WTN: Kabinett Meeting

We went to a gathering of the local chapter of the German Wine Society, hosted by the Weiss' and led by the ever affable, David Bueker. It was a truly educational and fun night, filled with the expected pun-ditry. The flights were arranged and entitled by David.

Flight 1 : Halfway There
2004 Schafer-Frohlich Riesling QbA Halbtrocken (aka Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Kabinett) (Nahe) #19 05
Nice pear and mineral with super citrus flavors. A bit harsh in acidity.

2004 Lingenfelder Grosskarlbacher Burgweg Scheurebe Kabinett Halbtrocken (Pfalz) #14 05
Who snuck in this scheurebe? I'm glad it was here as I had never tried this varietal before. Very ripe fruit, cut grass, with more rs than I expected from a halbtrocken. Very beautiful at first taste but flabby when revisited.

2004 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken (Mosel) #06 05
My favorite of the flight. Solid minerality, light citrus, and nice balance.

Flight 2: Which one’s the real kabinett?
David says that two of these wines are of spatlese levels and only one is truly kabinett. We did some guessing.
2004 Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberger Riesling Kabinett (Ruwer) #07 05
Creamy apple flavors with moderate acidity. I thought this was the true kabinett (It’s the Kesselstat).

2004 Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Josephshofer Riesling Kabinett (Mosel) #25 05
My favorite of the flight and tied for my WOTN. Lill likes it too. Soft whiff of petrol, bigger, sweeter, with a lengthy red grapefruit finish. This is very unique.

2004 Josef Leitz Rudesheimer Klosterlay Riesling Kabinett (Rheingau) #05 05
Simple but good. Great finish. One of Lill’s faves.

Flight 3: Get Vertical (all with synthetic corks)
2002 J. J. Christoffel Urzinger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett (Mosel)
No nose at first, then some oddity in the aroma. Big fruit but the finish isn’t quite right. Bad bottle? Bad fake cork?

2003 J. J. Christoffel Urzinger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett (Mosel)
Some petrol, huge flavor fruit makes this so easy to drink. If it had a bit more acidity it would be marvelous. As is, it’s very good.

2004 J. J. Christoffel Urzinger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett (Mosel)
Favorite of the flight and tied for my (and Lill’s) WOTN. Rich apple nose, much more vibrant than the ’03, and a super pineapple finish. Damn good stuff.

Flight 4: Get Horizontal
1997 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett (Mosel) #08 98
Lots of petrol, big apple flavors, with some citrus. There was considerable talk about this flight regarding whether these wines are over the hill or are they just not mature yet. I didn’t sense the fruit completely fading and I didn’t feel that creamy midpalate either. It seems like these wines are in limbo and really haven’t matured as much as one would think for a 9 year old kabinett.

1997 J. J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett (Mosel) #20 98
Serious brimstone alert! A whole lotta shakin going on, and swirling, and cup to cup aeration helped the sulfur subside slightly after 15 minutes or so. I still couldn’t get past the sulfur to taste anything.

1997 Dönnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett (Nahe)
Petrol nose with tons of fruit flavor and good acidity but there was no developed complexity.

[David M. Bueker]

Bill,

Thanks for taking the time to post notes. I took no formal notes myself, but your impressions mostly sync up well with mine.

I liked the Schafer-Frohlich more than you did (favorite of flight for me), but that's not shocking as I bought more than a case of it.

The Lingenfelder was inserted into the festivities so I could have fun listening to people pronounce Scheurebe. Rainer Lingenfelder goes for lower acid in his wines than is the norm for other producers.

The Karthauserhof was my wine of the night, which was a revelation as I had never previously warmed up to any wine from this esteemed producer.

I agree that the '97s were not OTH, but the Donnhoff was not at all what it once was. That was my last bottle, so no real issues there. I have one each of the Prum (Holy Hollering Hades Batman!) and Schaefer, so there's opportunity for down the road evaluation on those wines. I do think the Schaefer was drinking well, and so the other bottle of that might soon be gone.

I have been busy thinking about themes, and realized that I have never done a complete Spatlese tasting. So after Franken (next event) will be a Spatlese Showdown. That should be fun.

Sounds like you two boys had some nice wine? Is Bill B still glowing after his conversion to the Cab Franc admiration society?!!

Sounds like a fun night. Great notes.

The Lingenfelder was inserted into the festivities so I could have fun listening to people pronounce Scheurebe.

After butchering it a few times (schroob, shreb) I managed to scribble a phonetic spelling. Now it's ingrained!

The Karthauserhof was my wine of the night, which was a revelation as I had never previously warmed up to any wine from this esteemed producer.

I sure did like it's balance and restraint which led me to believe it was the true kab.

I have been busy thinking about themes, and realized that I have never done a complete Spatlese tasting. So after Franken (next event) will be a Spatlese Showdown. That should be fun.

Both events sound like great fun!

Sounds like you two boys had some nice wine? Is Bill B still glowing after his conversion to the Cab Franc admiration society?!!

It was indeed a fun night, Bob. Remember it's Loire cab franc that I really do like alot! I just can't enjoy the heavy domestic expressions

David, you don't like Karthauserhof because you don't like acidity and minerals...

Sorry I missed this one...sounds like fun, even with all those flabby non-MSR wines. Maybe I'll be in town next time.

Mike

[David M. Bueker]

David, you don't like Karthauserhof because you don't like acidity and minerals...

Ah. That explains all those Mosel wines in my cellar that just sit there.