WTN: A Coupla' Germans

In a recent post concerning 2005 German wines, I groused to David Bueker about sticker shock and the fact that I was unemployed. Well, I'm finally back in the work force full time. To celebrate (and in fairness to David) I purchased a couple of Mosel wines last week and popped them open. To wit:

2005 Schmitt-Wagner Longuicher Maximer Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese Feinherb - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer, Mosel (1/30/2007). Very closed aroma with just a touch of honey on the bouquet. Quite focused on the palate with moderate length. Flavors of lime and tart apple. Very nice food wine (had it with beef stew) if a bit young. At $19 a throw, the QPR was fair; at this price, I think this should be cellared for the purpose of gambling on more complexity in the future.

2001 Reuscher-Haart Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer, Mosel (1/31/2007). Wow, this baby presents quite the contrast with the above Schmitt-Wagner! Lots of riesling aroma. On the palate, very broad and open if a bit plump. Again, moderate length but with flavors of peach pit and pineapple dominating. No petrol yet! Over the course of a few hours, an acid backbone emerges, slimming this one up a bit. This seems more of a Spatlese than a Kabinett. At $10 a bottle on sale, it presents very good QPR. I've asked the retailer to set aside a few more for me.

Dave Mo

[David M. Bueker]

Dave,

First of all congrats on being back to full employment.

I really like Schmitt-Wagner, and enjoyed the Spatlese Feinherb quite a lot when I tasted it last summer. I would have bought it, but the retailer I was dealing with insisted I take the full case. That was more than I wanted. Where did you get yours?

Reuscher-Haart is an overlooked gem of a winery. At $10 the Goldtropfchen kabinett is a steal. I bet it can handle another 5 years of age at the very least. 2001 was a ripe year (with good acidity), so most of the kabinetts are spatlese in all but name.

Congratulations on the new job!

Thanks, David and JC!

I purchase all of my German wines from a retailer located in Madison, Wisconsin. The place is called "Steve's Wine," and it has won awards for its selection and customer service. They have a resident German wine afficionado on staff. He makes annual trips to Germany to taste the vintages and rub shoulders with the wine makers. Consequently, I feel that we are quite fortunate.

Dave Mo

Great news about the job, Dave. Guess cellar filling up again?!!!

Thanks, Bob! Well, let's put it this way: the input is now once again equal to the outgo.

Dave Mo