WTN: More 2006 German Rieslings (Howard Ripley Tasting)

More 2006 German rieslings today at the Howard Ripley tasting.

No time for detailed notes but in general things seem to be progressing better as they spend more time in bottle.

The Grünhaus wines are still big brash and mineral, an interesting combination. Although the Herrenberg Auslese #49 was much less creamy than when tasted two months ago and today almost seemed "fresh". Will need to sit down and focus on a bottle or seven and hash out these discrepancies.

The Karthäuserhof wines were putrid. We kept asking for new bottles thinking it was a flaw, but the sulfur stink was rising from one after another. Not their day to shine.

I found the Karlsmühle wines to have interesting potential, especially the Kaseler Nies’chen Auslese which seemed better balanced than the Spätlese, at least today. Not the best wines of the tasting, but the relatively cool tones of the flavors combined with the rich mineral frame is what attracted me. Especially because these wines were not on my radar before. But you may like other things.

Daniel Vollenweider’s wines are getting much better in bottle and the Reiler Auslese seemed to be showing much better than two months ago. Love the richness and the phenolic grip but also love the balance and the poise.

I also liked the Schaefer wines more and more, the Graacher Domprobst Spätlese #12 is showing the poise and balance that was more shut down and difficult to read on our visit when I prefered the more forward #17. But, if you really want to get into it the GD Spätlese #4 Auction is a much more serious wine and much deeper longer etc. Very very nice. Some of their other wines were less exciting. But..

Yixin was happy to tout the Weiser-Künstler wines (which Bay Area fans will be happy to know are now imported by Bill Mayer) and they did have a relatively slim build in comparison to other wines, which may be attractive, but they also seemed to lack focus and elegance in comparison to the other wines. Or is that just my bias because their labels kept falling off.

For the most part the wines from Dönnhoff, Lieser, Fritz Haag, Selbach-Oster and Loosen didn’t speak to me, although obviously there were individual highlights and many of them were perfectly nice wines. One of the highlights was the Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Auslese GK, thick smoky minerals. Mmmm.. (Although the 2006 Dönnhoff Felsentürmchen Spätlese seemed weak and not on the level. But tell me I sipped to quickly...) Two other highlights from the sweetness overload perspective were the Lieser Niederberg Helden Auslese LGK and the NH TBA which were both tongue-drenching thick, something even more interesting because the kabinett-auslese range had tasted relatively fresh a few weeks ago. I guess we see where the concentration went.

Carl Loewen was not at all my style, way too tropical and slutty, and I liked some Johannishof and Keller wines but didn’t like others at all (e.g. the Keller Westhofener Kirchspiel Ausle was rich with delightful elegance and finesse sneaking up on the end, while the others from them seemed completely void of said finesse).

Still, it was fun and interesting, saw lots of people, rinsed my mouth with lots of acidsugar water, and then was off to watch a documentary with my girlfriend about guitar making in Spain..

Such is Tuesday night.

[David M. Bueker]

If the Donnhoff Turmchen Spatlese did not speak to you then you sipped too quickly. I had the wine early this month & was bowled over. Donnhoff captured elegance that was all too rare in 2006.

The Karthäuserhof wines were putrid. We kept asking for new bottles thinking it was a flaw, but the sulfur stink was rising from one after another. Not their day to shine.

Was the entire line up like this, top to bottom? I remember someone (David from Switzerland?) commenting on the sulfur here, but he listed only the higher pradikats in his notes.

Marc

If the Donnhoff Turmchen Spatlese did not speak to you then you sipped too quickly. I had the wine early this month & was bowled over. Donnhoff captured elegance that was all too rare in 2006.

Absolutely agree, a stunning range of wines that avoid the superficial thickness I found in so many tiring MSR wines on the VDP presentation. It was a great relief, and felt like coming home when I tasted Dönnhoff's 06es.

Peter

The Karthäuserhof wines were putrid. We kept asking for new bottles thinking it was a flaw, but the sulfur stink was rising from one after another. Not their day to shine.

Was the entire line up like this, top to bottom? I remember someone (David from Switzerland?) commenting on the sulfur here, but he listed only the higher pradikats in his notes.

Marc

They actually only had two wines on display. The Auslese No. 34 was the worst offender. Undrinkable. Reminded me of the stink bombs kids used to buy when I was in third grade. The Spätlese was also difficult, but still drinkable. The kabinett, spätlese, and regular auslese were easier a few weeks ago, but not necessarily singing to me at that point in time either.

I don't know what else to say. Will see.

If the Donnhoff Turmchen Spatlese did not speak to you then you sipped too quickly..

Absolutely agree, a stunning range of wines that avoid the superficial thickness I found in so many tiring MSR wines on the VDP presentation.

Point well taken about sipping too quickly. But, one must also note that you two are two of the biggest Dönnhoff apologists on the wine internet

As far as avoiding superficial thickness, I can agree the Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle BA was definitely lighter and more elegant than the Mosel BAs on display (Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg, Lieser NH, Fritz Haag BJS, Dr. Loosen, Schaefer GD, and Weiser-Künstler Enkircher Ellergrub) although I was still more impressed with the Oberhäuser Brücke Auslese GK, both more powerful and easier to drink..

Daniel Vollenweider’s wines are getting much better in bottle

Thanks for the notes, as always, Rahsaan. You seemed pretty unimpressed with the Wolfer Goldgrube Kab in previous posts. Did you sense any improvement with that one?

Daniel Vollenweider's wines are getting much better in bottle

Thanks for the notes, as always, Rahsaan. You seemed pretty unimpressed with the Wolfer Goldgrube Kab in previous posts. Did you sense any improvement with that one?

I thought it was a little more attractive than two months ago, but one of the few things Yixin and I agreed on was that Daniel's kabinett was the weakest of his wines on display. Still too ponderous to really float my boat.

I definitely liked the WG Spätlese GK which seemed more balanced and more attractive than the other two times I tasted it (although it was also quite good on those occasions) and apparently it will be imported to the US after all through Bill Mayer.

Both the Reiler Auslese and the Auslese GK were also more impressive and better balanced than two months ago, more signs of freshness to offset the weight, which was promising. Although I can't say which was more impressive the Reiler seemed to show more personality to me at the moment, and was also half the price, which didn't hurt either

Donnhoff captured elegance that was all too rare in 2006.

felt like coming home when I tasted Dönnhoff's 06es.

Peter

Also, looking through my notes from the two tastings it seems like I definitely preferred the Oberhäuser Brücke wines (sptl, auslese, BA) to the Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle. Is it common for the Brücke to show better young?

[David M. Bueker]

Is it common for the Brücke to show better young?

Nope. In my experience the Brucke wines need much more time than the Hermannshohle wines. However I can say that I tasted the 2006 Brucke Spatlese a few weeks ago & it was the most open young Brucke I have ever tasted.

Is it common for the Brücke to show better young?

Nope. In my experience the Brucke wines need much more time than the Hermannshohle wines..

Interesting.

I don't have extensive experience with Dönnhoff wines so it would be interesting to get to know them better. As they are indeed obviously very elegant.

Thus far they haven't been a priority for my tastes however. (Which is perhaps good for my Student Wallet. Considering their price relative to Grünhaus and all )

[David M. Bueker]

Always happy to pop some corks should you ever get to Connecticut.

Always happy to pop some corks should you ever get to Connecticut.

Thanks.

Nyc is more likely to be part of my usual route these days.

But I'll be (at last) looking for a job next year so who knows what will happen.

And I'm sure we'll meet eventually.

Still too ponderous to really float my boat.

I put in a pre-order for WG kab, WG spat, Portz Aus, and GK Aus. Maybe ponderous will settle out to enjoyable over time.

Is it common for the Brücke to show better young?

Nope. In my experience the Brucke wines need much more time than the Hermannshohle wines. However I can say that I tasted the 2006 Brucke Spatlese a few weeks ago & it was the most open young Brucke I have ever tasted.

I cann't say I found it closed 2 weeks ago, but it was not in a very flamboyant mood, compared to HH and Felsentürmchen. I felt it leaned more to Spl stly compared to the HH which is more Auslese style, and showed more resrve but also more depth than Felsentürmchen. I found it in some sense quite typical: a real class act that can sometimes get overlooked in the Dönnhoff range these days (adding the supersexy Dellchen auction Spl to that...).

Peter

[David M. Bueker]

Is it common for the Brücke to show better young?

Nope. In my experience the Brucke wines need much more time than the Hermannshohle wines. However I can say that I tasted the 2006 Brucke Spatlese a few weeks ago & it was the most open young Brucke I have ever tasted.

I cann't say I found it closed 2 weeks ago, but it was not in a very flamboyant mood, compared to HH and Felsentürmchen. I felt it leaned more to Spl stly compared to the HH which is more Auslese style, and showed more resrve but also more depth than Felsentürmchen. I found it in some sense quite typical: a real class act that can sometimes get overlooked in the Dönnhoff range these days (adding the supersexy Dellchen auction Spl to that...).

Peter

I did not get the opportunity to taste the Hermannshohle wines. The one you don't mention that I did get to try was the Krotenpfuhl Spatlese. That was an interesting wine in that it was so much more earthy than a typical Donnhoff.

I did not get the opportunity to taste the Hermannshohle wines. The one you don't mention that I did get to try was the Krotenpfuhl Spatlese. That was an interesting wine in that it was so much more earthy than a typical Donnhoff.

I forgot the Krötenpuhl...Not sure I found it so earthy, just a different type of minerality and fruit from the rest. I liked it, but would find it fascinating to think where I would place it blind. Pfalz? Durbach? Who knows...
I also forgot the excellent Kirschheck, and the not so shabby regular Felsenberg Spl. which only suffers from comparison with the more elegant Felsentürmchen.

Peter

[David M. Bueker]

I loved the 2006 Kirschheck! I am also starting to have some older bottles of Kirschheck & they are aging beautifully. The '98 and '99 are just starting to enter into their mid-life with some smokiness to go along with all that sunny fruit. I am looking forward to following these wines for years to come.