WTN: Surprise, surprise

2006 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel, Mosel/Germany
A few confessions to start with:
1. I have a particular sympathy for Daniel Vollenweider's products. When I bought this wine directly from Daniel (by the way, this wine is no longer produced, the grapes now go into Daniel's best dry wines), he praised it as a "brilliant wine". Which puzzled me. I know Daniel pretty well and I don't remember him having commented his own products euphoricly any time before or after this (he's way too humble in my view).
2. I actually prefer light-footed Mosel wine with a lot of freshness and acidity. Hence, the vintage 2006 is NOT one of my favorite Mosel vintages.

So, what makes this wine special? Nature has given it (driven by the vintage) a lot of sweetness and rather little acidity. Thanks to first-class work in the vineyard and cellar, Daniel has created a sensationally harmonious and highly concentrated (oily) wine that basically refuses to oxidise. It only gets better and better the longer it is aired. Which is quite unusual, even for high-class Mosel wines, most of them deteriorate after 4 or 5 days of airing.
On the nose it is like a floral, crystal clear Beerenauslese whereas on the palate it has the lightness and precision of a high-class Auslese that is exclusively sold at VDP auctions. The subtle tannin of this wine reminds me of the finest green tea I could imagine. My problem with this wine is that it is always drunk before I actually have analyzed it. But I (as a layperson) suspect that this belongs to the very best that Daniel has ever produced. - My subjective rating: 94+/100 (I might underestimate it).

[David M. Bueker]

Interesting.

Now you have me wondering about the 2006 Auslese 'Portz." That wine was a complete monster when it was young.

I also have the regular Spatlese, but no 2006 GK.

[David M. Bueker]

As an aside, I agree with you on the amount of time a Mosel Riesling can normally hold without notable deterioration. Elsewhere I see people arguing for many wines improving after weeks open, and I just don't buy it.

Interesting.

Now you have me wondering about the 2006 Auslese 'Portz." That wine was a complete monster when it was young.

I also have the regular Spatlese, but no 2006 GK.

The 2006 Vollenweider Beerenauslese hammered me with its richness when I dared to try it about 8 years ago. It was probably 40 years too early ...

[David M. Bueker]

So I should have people drink the Auslese at my funeral then...

As an aside, I agree with you on the amount of time a Mosel Riesling can normally hold without notable deterioration. Elsewhere I see people arguing for many wines improving after weeks open, and I just don't buy it.

The only wine that, as far as I know, sustainably defies the oxygen is not actually a wine: the most monumental Tokaji Eszencias, which also never begin to ferment because they have too much natural residual sugar (>=750 g/l). In this case the wine lover will forfeit before his drink does

Thanks for this. The only Vollenweider I have left is one bottle of the 05 WG Auslese GK. Not exactly the same as yours, but it's nice to have optimism about how it may show in the future. All the previous bottles were delicious but mostly thick monolithic richness.