flowers. Some earthy notes. Hints of botrytis. Medium bodied for an auslese. Some sweetness noticable. Lightly rustic style with not the cleanest botrytis. Fine citrusy finish. Fine acids and structure. Good, more than great. Needs another 3-4 years.