Belated (mostly short, sorry!) notes on one of four 2005 German Riesling release tastings I attended last year, this one dating back to May 2006, the following is a partial repost on request (some notes added, some edited). Not in the order tasted, but alphabetical. For simplicity’s sake these remain in the old, blurrier “adjectival” rating system some found more acceptable (cf. postscript if necessary). More notes, including on the VdP-Auction wines may still follow, if and when I have the time to edit them.
Christoffel Riesling Auslese* Ürziger Würzgarten 2005
Nicely spicy but superficial. Rating: Good!
Christoffel Riesling Auslese** Erdener Treppchen 2005
Longer, deeper, spicier, more intense and mineral. Rating: Very good!
Schlossgut Diel Riesling Auslese Dorsheimer Pittermännchen 2005
Bright acids, lemon zest, subtle herbs. Rating: About excellent
Schlossgut Diel Riesling Beerenauslese Dorsheimer Goldloch 2005
300 bottles. A bit house-dusty botrytis, candied thyme and basil, balm mint and peppermint. Soft green banana, balm-minty freshness, good cut and length, quite mouthpuckering. Rating: Outstanding(!)
Dönnhoff Riesling Spätlese Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg 2005
Apple, clean, quite good minerality, fair length. Rating: Very good(!)
Dönnhoff Riesling Spätlese Oberhäuser Brücke 2005
Much more stone-dusty, riper apple, much longer. Rating: Excellent
Dönnhoff Riesling Auslese Oberhäuser Brücke 2005
Sweeter, little noticeable honeyedness despite nice, lightly gluey botrytis, clean Granny Smith apple. Too bad there were not any of Dönnhoff’s top drawer bottlings on show in a vintage like this. Rating: Excellent plus
Grans-Fassian Riesling Kabinett Trittenheimer 2005
Soft herbs, a bit light, nice cut, some stone dust only. Rating: Good only
Grans-Fassian Riesling Spätlese Trittenheimer Apotheke 2005
More vinosity, deeper herbs, longer. Rating: Good!
Grans-Fassian Riesling Auslese Trittenheimer Apotheke 2005
A bit sweeter, barely more serious or denser in the middle. Rating: Good!
Maximin Grünhaus Riesling Spätlese Grünhäuser Abtsberg 2005
Nicely firm, some herbs. Rating: About very good
Maximin Grünhaus Riesling Auslese Grünhäuser Herrenberg 2005
Spicy herbs, a bit tannic, palate-staining. Rating: Very good!
Maximin Grünhaus Riesling Auslese "21" Grünhäuser Abtsberg 2005
Single Fuder, the Auslese Gold Capsule, so to speak. Dense, definitely ripe enough, good cut, candied mint and lime zest. A relative standout of the tasting, and one of my personal favourites, definitely worth owning. Rating: Outstanding
Fritz Haag Riesling Kabinett 2005
Nice, more like the crystalline style this winery was once famous for. Rating: About very good
Fritz Haag Riesling Spätlese Brauneberger Juffer 2005
Some herbs, medium concentration. Rating: Very good?
Fritz Haag Riesling Spätlese Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr 2005
A bit more depth, marzipan, basil, fairly precise. Rating: Very good
Fritz Haag Riesling Auslese #06 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr 2005
Longer, deeper, a bit riper yet more refreshing. Rating: Very good!
Fritz Haag Riesling Auslese #10 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr 2005
A bit old-vinier, more complex herb and lime. Rating: Excellent
Fritz Haag Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule #09 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr 2005
Riper, sweeter, a touch of blackcurrant cough drop, no more precise, though. Rating: Excellent
Fritz Haag Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule #12 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr 2005
Fresher, more complete, more citrusy and appley, longer. Rating: Outstanding
Willi Haag Riesling QbA 2005
Lovely QPR wine, clean apple, long, tasty, acidity is not to bright. Rating: Very good!
Willi Haag Riesling Spätlese Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr 2005
Deceptively sweet, very minerally underneath, sweet fresh apple, white peach. Rating: Very good plus
Willi Haag Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule #17 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr 2005
Almost a bit lemon-grassy apple, mineral dust, a touch of blackcurrant, quite bright fruit and acidity. Rating: Excellent plus
Willi Haag Riesling Beerenauslese Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr 2005
Citrusy peppermint, thick and creamy, quite cleanly botrytised, high-acid, fresh and pure, quite long. Never too deep, but one the most successful efforts I have tasted from this producer, and fairly priced. Rating: Outstanding!
Karthäuserhof Riesling Spätlese Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg 2005
Appley, a bit simple. Rating: Good plus/Very good?
Karthäuserhof Riesling Auslese Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg 2005
Similar, more cut and minerality. Rating: Very good?
Karthäuserhof Riesling Auslese #18 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg 2005
Ripe, a bit candied, longer, some blackcurrant. Rating: Excellent
Keller Riesling Spätlese Gold Capsule Westhofen Kirchspiel 2005
Herbs, some cut, soft grey pepper, a somewhat superficially perfect appearance. Rating: About excellent?
Keller Rieslaner Auslese Monsheimer Silberberg 2005
Sweet, almost a bit buttery-fat apple, not particularly exotic or even tropical for a Rieslaner. Medium-plus length. Rating: Excellent?
Keller Riesling Auslese Westhofen Morstein 2005
Round, fresh, some vanilla-scented botrytis, good sweetness, firm acids, stylistically once more somewhat technological wine as usual from Keller, not the down-to-earth natural-tasting stuff I like. Rating: Excellent
Keller Riesling Auslese*** Dalsheimer Hubacker 2005
Fresh, clean, pure, almost BA-like lime and apple juice concentrate (analytically of course, this bottling always is a BA). Rating: Outstanding
Keller Trockenbeerenauslese “Cuvée” 2005
Minty fresh butter, hugely fat and sweet, sound acids, herb and lime aftertaste. Keller’s QPR TBA for late harvest newbies. Rating: Excellent
Keller Rieslaner Trockenbeerenauslese Gold Capsule Monsheimer Silberberg 2005
A more exotic Rieslaner here for once (still not a Müller-Catoir from their great, up to 2001 era), buttery-fat, very sweet, quite long. Rating: Outstanding
Keller Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Westhofen Morstein 2005
The Riesling depth of fruit shows in direct comparison, candied, pure, including clean medicinal botrytis top notes to the limey-buttery fruit that are quite lovely, quite long, sweet and soft vanilla aftertaste. A bit technological also, but well-made. Rating: Outstanding(!)
Jakob Kühn Riesling Spätlese Oestrich Lehnchen 2005
Slate, grey pepper, quite deep, fair vinosity and length. Rating: Excellent
Jakob Kühn Riesling Auslese Oestrich Lehnchen 2005
The 70% botrytis here makes itself felt, brown bready and a bit gluey. Dense wine, flintstony quartzite. Obvious in style or not, an endearing wine and a relative QPR standout of the tasting. Fredrik and Rainer sure loved it. Rating: Outstanding(!)
Jakob Kühn Riesling Beerenauslese Oestrich Lehnchen 2005
Sweet banana and white glue, beautiful lemon zest bitter note, tannic and spicy. More phenolic due to longer than average maceration, Kühn explained. Rating: Outstanding plus?
Schloss Lieser Riesling Spätlese Niederberg Helden 2005
Basil-scented, slatey vanilla, lovely nose, then surprisingly hollow and light on the palate, although probably due to residual yeast. Rating: Very good (plus?)
Schloss Lieser Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule Niederberg Helden 2005
Similar, more subtle nose, sweeter, longer, probably more density in the middle than it is currently showing. Rating: Very good plus?
Schloss Lieser Riesling Auslese Long Gold Capsule Niederberg Helden 2005
Rating: Excellent plus?
Spicier, more minerally and intense, more terroir-expressive, quite serious wine. Rating: Excellent plus?
Schloss Lieser Riesling Auslese Long Gold Capsule Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr 2005
More noble terroir, that is, soil notes, very well-balanced wine. Rating: Excellent plus?
Schloss Lieser Riesling Beerenauslese Niederberg Helden 2006
Picked at over 150° Oechsle, 230 g/l residual sugar. Exquisitely light on its feet, subtle, peachy-appley, a touch of cream, quite long. And yet, I thought this also hard to assess, as all the Lieser bottlings that day. There is also a TBA in 2005, but it was still fermenting at the time. Rating: Outstanding (plus?)
Dr. Loosen Riesling Auslese Ürziger Würzgarten 2005
Spicy spring flowers. Rating: About excellent?
Dr. Loosen Riesling Auslese Erdener Prälat 2005
Nobler but less intense terroir expression, softer. Identical to the showing at another tasting the week before. Rating: Very good plus
Dr. Loosen Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule Ürziger Würzgarten 2005
Sweeter, a bit deeper and more complete. Also identical to a showing at that other tasting the week before. Rating: Excellent!
Dr. Loosen Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule Erdener Prälat 2005
Botrytised, long, quite complex, showed almost better than the week before. Rating: Outstanding
Egon Müller Riesling QbA 2005
Terroir, quite bright, quite deep and serious. Rating: Excellent(!)
Egon Müller Riesling Kabinett Scharzhofberg 2005
Minerals, slate, herbs, lime freshness, firm and palate-staining. Rating: Excellent plus
Egon Müller Riesling Spätlese Scharzhofberg 2005
Fresher and more minty, ripe herb flavour to the acids, quite firm, long. Riesling does not get more natural-tasting than from this producer, but the prices are hefty indeed. Rating: About outstanding
Egon Müller Riesling Auslese Scharzhofberg 2005
Sweet, smooth, nice vinosity, subtle vanilla, long. Surely a qualitative standout of the tasting, very expensive. Note, however, that I do not have the least problem with fact that Egon’s wines are not sweeter than what is indicated on the label, rather the contrary of face-lifted, or understatement labelling. After all, my personal preference in ripeness and balance are high-grade Auslesen, something one can still drink, like this and especially the following. Rating: Outstanding plus/About great
Egon Müller Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule Scharzhofberg 2005
Superlative mix of of soft blackcurrant, fresh herbs, lilac, strong mint and balm mint, extremely clean 100% botrytis, strong minerally acidity, very long on the finish. To me, a high-grade Auslese (or light BA) is the ideal in sweetness, acidity and alcohol within the German Riesling paradigm. The wine of which I would have loved to take a bottle home that day, apart from Weil’s TBA. Rating: About great
Egon Müller Riesling Trockenauslese Scharzhofberg 2005
Surreal basil, nice lemon, gorgeous botrytis, viscous, long. Very pretty. Higher in sulfur, not at all oxidative or Tokaj-like as the 1990, and yet, the 2005 is not one of the greatest, most monumental Scharzhofberg TBAs. The advantage, to those who can afford it, is its (relative) availability, no need to bid on it at VdP-Auction for once. Rating: Great!
Willi Schaefer Riesling Kabinett #16 Graacher Himmelreich 2005
Basil and blackcurrant, high-acid, intense, stony-minerally. Rating: Very good!
Willi Schaefer Riesling Spätlese #12 Graacher Himmelreich 2006
Riper, fermented apple, almost 1996s-like acidity ripeness. Rating: Very good plus
Willi Schaefer Riesling Auslese #6 Graacher Domprobst 2005
Stone dust and mint, a bit simpler, but has cut and minerality. Rating: Very good plus
Willi Schaefer Riesling Auslese #9 Graacher Himmelreich 2005
Softer, easier to interpret, lovely fruit and finesse, longer. Rating: Very good plus
Willi Schaefer Riesling Beerenauslese Graacher Domprobst 2005
White gluey botrytis, lovely slate, grey pepper, lemony-minty baby fat and viscosity, nice vinosity for a BA, a beauty, fuller and fatter than the 1995. Rating: Outstanding plus
Daniel Vollenweider Riesling Kabinett Wolfer Goldgrube 2005
Bright nose and acids, almost razor-sharp. Rating: Very good
Daniel Vollenweider Riesling Spätlese Wolfer Goldgrube 2005
Darkly minerally, nice vinosity and intensity, good bright acids. Rating: Very good plus
Daniel Vollenweider Riesling Spätlese Wolfer Goldgrube “Portz” 2005
Not just a more favourably exposed, more early-maturing parcel, but also better clones, although of a similar age, Daniel says. Deeper fruit, minerality and finesse, riper acids, impressive, longer. Fair QPR. Rating: Outstanding
Daniel Vollenweider Riesling Auslese Wolfer Goldgrube 2005
Wonderful easy-going vinosity, even if not a hovering kind of Riesling, so both heavy and light on its feet enough, as well as sweet and sour enough to drink in quantity, clean botrytis, long, not the ultimate in depth and complexity, but so pretty. Rating: Excellent(!)
Daniel Vollenweider Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule Wolfer Goldgrube 2005
Most convincing vinosity and down-to-earth naturalness, subtlety almost despite rather intense minerality, super-clean botrytis, syrupy blackcurrant, sweet but light on its feet, quite long. One of Fredrik’s favourites of the tasting. Rating: Outstanding
Daniel Vollenweider Riesling Auslese Long Gold Capsule Wolfer Goldgrube 2005
Yet more blood orange, sweeter, more viscous, deeper minerality and botrytis-induced fruit, lovely stone-dusty and grapefruity bitter note. Superb vinosity, ripe acids and length. One of Victor’s favourites of the tasting, along with Egon Müller’s and Zilliken’s finest efforts. Not cheap at all, though, especially next to the GKA. Rating: Outstanding!
Daniel Vollenweider Riesling Beerenauslese Wolfer Goldgrube 2005
A complete and much less dried-fruity BA here than in other vintages, more like a super LGK Auslese in balance, this should age much like one, utterly lovely, if not the sticky solid in mouth customers have come to expect. Quite mouthpuckering acidity. Rating: Outstanding
Robert Weil Riesling Spätlese Kiedrich Gräfenberg 2005
Bright acids and fruit, blackcurrant superripeness top note, long finish. One of the best Gräfenberg Spätlesen ever (but then, there have been several truly fine vintages). The price of an Auslese, but then, who cares about extra residual sweetness if one can get this kind of terroir expression? Rating: Outstanding!
Robert Weil Riesling Auslese Kiedrich Gräfenberg 2005
Lovely botrytis, intense fruit, a bit BA-like. Long, nice complexity and depth, not better than the Spätlese, just more of a late harvest ripeness. Fairly-enough priced for what it is, even at 40 dollars per half bottle. Rating: Outstanding!
Robert Weil Riesling Beerenauslese Kiedrich Gräfenberg 2005
Clean, merely faintly gluey botrytis. Nicely botrytised fruit. High, lively, passion-fruity, mouthpuckering acidity. Lovely little bitter note. But this is costly. Rating: Outstanding
Robert Weil Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Kiedrich Gräfenberg 2005
Gorgeous fruit purity of honey dew melon and mango, candied banana. Viscous and fresh. Lively, aromatic acidity. Very long on the finish. A super wine, unbelievably expensive. Rating: Great!
Zilliken Riesling Kabinett Ockfener Bockstein 2005
Minerally-dry up front and on the finish, complex herbs, good vinosity and length, quite high-acid. Rating: Very good plus/About excellent
Zilliken Riesling Spätlese Saarburger Rausch 2005
Prefer the “nobler” soil notes here, sweeter, longer, extremely minerally, also high-acid. Rating: Excellent plus?
Zilliken Riesling Auslese #10 Saarburger Rausch 2005
Nicely fresh and bright, nice stone dust, vinosity, depth and length. Rating: About outstanding
Zilliken Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule Saarburger Rausch 2005
Touch of sunflower oil, ripe and aromatic acids, some vinosity, strong blackcurrant, long. Lovely, but not inexpensive at all – Hanno Zilliken apparently knows how good his 2005s are. Rating: Outstanding!
Zilliken Riesling Auslese Long Gold Capsule Saarburger Rausch 2005
Smoother, sweeter, more apple juice concentrate here, more appley acidity and a bitter note, lovely minerals and soft herbs. One of Victor’s favourites of the tasting, if memory serves right, but not cheap. Rating: Outstanding!
Zilliken Riesling Beerenauslese Saarburger Rausch 2005
Viscous, light on its feet lime and balm mint and herb fruit and spring flowers, squeaky-clean botrytis, long and fresh. Another pour, please! Rating: Outstanding!
Zilliken Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Saarburger Rausch 2005
Picked at 300° Oechsle. Viscous and white gluey balm mint, fresh and sweet apple, deep slate, strong acidity. All in all, the finest Zilliken vintage since 1997, if not of all time. Rating: Outstanding plus
Last but not least, Benjamin Wille-Baumkauff poured the following three at a separate booth:
Tokaj Pendits Tokaji Furmint Selection 2003
11.8% alcohol. Strong rubber aroma to the botrytis, extremely exotic fruit, no doubt due to the hot year. Rating: 88+?
Tokaj Pendits Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos 2001
The wine from Tarcal-Deák we last tasted as barrel sample in May 2005, and thought exceptionally promising, as well as unusual in its green tea aromatics, which may well be due to the fact that our beloved Vince Gergely assisted in its vinification. Retains some of that lovely green tea (thus more Gergely-like than any Wille-Baumkauff Aszú marketed so far) beneath clean youthful rubber botrytis. Soft green banana and tobacco. A well-balanced and long young Aszú, not too full-bodied or heavy at 10.54% alcohol, 202 g/l residual sugar and 8 g/l acidity. A great success, actually one of the most memorable wines of the tasting. How glad I am to be able, after several years of (sometimes) criticising a dear friend's efforts, to report (again) that her wines are now definitely not only among the most down-to-earth natural from the region, but also the handful very finest. But, and I would be hard-pressed to tell why this is so, they are not the most easy to interpret at an early stage. I noticed, however, that Fredrik also thought this one of the standouts of the tasting, despite the (relative) glory of the 2005 Rieslings, in part also in terms of its quality/price ratio. Rating: 93+?
Tokaj Pendits Tokaji Essencia 2000
Third time I got to taste the 2000, although for the first time from bottle. 750 g/l r.s., 15.6 g/l acidity, 0.12% alcohol. I am so glad to report this went into bottle unfiltered and that 250 ml bottles are also available. Bottling unfiltered Eszencia is risky (at worst, bottles explode due to refermentation), but as far as my taste buds are concerned, the only way to preserve and get to experience the real thing. No new tasting note, of course, as my earlier two date from September last year, but I agree with Victor that the significantly lower acidity (not low per se, let alone for a 2000!) and higher level of residual sugar, along with slightly lesser minerality and intensity compared to the 1999, make this a fraction less impressive – an entirely academic verdict, as there has so far only been a filtered bottling of a couple of the less sweet demi-johns (I remember tasting at least four different samples), in other words, what actually went into the bottle in 2000 is bound to be superior (having said that, I have never tasted the filtered and bottled 1999). No matter, as the 1999 is probably sold out and impossible to find anyhow. Even if not the single greatest Eszencia I have ever tasted, the Tokaj Pendits Essencia 2000 might still make it into my top ten list, in great part because it was bottled unfiltered. And despite the overall quality of the 2005 Rieslings on show today, it may still have been the wine of tasting. Which is ironic given the fact that only a handful of people attended Benjamin Wille-Baumkauff's booth all day long, so that of the two 250 ml bottles he brought along, one was still not emptied by the end of the tasting and the other remained unopened! Seriously now: how stupid and prejudiced can people get? They are paying an entry fee to enter a Riesling tasting, thus can be assumed to pride themselves on being sweet wine lovers, for God's sake! Rating: 97?
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
P.S.
For those who have problems interpreting my "adjectival scoring system", the numerical correspondences are as follows:
79 and below = Not good (i.e. no need to figure out exactly)
80 – 84 = Good (same as 16 and over in the European 20-point system)
85 – 89 = Very good (same as 17 and over; I sometimes use Excellent to indicate 88 – 89, or almost-outstanding)
90 – 94 = Outstanding (same as 18 and over)
95 – 99 = Great (or Classic, same as 19 and over; I sometimes use Near-Perfect to indicate a 98 – 99 score)
100 = Perfect (20/20)
Note I will rarely buy wine below my own Excellent rating (that iss where wine really starts standing out for individuality from the mass of technically impeccably-made wines) except for an occasional and there truly exceptional QPR (I must insist any wine in the Very Good category with me is serious stuff, way above average wine, that I still would not buy because I have got to somehow limit my wine buying). But if a wine is costly, it had better be at least outstanding!
