"Sponti stink" with German Riesling Kabinett & off-dry wines

Looking for some insight as far as to which producers one should go for if one wants to avoid those stinky spontaneous fermentation and/or sulphuric odours (for the sweeter 2015 Kabinetten, specifically).

Had a road trip to Mosel in the end of May and tasted some revelatory Kabinett wines from Clemens Busch and A.J. Adam. Full of estery magnificence and carbon dioxide still left over from the fermentation, and simply pure joy to drink.

But then also tried some from Martin Müllen that were just unpleasantly stinky. The older vintages were of course incredible but the 2015s did not offer any pleasure yet.

Will be in Germany for another 2 months and want to make the most of it, so..

Which producers to buy?

[David M. Bueker]

Willi Schaefer
Schloss Lieser
Donnhoff
Schafer-Frohlich
Leitz

Etc.

Avoid Prum if sponti aroma offends you. Avoid Grunhaus.

But Schäfer-Fröhlich also has its fair share of that cheesy, sponti stink...
/A

[David M. Bueker]

Is that a recent issue? I have not bought much lately, but did not notice it in 2002, 2004 or 2008 wines.

Not sure how recent, since I don't drink that much SF, preferring Emrich-Schönleber's crisper style. But my friends claim that they can recognize a SF just from that cheesy nose.
/A

Timo, I haven't had any Martin Müllen from the 2015 vintage, but his young wines can be a little sulfury. But they often develop well with bottle age. I especially like those from Trarbacher Hühnerberg.

Among the excellent producers that David listed for you, I agree with Anders that Schäfer-Fröhlich can have sponti aromas. The same can be said of Schloss Lieser, which made several top Kabinett wines in 2015. You might be interested in Vollenweider's 2015 Wolfer Goldgrube Kabinett.

The 2015 Graacher Domprobst Kabinett from Willi Schaefer has a slight stinky aroma, but the wine is delicious. I also like the Schaefers' 2015 Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett. Another favorite is Weiser-Künstler. They produced two residually sweet 2015 Kabinette: Enkircher Ellergrub and Wolfer Sonnenlay.

If you like naturally spritzy wines, I can also recommend Hofgut Falkenstein, which is where I work. The Webers produced two residually sweet 2015 Kabinetts (AP Nr. 8 and 12) from Krettnacher Euchariusberg.

If money is no object, then you might like the 2015 Scharzhofberger Kabinett (AP Nr. 2) from Egon Müller.

[David M. Bueker]

Lars,

Do you find any of those producers to come close to the level of sponti that shows up in Prum? I sure don't, but curious as to your opinion.

Lars,

Do you find any of those producers to come close to the level of sponti that shows up in Prum? I sure don't, but curious as to your opinion.

In recent vintages, I find J.J. Prüm's Mosel Rieslings less stinky than in the past. But their wines have long been considered prime examples of sponti stink. I don't drink enough Schäfer-Fröhlich to make a judgment as to which is more stinky. As for Schloss Lieser, I'm referring to the residually sweet wines, but I don't think the level of stink shows up more than J.J. Prüm.

....If you like naturally spritzy wines, I can also recommend Hofgut Falkenstein, which is where I work. The Webers produced two residually sweet 2015 Kabinetts (AP Nr. 8 and 12) from Krettnacher Euchariusberg.

If money is no object, then you might like the 2015 Scharzhofberger Kabinett (AP Nr. 2) from Egon Müller.

Lars, I had no idea you worked for Falkenstein, or I might have tried visiting on my recent trip to Germany (I posted some impressions here a couple weeks ago). Falkenstein was actually on my radar, as I've enjoyed a couple of their wines that I've tried in the US. But my visit to the Saar was on a bike, with the plan to ride from Trier to Serrig and back, so I stuck mainly to the Saartal.
As it happened, the day started out well but ended with torrential rain (first week of June, if you recall), where I was lucky to at least stumble into a nice little Vinothek in Saarburg to wait out the worst of the storm. Do you know they guy at vinothek-saar.de ? He seemed pretty knowledgeable (and while I was able to try some good '15 wines there - alas the Egon Müllers were not open for tasting).

....If you like naturally spritzy wines, I can also recommend Hofgut Falkenstein, which is where I work. The Webers produced two residually sweet 2015 Kabinetts (AP Nr. 8 and 12) from Krettnacher Euchariusberg.

If money is no object, then you might like the 2015 Scharzhofberger Kabinett (AP Nr. 2) from Egon Müller.

Lars, I had no idea you worked for Falkenstein, or I might have tried visiting on my recent trip to Germany (I posted some impressions here a couple weeks ago). Falkenstein was actually on my radar, as I've enjoyed a couple of their wines that I've tried in the US. But my visit to the Saar was on a bike, with the plan to ride from Trier to Serrig and back, so I stuck mainly to the Saartal.
As it happened, the day started out well but ended with torrential rain (first week of June, if you recall), where I was lucky to at least stumble into a nice little Vinothek in Saarburg to wait out the worst of the storm. Do you know they guy at vinothek-saar.de ? He seemed pretty knowledgeable (and while I was able to try some good '15 wines there - alas the Egon Müllers were not open for tasting).

Yes, I represent the wines of Hofgut Falkenstein, where I also work as an apprentice winegrower. I'm glad you enjoyed a couple of the wines from the Webers. It's rained a lot here. I've never been to that wine shop in Saarburg, but I've seen the website before.

Thanks for replies! Will give some of the mentioned producers a look, to see if I can find the wines.

Some observations on my part so far (just for 2015 Kabinetten)

Von Othegraven - very stinky
Martin Müllen - quite stinky
Emrich-Schönleber - slight
A.J. Adam - very slight to none
Clemens Busch - very slight to none
Willi Haag - none

Lars,

Do you find any of those producers to come close to the level of sponti that shows up in Prum? I sure don't, but curious as to your opinion.

In recent vintages, I find J.J. Pruem's Mosel Rieslings less stinky than in the past. But their wines have long been considered prime examples of sponti stink. I don't drink enough Schaefer-Froehlich to make a judgment as to which is more stinky. As for Schloss Lieser, I'm referring to the residually sweet wines, but I don't think the level of stink shows up more than J.J. Pruem.

I always got a definite sulful note out of Pruem. I never thought of it as being related to sponti. Is that generally acknowledged?

[David M. Bueker]

It is now. The current regime at Prum is less about heavy sulphur.