Wine Advocate by Robert Parker
- 2004 vintage
Tastingnotes by David Schildknecht
view all notes in PDF - part
1
view all notes in PDF - part 2
Quick access:
| von Buhl | Mönchhof | Gunderloch
| Fritz Haag | Reinhold Haart
| Künstler | Schloss Lieser
| Karthäuserhof | Pfeffingen | J.J. Prüm
| Schäfer-Fröhlich | Wegeler Mosel | Wegeler
Rheingau | Weins-Prüm | Robert
Weil | Geltz - Zilliken |
As will readily become apparent, the successes from 2004 along the Mosel
and its tributaries aptly illustrate this vintage’s gustatory virtues
of healthy ripeness, clarity, minerality, and bracing acidity, and are
more than capable of standing comparison with the successes of 2002 or
even 2001. That said, there was slightly more danger this year than in
some other regions that acids would veer into an overly intense or less-than-entirely
ripe zone. Balance, however, is less a matter of measurable acidity and
residual sugar than of those imponderables of flavor that are determined
by a year’s worth of viticultural strategy, culminating in the precise
moment of picking. And, as in all of Germany’s Riesling-growing regions,
picking strategy was complicated this year by variable weather throughout
the window of opportunity.
All of the wines covered below – with the exception of a few collections
sent to me as samples – were tasted in the course of my August visits
to 76 German estates. Following standard Wine Advocate conventions, wines
tasted prior to bottling are given a parenthetic point spread
rather than a specific score.
Robert Weil (Rheingau
region)
Wilhelm Weil insists that his 2004s are more consistently ripe than were
his 2001s, since the accumulation of sugars this year was more gradual
and there was not the extreme contrast presented by a cool, rainy September
and a warm October of 2001. “Two thousand four, after all,”
he says, “displays the classic virtues we theoretically ascribe to
Riesling: long ripening, late harvest, and conditions on the climatic
margins.” I found considerable qualitative variation this year, though,
on account of factors other than sheer ripeness. That said, the outstanding
2004 Weil Rieslings – and these are in the clear majority –
include some breathtaking successes. Furthermore, the quantities behind
some of the most exciting of these are far larger than in any previous
vintages of this estate.
Robert Weil 2004 Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese
"Kiedricher Gräfenberg"
Rating: 99 points
Robert Weil 2004 Riesling Gold Capsule Beerenauslese
"Kiedricher Gräfenberg"
Rating: 95 points
Robert Weil 2004 Riesling Beerenauslese
"Kiedricher Gräfenberg"
Rating: 93 points
Robert Weil 2004 Riesling Eiswein "Kiedricher Gräfenberg"
Rating: 94 points
Robert Weil 2004 Riesling Gold Capsule Auslese "Kiedricher
Gräfenberg"
Rating: 96 points
Robert Weil 2004 Riesling Auslese "Kiedricher
Gräfenberg"
Rating: 91 points
Robert Weil 2004 Riesling Spätlese "Kiedricher
Gräfenberg"– 95 Points
- When we come to the 2004 Kiedricher Gräfenberg Spatlese, we are
in a different realm from any of the wines that preceded it. Indeed, this
not only stands comparison to several of the best Gräfenberg Spätlesen
of the Wilhelm Weil era, but strikes me as the single best Grafenberg
Spatlese thus far. The nose is assaulted by a heady mixture of musky florality,
brine and iodine minerality, white raisin, and orchard fruits ripe almost
to the point of over-the-top decadence. On the palate, these flowers,
yellow plum, quince, and white peach seethe with flavor, their being lashed
to a formidable mineral base seemingly the only thing that restrains their
eruption. The finish of this Riesling displays tremendous drive, nerve
and verve as well Auslese-like richness of fruit, honey, and floral essences
that go on and on. This gloriously decadent drink can be expected to age
to marvelous additional complexity over at least a 25-year period. With
just over a thousand cases produced, shame on any Riesling lovers who
do not make the necessary effort to taste it for themselves!
Robert Weil 2004 Riesling Spätlese - Estate
– 92 Points
- The 2004 Riesling Spatlese – picked botrytis-free but at
over 100 Oechsle – smells beautifully of honeysuckle, pear, yellow
plum, melons and honey. Its vibrant, juicy palate impression is stuffed
with the aforementioned fruits as well. Not that this wine lacks for typical
Kiedrich mineral expression as there is a fine dusting of chalk dust and
crusting of salt throughout. The feel in the mouth is exceedingly smooth
and polished, the overall effect enormously ripe and rich, yet refined,
and the finish a real spreading peacock’s tail of flowers, fruits
and minerals. However highly a generically-labeled wine of this quality
speaks of its estate, I feel it would convey a more appropriate sense
of place and the wine’s genuine nobility – while taking nothing
away from the greatness of Grafenberg – to label it “Kiedricher
Wasseros Spatlese.”
Robert Weil 2004 Riesling (dry) Kiedricher Gräfenberg
Erstes Gewächs
Rating: 91 points
Robert Weil 2004 Riesling dry (trocken)
Rating: 90 points
Gunderloch (Rheinhessen
region)
Gunderloch 2004 Riesling Gold Kapsule Auslese Nackenheimer
Rothenberg – (92 – 94) points
- The 2004 Nackenheimer Rothenberg Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule was harvested
from fruit left behind on the first pass for the “regular” Auslese
and was residing in tank when I tasted. Beneath a haze of primary fermentative
aromas emerged suggestions of sea salt and citrus rind. The refined, ethereal
but concentrated palate offers smoked meat, peach preserves, marzipan,
honey, orange marmalade, brown spices, quince jelly, malt and brine. This
enormously concentrated and complex wine finishes with a long rush of
flavor and seems destined to perform superbly for several decades in bottle.
The main harvest was finished in mid-November after what Hess called “a
glorious burst of sunny weather” but, incredibly, Beerenauslese and
Trockenbeerenauslese – still fermenting when I visited – were
harvested on the 29th of January! I shall report on those at this time
next year.
Gunderloch 2004 Riesling Auslese Nackenheimer Rothenberg
– 92 points
- The 2004 Nackenheimer Rothenberg Riesling Auslese, fascinatingly,
smells first and foremost of smoked pork products and only secondarily
of citrus and orchard fruits. In the mouth, honey, kumquat, peach preserves
and tangerine mingle with smoked meats and the overall effect is juicy,
elegant, even delicate despite its creaminess of texture and its high
residual sugar. I suspect this has years to go before it shows all it’s
got. Fermentation of this wine was stopped in January – exceedingly
early by Gunderloch standards – and it was bottled in June 2005.
Gunderloch 2004 Diva Riesling Spätlese
The generic 2004 Riesling Spätlese gets things back on track, with
a poached peach, tangerine, lemon and honey nose, a correspondingly citric
and peachy palate of glossy, polished texture and juicy generosity, and
suggestions of marzipan, vanilla and candied citrus zest in the finish
without being overly-sweet.
Rating: 88 points
Gunderloch 2004 Riesling (dry) Nackenheimer Rothenberg
Tasted from cask, the 2004 Nackenheimer Rothenberg smells alluringly of
tangerine, sweet, resinous green herbs, bacon, lemon oil, honey, and sea
breezes. In fact, speaking of breezes, everything about this wine simply
blew me away! The vivid essence of fresh citrus, rich nut oils, pungent
herb and citrus rind, sea spray, intensely smoky, soil-borne tones, creamy
texture, subtle and supportive leesy notes, and a mysterious musky animal
side all add up to a tour de force of flavor.
Rating: (94-96) points
Gunderloch 2004 Riesling (dry) Niersteiner Pettental
2004 Niersteiner Pettental Riesling (whose main label actually reads simply
“Pettental”) is also within the legal parameters of trocken.
But Fritz Hasselbach prefers to “play with the terroir idea”
as well as, quite sensibly, to reserve the right to exceed 9 grams of
sugar if that is what seems right for the wine. (I realize that this hardly
seems a radical notion, but it is, in light of how many German growers
are wedded to “trocken” by shackles of law, fashion and ideology.)
Hess and
Hasselbach also experimented with a day’s pre-fermentative skin contact.
The nose is more treble and the palate even brighter and more fine-grained
than in the Gunderloch estate Riesling. Lemon, orange and raw almond saturate
the palate, with suggestions of honey, musk and smoked meat adding complexity.
A pure, clear bugle call of nectarous fruit and smoky minerality sound
the charge in the finish. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what dry German
wine should be about: balance, fruit and flavor, not grams per liter! Furthermore, it represents
an astonishing value.
Rating: 93 points
Gunderloch 2004 Dry Riesling - 92
points
- The estate’s 2004 Riesling trocken, composed of material from exclusively
first-rate red stone sites, represents an extraordinary value and demonstrates
not just the sort of vintage success with which we are dealing at this
address, but also precisely what a dry German Riesling should be. The
grapes were harvested at Auslese level, with 8 grams of ripe acidity,
and 8 grams of sugar – one gram short of the legal limit for “trocken”
– left behind for fruit boosting and balance. The aromas are of soil
typical citrus, herb and smoked nuts. The clarity and length of flavors,
vivid smoky mineral notes and sappy juicy fruit on the palate are truly
formidable.
Pfeffingen (Pfalz
region)
Pfeffingen 2004 Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese Ungsteiner
Herrenberg
Rating: 94 points
Pfeffingen 2004 Riesling Beerenauslese Ungsteiner
Herrenberg
The 2004 Ungsteiner Herrenberg Riesling Beerenauslese, harvested with
a goodly portion of botrytis, enhances the pineapple and spice aromas
and flavors as well as the elegance and buoyancy of the Auslese, but there
is also a lovely ripe nectarine character, a creamier texture, along with
honey-drenched and salt-tinged aspects to the flavors, particularly in
the finish. There exist only 400 half bottles of the Auslese and 300 of
the Beerenauslese, but it would be worth a considerable effort to get
hold of some!
Rating: 94 points Wine Advocate #161 (Oct
2005); Cost: $56.00
Pfeffingen 2004 Riesling Auslese Ungsteiner Herrenberg
Rating: 92 points
Pfeffingen 2004 Scheurebe BA (Beerenauslese)
– 90 points - More than half the fruit
for the 2004 Ungsteiner Herrenberg Scheurebe Beerenauslese was botrytised.
Its aromas of grapefruit zest, mint, sage flower and pungent wood smoke
lead to a curious palate pitting these high-toned herbal flavors as well
as that of celery root against an unusually strong note of caramel for
a Riesling so young. The striking, long finish is of an elixir of distilled
mint and sage mixed with caramel and honey. While this Scheurebe is undeniably
impressive, I find less favor in its candied mint and yin-yang herbal-caramel
characteristics than may some other tasters.
Pfeffingen 2004 Riesling (dry) Ungsteiner Herrenberg
Grosses Gewaechs
Rating: 89 points
Schäfer-Fröhlich
(Nahe region)
The daring with which young Tim Frohlich and his parents have approached
their work over the past several years and their audacious success in
crafting riveting Rieslings that marry intense fruit and distinctive minerality
has left me astonished. 2004 sets new standards of quality, and no Riesling
lover will want to be deprived of a serious sampling of the results. “Everything
just clicked this year,” says Frohlich, without any need to be modest,
adding, however, that he had to wait until the end of October before he
could even begin harvesting fruit that he considered fully ripe. And in
fact, the few less-than-successful wines this year were rather thin and
too-prominently acidic, early-harvested dry Kabinett Rieslings. Frohlich
was still harvesting clean fruit for dry wines near the end of November.
Emboldened by his experiments over the past three years, this year he
moved to largely spontaneous fermentation and, where he has inoculated,
it is with selected yeasts cultured (by a certain Professor Frohlich –
no relation – at the Geisenheim Institute) from the vineyard in question.
Acid levels in the fruit were high but generally harmonious, and he never
considered adjusting them. The Bockenau vineyards were hailed upon in
June but this turned out to be for the best as “nature took care
of” the drastic green harvest of a potentially huge crop that in
Monzingen had to be done by human hands. Speaking of viticultural labors,
in the last two years the Frohlichs have carted 500 tons of natural ameliorant
onto the stony Felseneck alone, and that’s no ? well, actually, that’s
what much of it is! Incidentally, the Frohlichs have acquired new acreage
this year in Monzinger Halenberg, Bockenauer Felseneck and Schlossbockelheimer
Felsenberg, plus, beginning next year, they will be farming a prime acre
of the famed Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube acquired from Paul Anheuser.
In short, there isn’t a more exciting winery to watch out for
in Germany today.
Schäfer-Fröhlich 2004 Riesling Gold Capsule
EisweinAP #32 Bockenauer Felseneck
The 2004 Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Eiswein Gold Capsule A.P. #32 represents
the heart of this year’s Eiswein pressing. With even more residual
sugar than the A.P. #31, and more concentration of all other elements
as well, it nevertheless manages to taste less sweet and to leave a lighter,
brighter palate impression. A mysteriously meaty, musky cast adds allure
to an aroma dominated by distilled plum, apricot jam and white raisin.
The richness, density and sheer chewiness of a mouthful of honey, white
raisin and dried apricot paste are impressive, with layer upon layer of
fruit concentrate, citrus and honey revealing themselves. The finish exhibits
considerable vigor by way of strong, yet not at all strident acidity.
Rating: 92 points
Schäfer-Fröhlich 2004 Riesling Eiswein
AP #31 Bockenauer Felseneck
The 2004 Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Eiswein A.P. #31 comes from a lower
(hence colder) part of this site. Sugared plum and candied lemon aromas
lead to yet another wine of purity and incredible richness, shot through
with citricity. But this fails to exhibit the depth, poise or complexity
of this collection’s best (which, granted, set an exceedingly tough
quality standard). The finish is long but dominated by sheer sweetness
(at well over 200 grams residual sugar!) which – once it lifts –
may reveal nuances and further complexity.
Rating: 90 points
Schäfer-Fröhlich 2004 Riesling Gold Capsule
Auslese AP # (To Be Determined) Bockenauer Felseneck
The 2004 Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule is not yet
released, nor possessed of an A.P. #. It has captured the fresh plumminess
that characterized the Spätlese A.P. #17 and taken it in a honeyed,
ultraconcentrated, yet also mineral-saturated direction. The resulting
combination reminds me of a great Wiltinger Braune Kupp from Egon Muller.
Diverse citrus fruits, brown spices and mineral salts serve for complexity.
This is less creamy and dreamy than its sibling gold capsule Auslese,
but is instead incisive and gripping. The bottomless well of pure fruit
concentrate and slate from which this draws is not however one bit shallower.
This sort of concentration along with such vividly fresh fruit character,
this much sheer density yet with a sense of lightness, and this much botrytised
ripeness along with such clarity, cut, and interplay of fruit and mineral
are phenomena rare indeed. I often mention that truly noble rot is the
sort that does its job surreptitiously without leaving any telltale fungal
fingerprints, and here the botrytis got away with not just grand larceny
but murder!
Rating: 96 points
Schäfer-Fröhlich 2004 Riesling Auslese
Gold Capsule AP # 33 Bockenauer Felseneck
The 2004 Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Auslese Gold Capsules, A.P. #33
displays pure and concentrated aromas of honey, truffle, white raisin,
vanilla and apple jelly. On the palate, the wine’s textural combination
of oily richness and bright juicy citricity, as well as its abundance
of all of the aforementioned flavors, make for a spectacular show. Purity,
polish, refinement and length are the watchwords for the finish, with
enormous concentration and textural creaminess
not keeping the wine from offering an overall impression of elegance and
lift.
Rating: 95 points
Schäfer-Fröhlich 2004 Riesling Spätlese
AP #17 Bockenauer Felseneck
While the Halenberg Spätlese was fermented with selected yeasts,
the gauzelike shroud of youthful yeastiness and CO2 give away origins
of the 2004 Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Spätlese A.P. #17 in spontaneous
(and, says Fröhlich, “endlessly long”) fermentation. This
wine is from the highest portions of the towering Felseneck vineyard.
The nose clears to reveal yellow and red plum aromas. The palate impression
is one of astonishingly vivid fresh plum, dripping with fresh lime, but
without the obvious verve of the Halenberg. The mineral expression is
a suffusion of salts and infusion of shrimp shells rather than the dynamically
diverse range exhibited in the Halenberg. The balance is just extraordinarily
poised (despite an unbelievably high nearly 90 grams residual sugar),
and the finish pure, sedate, yet endlessly refreshing and satisfying.
Rating: 94 points
Schäfer-Fröhlich 2004 Riesling Spätlese
AP #18 Bockenauer Felseneck
A second 2004 Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Spätlese A.P. #18, harvested
temporally and geographically close by the #17, spontaneously fermented,
and exhibits a very different personality. Fresh apple, a Chartreuse-like
distilled herbal and floral essence, and a scent of steamy stones emerge
from the mists of yeast and CO2. The palate presents a purity of sweet
apple and herbal essences playing against vivid wet-stone slatiness that
suggests a Middle Mosel
Riesling. Both a sense of honeyed richness and invigorating saltiness
join the flavor melange in a finish of outstanding length and grip.
Rating: 93 points
Schäfer-Fröhlich 2004 Riesling Spätlese
Bockenauer Felseneck
The Fröhlich’s 2004 Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Spätlese
trocken was half spontaneously-fermented and half with site-specific cultured
yeasts. Pear and pear pip, lemon, toasted nuts and resinous green herbs
in the nose lead to an elegant fine-grained palate with prominent wet-stone
mineral expression and vivid citrus and orchard fruits. Somehow the texture
and feel suggest only
moderate weight and yet a palpable sense of mineral and fruit extract
and stuffing (unlike a too-spare corresponding dry Kabinett). A sappy
finish of pear and grapefruit accented by toasted nuts, resin, pear pip,
salts and wet stone satisfies on repeated sips.
Rating: 90 points
Schäfer-Fröhlich 2004 Riesling Spätlese
Monziger Halenberg
The fruit for Fröhlich’s 2004 Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese,
in complete contrast with that from the Felsenberg, came in early at both
high sugar and acid. White peach, honey, lemon, and green tea aromas lead
to a relatively light weight, bright, yet concentrated and penetrating
palate. The interplay of peach, honey, red berry and diverse mineral expressions
is delightfully entertaining and generous, leaving me smacking my lips
as this wine finishes ear-to-ear.
Rating: 92 points
Schäfer-Fröhlich 2004 Riesling halbtrocken
(medium-dry) – 91 points
- After Frohlich’s formidable onslaught of dry wines commenced
a series of residually sweet Rieslings that were stunning in their crescendo
of expression and left me truly dazzled. The wine labeled for the U.S.
as 2004 Riesling is in fact a Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Kabinett halbtrocken,
but one can scarcely blame importer Rudi Wiest for wanting something that
can simply be referred to as “estate Riesling.” Whether one
could blame him for selecting something this absurdly delicious to fill
that role is another matter! Fresh lime, toasted almond, red berry and
tangerine rind aromas lead to a pure, even, juicily citric and red berry
and orchard-fruit stuffed palate with a perfectly-judged, supportive hint
of sweetness that adds allure, interplay, and cling to the long, fruitful,
slate-paved finish. What an extraordinary value this wine offers!
Schäfer-Fröhlich 2004 Riesling (dry) Bockenauer
Felseneck Grosses Gewächs
About the 2004 Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Grosses Gewächs –
representing a spontaneous fermentation from tiny, concentrated berries
(traits Fröhlich associates with this site and not just the genetic
heritage of his vines) – there can be no doubt: this is an outstanding
dry Riesling. Orange and grapefruit with their zests figure in the nose.
On the palate, this offers a generously juicy mouthful of citrus and berries
along with a diversity of mineral expressions – salts, wet stone,
chalk, pepper – that goes well beyond what the Fröhlich’s
two Monzinger Grosse Gewächs are currently revealing. This is dense
but also open and expressive, its finish rapier in penetration with blazing
citricity, lip-smacking saltiness and invigorating pungency. Here is a
wine that’s bound to be fun to follow for a few years, during which
its Monzinger counterparts may pull themselves together and give chase.
Rating: 91 points
Reichsrat von Buhl (Pfalz
region)
Reichsrat Von Buhl 2004 Riesling Rieslaner Auslese
Forster Stift
Rating: 89 points
Reichsrat Von Buhl 2004 Riesling Spatlese Forster
Jesuitengarten
Rating: 91 points
Reichsrat Von Buhl 2004 Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken
(medium-dry) Deidesheimer Leinhöhle
Rating: 89 points
Reichsrat Von Buhl 2004 Riesling (Spatlese Trocken/dry)
Forster Pechstein Grosses Gewächs
Rating: 90 points
Reichsrat Von Buhl 2004 Riesling Spatlese Trocken
(dry) Deidesheimer Maushöhle
Rating: 89 points
Reichsrat Von Buhl 2004 Riesling (Spatlese Trocken/dry)
Forster Kirchenstuck Grosses Gewächs
Rating: 88 points
Schloss Lieser (Mosel
valley)
Schloss Lieser 2004 Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule
A P #8 Lieser Niederberg Helden
Rating: 94 points, Wine Advocate #163
(Feb 2006)
The 2004 Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Auslese** Gold Capsule A.P.
#8 displays aromas of white peach preserve, lemon, and apple pip. Pure
pit fruit and melon flavors saturate the palate, accented by botrytis,
honey, fruit pit, and citrus zest. The texture is creamy, yet the wine
exhibits lift and delicacy. The fruit and noble rot come together for
a pure and complex, opulent, and honeyed yet still somehow juicy and refreshing
finish of truly formidable persistence. Incidentally,
this wine is labeled with two stars, but has a gold capsule. Haag prefers
to refer to it as “gold capsule” and has said he intends to
eliminate stars from his labels in future vintages.
Schloss Lieser 2004 Riesling Auslese A P #9 Lieser
Niederberg Helden (Auction)
Rating: 93 pointsWine Advocate #163
(Feb 2006)
Haag’s 2004 Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Auslese A.P. #9 was
auctioned. Smelling of ripe peach, dried pear, and subtle white raisin,
along with a pungent overlay of botrytis spice, it spreads out in the
mouth with tremendous richness and a spiced fruit cake set of layered
fresh, jellied, caramelized and dried fruit flavors. The texture is faintly
oily and flatteringly creamy. The finish exhibits formidable torque and
length, with salt, brown spice, and malt accents as well as
a honeyed overlay to its opulent, peachy fruit. All that is needed to
show its best, I suspect, is around twenty years in a cellar.
Schloss Lieser 2004 Riesling Spätlese A P #6
Lieser Niederberg Helden (Auction)
Rating: 93 points Wine Advocate #163
(Feb 2006)
Haag’s 2004 Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Spätlese A.P.
#6 was offered at auction. This Spätlese is opulent and creamy –
almost custardy - on the palate, enveloping in its richness and featuring
white peach preserve, marzipan, and toasted walnut. Yet it does not lack
for efficacious acidity. Less juiciness or minerality is exhibited than
in the “regular” Niederberg Helden Spätlese, but significantly
more richness and opulence, while exhibiting no less elegance or refinement.
This gorgeous wine, Haag explains, resulted from highly selective picking
of one prime parcel, resulting in a small crop of tiny, scarcely botrytized
berries.
Schloss Lieser 2004 Riesling Auslese AP#12 Brauneberger
Juffer Sonnenuhr
Rating: 92 points, Drink: 2006-2009, Cost:
$38.00, Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese A.P. #12 offers
an especially transparent personality when tasted from a bottle that had
been open for a day. Peony-like sweet floral perfume ally themselves with
scents and flavors of apple and musk melon. The palate’s deep concentration
of ripe, rich fruit never detracts from a sense of lightness and elegance,
and is accompanied by salty mineral notes. The flavors crescendo on the
palate before ebbing to a long,
subtle finish. This really has class, clarity and poise, and should age
interestingly for three decades.
Schloss Lieser 2004 Riesling Auslese A P #7 Lieser
Niederberg Helden
Rating: 91 points, Cost: $36.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Auslese A.P. #7 features aromas
and flavors of flowers, white peach, and pink and white grapefruit. The
palate is creamy in texture and features luscious sweet citrus. Again,
“refinement”, “elegance” and “clarity” are
the watchwords, in a wine that displays drive and energy if not quite
the intensity and complexity of the Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese.
Schloss Lieser 2004 Riesling Spätlese A P #5
Lieser Niederberg Helden
Rating: 90 points, Cost: $29.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Spätlese A.P. #5 is strikingly
creamy and polished on the palate with nutty richness and an almost Chablislike,
brothy expression of minerality. The acidity is not at all obvious as
overt citricity but is enough to balance out the wine’s high residual
sugar and energize it. The aromas of white peach, honeydew melon, and
nectarine with which the
wine introduces itself deliver succulent fruit expression in an expansive,
mouthwatering and mineral-suffused finish.
Schloss Lieser 2004 Riesling Kabinett Brauneberger
Juffer
Rating: 89 points, Cost: $23.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Haag now has holdings in Brauneberg, which will make the steady qualitative
evolution of this estate even more fascinating to watch. His 2004 Brauneberger
Juffer Riesling Kabinett is delicate and fine grained, feather-light on
the palate, and yet subtly creamy in texture and saturated with aromas
and flavors of clover, marigold, fresh apple, nectarine, sweet herbs,
and lime. The finish is incisively salty and slate-y, with persistent,
juicy fruit, and subtle underlying suggestions of nut oils.
Schloss Lieser 2004 Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule
A P #14 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr
Rating: 88 points, Cost: $50.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule A.P.
#14 reveals some obscure fermentative aromas on the nose but they blow
off to reveal overripe pear, musk melon, and pungently floral marigold
scents. In the mouth, this is quite sweet, but has buoyancy and a citric
brightness that keep it from seeming cloying despite its residual sugar.
As it spends time in the air, this wine reveals - particularly in the
finish - nut oil, citrus and wet stone. It needs only a short while, I
suspect, for its richness to benefit from something like the clarity and
purity that the Niederberg Helden Auslese exhibits today.
Schloss Lieser 2004 Riesling Spätlese Brauneberger
Juffer Sonnenuhr
Rating: 86 points, Cost: $31.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The nose of the 2004 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
is both yeasty and floral. On the palate it is subtly honeyed, persistently
floral, and almost as delicate as this year’s Juffer Kabinett. Nor
does it lack for an obvious measure of minerality. But there is too much
reduction and fermentative overlay to get a clear view.
J. Wegeler (Mosel
valley)
not reviewed
J. Wegeler (Rheingau
region)
not reviewed
JJ Prüm (Mosel
region)
There tend to be multiple Prüm bottlings of a given combinations
of site and Pradikät, but I am never privy to an overview of these.
To sin on the side of safety, I have noted the A.P. # for wines I tasted
from bottle, but Manfred Prüm routinely seeks to assure me that any
alternate bottlings will not differ substantially from those I have tasted,
and consistent excellence – like ageworthiness – has long been
a hallmark of Joh. Jos. Prüm Rieslings. Picking this year –
until the middle of December – culminated in Eiswein harvests several
days earlier than the vast majority of those essayed in 2004. I did not
have opportunity to taste the embryonic results of those pickings, nor
did I taste Prüm’s 2004s from Bernkastel and Zeltingen sites.
Joh. Jos. Prüm 2004 Riesling Auslese A P #12
Wehlener Sonnenuhr
Rating: 93 points, Drink: 2006-2031, Cost:
$43.00, Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
A promising batch of Riesling originally intended to be this year’s
unique nonauction “gold capsule” bottling ended up finding its
way into the 2004 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese A.P. #12. The result is a
wine exhibiting great richness of fruit, subtle notes of noble rot, and
a combination of gripping flavor intensity with delicacy of touch that
has been a hallmark of the better Prüm Auslesen for decades. The
wine’s intense aromas – still overlaid with considerable primary
yeastiness – are of baked and fresh apple, honeysuckle, fresh orange,
and vanilla. In the mouth, this is bracing and dripping with fresh fruit,
yet subtly-tinged by honey and spice from botrytis. It is audaciously
ripe, mouth-coating and golden-berried in fruit character, yet light and
delicate to the touch, suggestively creamy and soothing, yet preserving
an animating core of fresh fruit acidity. The
long finish is similarly rich, honeyed and coating yet bracing and invigorating
with its fresh fruit, fruit skin and wet stone elements. As is generally
the case with Auslesen from this estate, how long you choose to cellar
it will depend in large part on how much of its abundant fructose and
overt sweetness you want to taste, but it will certainly mature impressively
for more than a quarter century.
Joh Jos Prüm 2004 Riesling Spätlese A P
#13 Wehlener Sonnenuhr
Rating: 92 points, Cost: $37.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
When tasted in August, the 2004 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
A.P. #13 (or another, similar lot – because I was tasting them without
benefit of identifying A.P. numbers) was richer in texture and more complex
in flavors – if more restrained in their expression - than its Graach
counterpart. Tasted in November, this A.P. #13 displayed significantly
more sheer intensity. The aroma of cinnamon, honeysuckle, and vanilla-tinged
watermelon and apple leads to a mouth-coating, rich yet delicate palate
with nut oil, vanilla, and wet stones underlying the wine’s exuberant,
juicy fruit. Vividly fresh apple and melon along with salted lime, nut
paste, honey, and wet stones inform a persistent finish and complete a
picture balancing ripeness and considerable overt sweetness with delicacy
and lift that is typical for the long-lived wines of this estate.
Joh Jos Prüm 2004 Riesling Auslese Long Gold
Capsule Graacher Himmelreich
Rating: (92-95) points, Drink: 2006-2036,
Cost: Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
I tasted in August a wine Prüm expected to bottle as 2004 Graacher
Himmelreich Riesling Auslese Long Gold Capsule and intended to auction.
Lemon zest, wood smoke, brown spices, and pear and apple nectar in the
nose were followed by a lemon meringue palate impression, a strikingly
lean and firm texture, and an enormously penetrating, clear finish of
lemon, apple jelly, pear nectar and
pungent spice. Embryonic yet already exciting, this should be a 30-plus-year
Auslese.
Joh Jos Prüm 2004 Riesling Auslese A P #14 Graacher
Himmelreich
Rating: 92 points, Drink: 2006-2026, Cost:
$37.50, Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The nose of the 2004 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese A.P. #14 is
tinged by whiffs of primary yeastiness, CO2, and SO2, but it responds
well to a good shaking and begins to pour forth aromas of spiced green
apple, blackberry, kiwi, honey, flowers, and a hint of white raisin. The
wine bursts onto the palate with juicy fruit intensity, abundant spice,
fruit skin pungency, and wet slate and salty minerality, leading to a
long, eloquently thirst-quenching and lip-smackingly intense finish of
apple, kiwi, black currant, flowers, and honey. This wine also exhibits
a flattering, subtle sense of oiliness of texture. Look for some short
term gain in clarity and then – based on a long-standing track record
at this estate – two or more decades satisfying development in bottle.
Joh Jos Prüm 2004 Riesling Spätlese A P
#23 Graacher Himmelreich
Rating: 91 points, Drink: 2006-2018, Cost:
$33.00, Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Aromas of Granny Smith apple, cinnamon, lime, honeydew melon, and vanilla
pour from a glass of the Prüm 2004 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling
Spätlese A.P. #23. Saturating the palate with juicy spiced apple,
melon, and lime fruit while remaining delicate to the touch, this Riesling
finishes with persistent fruit augmented by distinctive wet stone, salt,
green tea, fresh lemon, and a
pleasantly pungent note akin to peppermint. A light hint of primary yeastiness,
mingled with CO2, had considerably diminished between the time when I
first tasted this wine in August and then re-tasted it in November, and
its personality will continue to grow short term, as well as inviting
a dozen and more years of cellaring.
Joh Jos Prüm 2004 Riesling Kabinett A P #9 Wehlener
Sonnenuhr
Rating: 88 points, Drink: 2009-2026, Cost:
$29.00, Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Prüm’s 2004 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett A.P. #9 is
redolent of apple blossom, clover, honey, vanilla, lemon, and fresh yeasty
notes, significantly more forthcoming than was the nose on the corresponding
Graacher. In the mouth, it manages to seem virtually weightless, yet pleasantly
soothing and mouth-coating in texture and satisfyingly insistent in its
ester-rich apple blossom and clover inner-mouth florality. It finishes
with long, pure but discrete apple, almond, and wet stone. Typically for
this wine, one can look for it to gain complexity over three to five years
in bottle and give pleasure for two decades.
Joh Jos Prüm 2004 Riesling Dr M Prüm A
P #4
Rating: 87 points, Cost: $21.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Riesling Dr. M. Prüm A.P. #4 was blended especially for
importer Rudi Wiest from pickings in Wehlen’s lesser Klosterberg
and Nonnenberg vineyards. A light shaking disperses a shroud of CO2 and
fermentative aromas to reveal ripe pear, apple, and herbs. In the mouth,
lovely fruit reinforced by subtle sweetness with accents of lime zest
and wet stone are displayed. The finish is generous and juicy, at once
soothing and invigorating, with mineral and herb in a matrix of orchard
fruits and green tea.
Dr. F. Weins-Prüm (Mosel
valley)
Dr. F. Weins-Prüm 2004 Riesling Spätlese
Graacher Himmelreich
Rating: 91 points, Cost: $28.00,Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese presents an enticing
aroma of honeysuckle, clover, and honeydew melon. In the mouth it exhibits
lovely polish, gloss, and lightness of touch, with a persistent impression
of floral inhalation. The finish is pure, elegant, and refined, subtle
but long. This classic expression of Middle Mosel terroir comes off like
a Kabinett in weight but with the ripe flavors of a Spätlese, and
it manages to carry 60 grams of residual sugar with aplomb.
Dr. F. Weins-Prüm 2004 Riesling Spätlese
Erdener Prälat
Rating: 90 points, Cost: $34.00, Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
With the 2004 Erdener Prälat Riesling Spätlese we arrive at
a Riesling exhibiting low-level botrytis. The nose is of orange cream,
sassafras, and vanilla, and the expression of these characteristics on
the palate is sherbet-like in its combination of creaminess and generosity.
Spicy, nippy botrytis notes and a faint note of white raisin mingle with
the aforementioned flavors in a long, creamy, satisfying finish. Creaminess,
roundness, and sheer richness are frequent characteristics of Prälat
Rieslings, but there is an overall elegance and interplay of elements
that is missing from many a more monolithic example.
Dr F Weins-Prüm 2004 Riesling Spätlese
Wehlener Sonnenuhr
Rating: 89 points, Drink: 2006-2026, Cost:
$31.00, Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese, like so many 2004s
from this site, is brisk and raw-fruit in character. Fresh apple, clover,
and a pungent note of green wood impact the nose, with grapefruit, apple,
and honey characteristics filling the mouth. The strong finish evinces
fascinating layers of fresh and baked apple as well as tart apple skin
and pungent spice and herbal notes. Overall, this offering displays a
lovely vivacity and interplay of fruit and slate, along with a subtle
hint of creaminess apt to come out as the wine matures. And certainly
this crop of Weins-Prüm Spatlesen will do so nicely for at least
15 or 20 years.
Dr F Weins-Prüm 2004 Riesling Spätlese
Graacher Domprobst
Rating: 88 points, Cost: $28.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The Weins-Prüm 2004 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese offers
spiced apple and tropical fruit aromatics, a creamy, custardy texture,
and considerable grip and complexity of tropical fruit, nut oils, and
mineral nuances in the finish, although it lacks the poise and refinement
of the corresponding Himmelreich. This manages to balance an amazing high
level of residual sugar.
Dr F Weins-Prüm 2004 Graacher Domprobst Riesling
Kabinett
Rating: 87 points, Cost: $20.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Peach pit and apple pip notes in the nose of the 2004 Graacher Domprobst
Riesling Kabinett add a nice counterpoint to its site-typical baked apple
and nut oil aromas. Like its Himmelreich counterpart, this wine is wafting
and delicate on the palate, with juicy citrus, piquant underlying nuttiness,
and a rich fruit pit character followed by a satisfying finish.
Dr F Weins-Prüm 2004 Riesling Halbtrocken A
P #14
Rating: 86 points, Cost: $15.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Bert Selbach’s team undertook a pre-harvest on October 23, dropping
any defective bunches, and then launched directly into the real deal.
The wines were all bottled very early in Spring. His 2004 Riesling halbtrocken
A.P.#14 – composed of fruit from the Ruwer plus fruit contracted
from Zeltingen and pressings from Wehlen and Graach – is labeled
“medium dry” in its American version, which may not convey the
correct message for what is essentially a drytasting Riesling. Baked apple,
red currant, and coffee aromas and flavors - along with hints of smoke
and spice - inform a glossy, juicy, satisfyingly mouth-filling, good value
Riesling.
Fritz Haag (Mosel valley)
Fritz Haag 2004 Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule A P
#13 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr
Rating: 97 points, Drink: 2006-2051, Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
This year’s auction lot 2004 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese
Gold Capsule A.P. #13 incorporates the tiny amount of fruit that was collected
for Beerenauslese but subsequently deemed insufficient in volume. Even
so, the combined lot was too tiny for a cask and was vinified in stainless
steel. It smells of peach jam, mango, and melon. A well of honeyed, brown
spice-tinged pit fruit, tropical fruit, and melon pools on the palate.
A mineral as well as mysteriously carnal complexity lurks beneath this
wine’s deep pool of fruit. The texture is somewhere between custardy
and doughy, yet this preserves the elegance and refinement that are watchwords
of the entire vintage. The finish offers no end of layers and dynamic
interplay of animal, fruit, and mineral. It builds from a sort of organ
pedal point of nutty, meaty, stony depth through gloriously rich middle
registers of chutney-like nut paste, spice and fruit concentrates, to
high-toned distilled fruit, floral and citric notes of piercing clarity.
This wine should effortlessly make it to mid-century.
Fritz Haag 2004 Riesling Spätlese A P #14 Brauneberger
Juffer Sonnenuhr (Auction)
Rating: 96 points, Wine Advocate #163
(Feb 2006)
One of this year’s two auction offerings, 2004 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr
Riesling Spätlese A.P. #14 announces itself with an astonishing aromatic
fanfare of flowers, diverse herbs, grapefruit, candied lime, mango, apricot,
and slate that rivet one’s attention. In the mouth, this extraordinarily
polished, creamy, rich yet delicately-poised wine offers a breadth and
intensity of flavor one would scarcely think possible in a wine of merely
seven percent alcohol. Furthermore, it doesn’t taste sweet -- or
at least, one simply overlooks its sweetness in the course of comprehending
its complexity. The finish soars seemingly weightlessly with a refined,
high-flying interplay of flowers, fruits, and salty minerality that defies
gravity. Due to its sheer delicacy and precocious complexity, this is
hard to resist drinking right now, and why indeed resist? Still, yet luckier
are those who can
revisit a bottle in 15, 20 or even more years. (Incidentally, I tasted
this wine twice, and it was even more expressive in November than it had
been in August.)
Fritz Haag 2004 Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule A P
#9 Brauneberger Juffer
Rating: 95 points, Cost: $91.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule A.P. #9 consists
of a selection of very tiny and in small measure botrytised berries. Smelling
of peach jam and fresh lemon, this comes onto the palate with meaty, low
toned richness, like a medley of veal stock, honey-drenched toasted nuts,
and spicetinged caramelized pit fruits. A lavishly creamy texture is pit
against insistently bright citrus, yet the flavor marriage is harmonious
and the long finish ultra-pure, elegant and without heaviness. The layering
of honey, caramelized and fresh fruits, citrus, and slate displayed is
surely worthy of three decade’s worth of archeological investigation.
Fritz Haag 2004 Riesling Auslese A P #6 Brauneberger
Juffer Sonnenuhr
Rating: 94 points, Cost: $55.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The current cadre of Haag Auslesen – which tended to be harvested
late, in a year when picking ran through November - begins with a 2004
Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese A.P. #6 that perpetuates
the delicate, wafting themes of this year’s auction Spätlese.
White peach, pink grapefruit, and sweet lily florality in the nose lead
into a pure, polished, honeyed, elegantly light yet concentrated palate
impression. Persian melon, pink grapefruit, white peach preserves, honey,
and heady, dripping florality cavort in a whirlpool of flavor. The clarity,
poise, and sheer length of finish are remarkable in themselves, not to
mention in a wine with such honeyed, rich personality.
Fritz Haag 2004 Riesling Spätlese A P # 7 Brauneberger
Juffer Sonnenuhr
Rating: 93 points, Cost: $40.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese A.P. #7
smells of ripe peach and pineapple. Refined and elegant on the palate,
it juxtaposes creaminess and brightness, filling the mouth with sweet
lime, pink grapefruit, pineapple, peach, and a generous dollop of honey.
The theme of richness-withdelicacy persists in a finish of amazing poise
and persistence.
Fritz Haag 2004 Riesling Kabinett Brauneberger Juffer
Rating: 92 points, Cost: $28.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett sticks with a style that
Wilhelm Haag has chosen for this wine in recent vintages: relatively dry-tasting
and in his view “traditional.” (The Selbachs are pursuing a
similar stylistic path with most of their Kabinett wines.) Amazingly,
though, so efficacious are the acids and dry extract of 2004, that the
Haags went all the way up to 45 grams of residual sugar this year in order
to achieve a merely subtly sweet character. Scents of fresh lime, pear,
honeydew melon, and grapefruit set one’s mouth watering to receive
a brightly wrapped package of fruits, herbs and minerals that keeps a
cool, refreshing, “green” side without tasting in the least
under-ripe. Hints of honey and brown spice subtly warm up the palate picture.
The impeccably-balanced finish is juicy, elegant, transparent to a wealth
of subtle for-lack-of-a-better-word “mineral” nuance and fascinating
in its intricate sense of interplay. Freely admitting my own stylistic
predilections – which I have nevertheless tried to abstract from
in arriving at a numerical score – this is my kind of Kabinett. I
would recommend enjoying it over the next couple of years, then waiting
until it has had 10 to 12 years to rediscover how much complexity is inherent
in the wine.
Fritz Haag 2004 Riesling Auslese A P #10 Brauneberger
Juffer Sonnenuhr
Rating: 92 points, Wine Advocate #163
(Feb 2006)
Reflecting slightly deeper soils with more fine particulate slate than
the A.P. #6, the Haags’ opulent and baroque 2004 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr
Riesling Auslese A.P. #10 smells of melon, nougat, and honey. In the mouth,
its high-fat content and candied personality, when combined with Mosel
minerality, result in an impression, not just of nougat and marzipan,
but of salt water taffy. If that sounds over-the-top to you, yes, no doubt
some tasters will find this gaudy and overdone in opulence. But at the
same time, the wine manages to be delicate in weight and deploys its abundant
flavor as well as sweetness in a finish of crystalline clarity in which
a juicy citrus character emerges to leave the palate refreshed and ready
– if not indeed yearning – for the next sip.
Fritz Haag 2004 Riesling
Rating: 89 points, Cost: $20.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The off-dry Haag generic 2004 Riesling displays aromas and flavors of
melon, peach, grapefruit and nut oils, giving a richer and more generous
account of itself than this year’s dry wines. There is a substantial,
almost custardy heft and feel to the palate. A fresh, juicy, satisfying
finish preserves a brothy expression of slate and exhibits an ideal balance,
its 20 grams of residual sugar supporting the fruit flavors yet hewing
close to a dry taste impression.
Fritz Haag 2004 Riesling Spätlese Trocken Brauneberger
Juffer Sonnenuhr
Rating: 88 points, Drink: 2012 and after,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The Haags’ 2004 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Spätlese trocken
suggests peach kernel, apple pit, and wet stone in its pungently austere
nose. This impinges on the palate with a tactile sense of mineral density
as well as glossy richness, but also fresh, juicy citrus that sets up
a counterpoint with the wine’s piquant, faintly bitter notes. It
is in the finish that this wine puts a bit of distance
between itself and its generic Estate Riesling stable mate. Grapefruit,
lemon, and a brothy rich expression of slate stone character combine for
a long, clear, if relatively austere finish. For an analogy, think “Chablis”,
then try giving this around a half dozen years in your cellar.
Fritz Haag 2004 Riesling Spätlese Brauneberger
Juffer
Rating: 87 points, Cost: $33.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Spätlese might not be the best
visitors’ card for this excellent site. It sticks with relatively
simple though juicy and generous apple fruit and firm slate underpinnings,
without exhibiting the subtlety of texture and flavor interplay, nor the
impeccable balance that characterize most of the wines here this year.
The finish is full of slate, sap, and snappy – if relatively single-minded
– apple fruit, and displays considerable overt sweetness.
Could it be that this just needs time to work off bottle sickness and
sheer sweetness, and that the sort of complexity and interplay one would
expect this vintage will in time emerge? “I too am asking myself
‘What’s with this wine?’,” says Oliver Haag. To be
revisited.
Reinhold Haart (Mosel
valley)
Reinhold Haart 2004 Riesling Auslese Piesporter Goldtröpfchen
Rating: 94 points, Cost: $44.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Auslese furthers the themes
of elegance and refinement. After a faintly yeasty note, the nose opens
to an orchard’s worth of apple and quince, augmented by black currant,
pineapple, pink grapefruit, and sweet floral perfume. The palate is creamy,
almost custardy, yet lively and uplifting, loud and clear in its treble
range of ripe citrus, yet
possessed of lovely low tones of toasted nuts and wet stone. The finish
is persistently juicy and vivid in its flavors of pineapple, quince, faintly
tart berry skin, and wet stone. This ravishingly refined and bell-clear
expression of Goldtröpfchen Riesling should evolve fascinatingly
over more than three
decades. Haart is holding aside a small additional lot – which I
did not taste - for future release, probably as a gold capsule Auslese.
Fritz Haag 2004 Riesling Kabinett Piesporter Goldtröpfchen
Rating: 92 points, Wine Advocate #163
(Feb 2006)
The 2004 Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Kabinett smells of fresh
apple, black
fruits, and gardenia. It exhibits uncanny lightness, lift and buffering
out of its high
residual sugar, with orchard, tropical, black and citrus fruits executing
a pointytoed
ballet on a shimmering expanse of wet slate. “Frankly,” says
Haart, “I was
surprised to find must weights and delicacy suitable to Kabinett, given
how low
the yields were.” He found them in the nose bleed section of the
Goldtröpfchen’s
massive slate bleachers. The elegance, refinement, lift, interplay and
sheer
length of finish on exhibit (which doesn’t lack for distinctly saline
and wet stone
elements) are truly amazing.
Reinhold Haart 2004 Riesling Spätlese Wintricher
Ohligsberg
Rating: 92 points, Wine Advocate #163
(Feb 2006)
From a superb if little-known site downstream and around a narrow horseshoe
bend of the Mosel from Piesport comes Haart’s 2004 Wintricher Ohligsberg
Riesling Spätlese. Peach, pear, and pink grapefruit aromas lead to
a juicy, refreshing, invigorating and yet rich palate amply endowed with
pit fruits and citrus. There is a suggestion of creaminess but also a
dynamic interplay of citrus and wet stone with subtle fruit pit and nut
oil characteristics helping to add depth and draw one’s attention
completely away from what is on paper astonishingly high residual sugar.
The finish ratchets up the intensity of both fruit and salt and wet stone
minerality vis a vis this wine’s Goldtröpfchen counterpart,
yet elegance and refinement continue to be appropriate watchwords. There
is also an Ohligsberg Auslese this year, but Haart had decided by the
time of my visit that it
was not yet ready for prime time, and he will not release it before 2006.
Reinhold Haart 2004 Riesling Spätlese Piesporter
Goldtröpfchen
Rating: 91 points, Cost: $39.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Haart’s 2004 Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese
smells primarily of grapefruit, gardenia, and blackberries, setting themes
of juicy brightness and invigorating (but well-integrated) tartness that
lend this wine its dynamic personality. In the mouth, richness and sweetness
by no means preclude a certain sense of delicacy and a delightful interplay
of fruit and mineral elements.
The finish is more intensely fruity and richer, if perhaps at present
a bit more obvious, than that of its Kabinett counterpart. Don’t
hesitate to cellar this – or Haart’s other 2004 Spatlesen –
for 20 or more years, but don’t neglect them in the interim, either.
His 1990s, 1991s, and 1993s, for example, are glorious today.
Reinhold Haart 2004 Riesling Haart To Haart
Rating: 90 points, Cost: $17.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Designed for early drinking is the 2004 Riesling “Haart to Heart”
– drawn from a wide range of vineyard sites particularly in Piesport
and Drhon. Smelling of ripe citrus, flowers and nut oils, it makes a very
juicy yet delicate palate impression, with pineapple, grapefruit, black
currant and blueberry fruit suggestions. The finish is juicy and invigorating
as well as ingratiating. Although we’re at ten percent alcohol, and
the wine (despite 22 grams of residual sugar) tastes nearly
dry, it nevertheless exhibits the delicacy of a Kabinett. Lightness, elegance
and interplay but also stuffing: you couldn’t find a better way to
sum up this excellent value wine, nor for that matter the vintage as a
whole. Haart has instituted village-designated wines not so much in order
to source far beyond the terroir of the Goldtröpfchen (which, like
most famous Germany vineyards, was enormously expanded in 1971, wiping
the names of smaller sites from the legal slate) as in
order to fit a pattern of early pre-harvesting. Fatter or otherwise less
promising bunches are removed in order to strengthen the character of
the wines labeled “Goldtröpfchen” that will result from
later pickings.
Reinhold Haart 2004 Riesling Kabinett Piesporter
Rating: 87 points, Cost: $23.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Haart’s 2004 Piesporter Riesling Kabinett smells of black currant,
banana, apple, and grapefruit. Generous, juicy, it offers faintly but
attractively tart berry skin and citrus notes that somewhat offset the
wine’s sweetness. The finish displays liveliness and lift, with tart
fruit and wet stone slate character by no means overridden by residual
sugar.
Karthäuserhof
(Ruwer valley)
Karthäuserhof 2004 Riesling Auslese Nr 55 A
P #14 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg
Rating: 91 points, Wine Advocate #163
(Feb 2006)
Following an oddly strident, Eiswein-inflected Auslese A.P.#13 that pitted
celery seed against jellied red currant, a 2004 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg
Riesling Auslese “Nr. 55” A.P. #14 brought considerably better
integration of its high acidity. Scents and flavors of jellied red currant,
fresh lime, honey, spice, while laced with penetrating, sharp and Eiswein-like
acids, are also lashed to deeper slate and smoked nut tones, and the wine’s
overall sense of stuffing and density helps hold things together. One
hundred and fourteen grams of residual sugar are barely in evidence thanks
to this Riesling’s amazingly efficacious acidity and extract. “Harmony”
is hardly a word that would occur to one in contemplation of this whirling
dervish of an Auslese. I expect it will still enliven one’s taste
buds and conversation thirty years from now, but certainly acidity this
intense is always capable of poking a sharp and icy finger in your mouth
when you least suspect.
Tyrell bottled Gold Capsule and Long Gold Capsule Auslesen and two Eisweins
this year as well but did not offer them to taste. Given how wrung out
my mouth felt from the acidity of the two numbered Auslesen I did taste,
perhaps it was as well to leave those further wines for another year.
Karthäuserhof 2004 Riesling Spätlese Feinherb
Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg
Rating: 90 points, Drink: 2009-2026, Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Spätlese feinherb
keeps us in the domain of red currants, coffee, and lime, with caraway,
bittersweet herbs, and gooseberry shading the aromas and flavors in a
Sauvignon-like direction. The residual sugar supplies excellent support
and balance without getting in the way. In fact, if you want to try Karthäuserhof
Riesling as an alternative to a
Pouilly-Fume (a course I highly recommend for educating and pleasing one’s
palate) it is to this “feinherb” version rather than the “trocken”
that I would turn.
There is a lovely glyceral character and cling, and the faint berry skin
tartness and citrus zest bitterness are nicely integrated into the low
toasted nuts, caraway and coffee tones. A few years in the cellar will
emphasize the depth inherent, and even 15 or 20 years of aging will not
bring this wine to ground.
Karthäuserhof 2004 Riesling Auslese Eitelsbacher
Karthäuserhofberg
Rating: 90 points, Cost: $41.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Auslese smells of
ripe honeydew melon, red currant, lime, and brown spices. It offers a
penetratingly bright palate impression with pure, clear flavor delineation
and clings with salts, red berries, lime, honey, wet stone, caraway, and
spice. This is a surprisingly lean wine overall but it is impressively
endowed and without question capable of a quarter century’s interesting
maturation.
Karthäuserhof 2004 Riesling Spätlese Trocken
Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhof
Rating: 89 points, Wine Advocate #163
(Feb 2006)
The 2004 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Spätlese trocken
adds scents of coffee to those of red currant and lime. In the mouth this
is brothy in its mineral expression, clear, citric, bright and tart red
berry-flavored, resinous, sappy, salty, and mouthclinging. The finish
is uncompromisingly bright and clinging, tart yet not under-ripe. At table
– or with a few years in bottle – this will prove to be quite
striking and promising.
Karthäuserhof 2004 Riesling Kabinett Eitelsbacher
Karthäuserhofberg
Rating: 89 points, Cost: $25.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
My note on the 2004 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Kabinett
may seem a bit like a broken old L.P., because again one smells and tastes
red currant, coffee, lime, and caraway. There is a cool, bright, melony
juiciness on the palate that nicely augments the tartness of red berry
and pungency and faint bitterness of coffee, caraway, and lime. Like so
many of the best 2004s, this
manages to combine real stuffing and overt minerality (neither of which,
come to think of it, are ever missing at this address) with a sense of
true Kabinett refreshment and clarity. Attractive notes of cinnamon spice
I associate with ripe Ruwer nicely supplement the berryish finishing fruit.
Karthäuserhof 2004 Riesling Kabinett Feinherb
Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg
Rating: 87 points, Cost: $25.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Kabinett feinherb
is noticeably like its trocken counterpart, with scents and flavors of
red currant, herbs, and coffee, bright citrus and tart berry flavors clinging
resolutely along with a salty mineral persistence. The bit of extra residual
sugar does not prevent the wine from tasting dry but adds satisfying support
to the red berry side of the
wine’s personality. The Q.b.A. labeled “feinherb”, by contrast,
evinced noticeable sweetness that was not well knit with its acidity.
Franz Künstler (Rheingau
region)
Mönchhof - Robert Eymael
(Mosel valley)
Whether or not his collaboration with Hans-Leo Christoffel - whose vineyards
he leased in 2001 – has been instrumental, it is undeniable that
Robert Eymael’s wines are becoming more interesting and successful.
Importantly, though, they speak with their own voices and would never
be confused with those of Christoffel, who incidentally tasted them along
with me this year, since Eymael was abroad during the time of my visit.
Mönchhof 2004 Riesling Auslese Ürziger
Würzgarten
Rating: 92 points, Cost: $45.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Notes of sassafras and fennel in the nose of Eymael’s 2004 Ürziger
Würzgarten Riesling Auslese remind me more of Erdener Treppchen,
although strawberry and honey are also present. (Naturally, I was delighted
to have my terroirist prejudices confirmed by a glance out the window
as Christoffel pointed to the parcel in question – above the sundial
– which, sure enough, is smack up against Treppchen and Prälat.)
In the mouth this exhibits a gorgeous creaminess, with nut paste, herbal
essence and strawberry jam all contributing to a sappy, intensity and
palate cling. Not for this wine the weightless refinement of, say, a Christoffel
“one star” Würzgarten Auslese, but instead a sense of gravity
and tactile substantiality that are as impressive in their own right.
The finish is polished, long, and opulent, with flavors of caramel, malt,
sassafras, nut paste, strawberry jam, and honey. This is the most exciting
wine from the Mönchhof that I can recall tasting in the five years
since I began paying closer attention.
Mönchhof 2004 Riesling Spätlese Ürziger
Würzgarten
Rating: 90 points, Drink: 2006-2026, Cost: $28.00, Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Eymael’s 2004 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese
smells of strawberry jam, honey, malt, and white raisin and is positively
thick and plush on the palate. In short, it acts every bit like a subtly
botrytised Auslese. But who wants to quibble about the name when the wine
(not to mention the price) are this persuasive? Brown spices and smoky
botrytis notes complexity the flavors of strawberry jam, and the finish
exhibits no end of sap and stamina. This exceedingly full and rich yet
vigorous and lively Riesling should easily remain so for up to a couple
of decades.
Mönchhof 2004 Riesling Auslese Erdener Prälat
Rating: 90 points, Cost: $55.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese offers a sweet nose of sassafras,
birch beer, mango, and blood orange. The palate impression is imposingly
creamy and plush, somewhat candied in its sweetness, with flavors of musk
melon, honey, mango, orange cream, and birch beer. As Rieslings from the
Prälat can tend to be, this is almost over-the-top in richness, and
vivacity or refreshment are not part of the equation. Still, it is impossible
not to be immensely impressed with the concentration, purity, and length
that Eymael has achieved.
Mönchhof 2004 Riesling Kabinett Ürziger
Würzgarten (former ASTOR)
Rating: 89 points, Cost: $20.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The Mönchhof 2004 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett
smells of fresh strawberry and lemon. The palate is then treated to a
pure, refined and delicate expression of Würzgarten fruit and slate,
with a hint of creaminess yet also attractive briskness of ripe acids.
The finish is clear and bright, adding an alluring note of brown spice.
Mönchhof 2004 Riesling Auslese Erdener Treppchen
Rating: 87 points, Cost: $45.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese smells of glazed pineapple,
fresh tangerine, and candied lemon. In the mouth, this generously offers
the citric side of the Treppchen for inspection, finishing with a rather
Eiswein-like counterpoint of brightness, verve with a glazed, candied
expression of sweetness. This is lovely as far as it goes but seems to
want just a bit for complexity, which time may well bring.
Zilliken (Forstmeister Geltz
- Zilliken) (Saar valley)
Zilliken 2004 Riesling Auslese A P #3 Saarburger
Rausch
Rating: 92 points, Cost: $51.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese A.P. #3 exhibits enhanced
acidity vis a vis Zilliken’s “regular” Rausch Spätlese
(A.P. #4) so that it comes off tasting no sweeter, but also exhibits more
verve, lightness, and lift. Yet it doesn’t lack for the richness
and near-over-ripeness one would expect from a high-grade Auslese. Aromas
and juicy, succulent flavors of fresh apple, pineapple, and persimmon
play against mineral salts and wet stones in a creamy yet nearlyweightless
oral environment. The finish really grips, featuring flavors of pineapple
and persimmon without their astringency and a satisfyingly slate-y sense
of place.
Zilliken 2004 Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule A P #1
Saarburger Rausch
Rating: 91 points, Wine Advocate #163
(Feb 2006)
The 2004 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule A.P. #1 is an
auction lot, picked in December under the influence of botrytis as well
as frost. But here – unlike in the Spätlese A.P. #2 – we’re
dealing with a single parcel and picking, that exhibited both of those
influences. Tart yellow plum and plum preserve mingle with honey, lemon,
and brown spices in the ominously smoky
nose, and then on the palate, where a bracing, almost raucous dynamic
is set up. Tart apple skin notes, pungent lemon zest, and slightly sharp
botrytis spice certainly all add interest, but the result is, at least
as yet, not entirely harmonious. Plum preserve, apple jelly, brine, and
fresh lemon dominate in a finish that continues to send out high-pitched
Eiswein-like signals after the rest have died away. Time will have to
tell, but there is no denying the wine’s sheer concentration or fascination.
Zilliken 2004 Riesling Kabinett Saarburger Rausch
Rating: 90 points, Cost: $23.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Kabinett – culled from fruit
of legally lowgrade Auslese must weight – preserves the same sense
of delicacy with intensity and the ability to make one forget its high
residual sugar that characterized Zilliken’s Kabinett from Ockfener
Bockstein. Here we have an animated, open, generous expression of herb-tinged
ripe apple and cherry fruit playing against salted nut and wet stone mineral
notes and leading to a satisfyingly layered and refreshing finish, yet
another of Zilliken’s frequent triumphs in this genre.
Zilliken 2004 Riesling Spätlese A P #4 Saarburger
Rausch
Rating: 88 points, Cost: $33.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spätlese A.P. #4 evinces much
riper character than the wines that went before. Smelling of ripe peach
and mango, it comes onto the palate luscious and juicy, rich, yet with
delicate notes of green apple skin and wet stone supplying flavor counterpoint
and a sense of place. The finish adds suggestions of nut oils to the rich
fruit character but misses the
vividness or overall harmony and gustatory satisfaction of the corresponding
Kabinett.
Zilliken 2004 Riesling Butterfly A P #9
Rating: 88 points, Cost: $17.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
A second lot, and an excellent value, 2004 Riesling “Butterfly”
A.P. #9 offers an additional bit of complexity and finishing clarity to
the themes already set by A.P. #14. largely on account of an extra six
weeks in cask (the blends being as close to identical as Zilliken could
make them), which among other things resulted in diminished CO2. Green
apple, pineapple, cherry, and salted almond flavors unite in a rather
creamy, yet light and refreshing meld, with a marginally more refined,
saltier and less tart finish than the A.P. #14.
Zilliken 2004 Riesling Kabinett Ockfener Bockstein
Rating: 88 points, Cost: $23.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Zilliken’s 2004 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett offers arguably
simple but ravishingly generous and juicy salted apple flavors and manages
to make 54 grams of residual sugar virtually disappear. (Zilliken points
to 2004’s unusually high levels of dry extract as well as efficacious
tartaric acidity to explain this uncanny buffering of sweetness.) The
delicate yet intense finish of apple, apple
skin, lemon, and slate is archetypal Bockstein.
von Hövel (Saar valley)
von Hövel 2004 Riesling Auslese Scharzhofberger
Rating: 92 points, Cost: $44.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Brought in at the end of October and thus relatively early in the context
of the
vintage, the 2004 Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese displays the impressive
purity and clarity that come from a strict selection of over-ripe but
healthy berries.
Fresh apple and peach aromas lead to a juicy, pure, mouth-filling, and
creamy
yet delicate and refreshing palate impression. White peach, honey, and
subtle
mineral salts inform a refined, ravishingly long finish. This is as fine
a
Scharzhofberger as I can recall from the von Hovel estate, for once upstaging
their signature Hütte.
von Hövel 2004 Riesling Spätlese Oberemmeler
Hütte
Rating: 90 points, Drink: 2006-2018, Cost: $27.00
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The 2004 Oberemmeler Hütte Riesling Spätlese – after a
light yeasty or
reductive note blows off – smells of pear, apple, clover, and cinnamon,
then
comes onto the palate with clear, refined fruit, delicate weight, and
lovely spice
and slate. The finish is delicate but focused and long. Given patterns
at this
estate, I would have said, “Don’t hesitate to hold this wine
for ten or a dozen
years,” but von Kunow thinks his 2004s may be relatively early developers,
and
heaven knows you couldn’t go wrong enjoying this today.
von Hövel 2004 Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule
A P #11 Oberemmeler Hütte
Rating: 89 points, Cost: $39.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The auctioned 2004 Oberemmeler Hütte Riesling Auslese** Gold Capsule
A.P.
#11 smells of apple jelly, mango, and pungent botrytis spice. The theme
of great
richness and flavor concentration combined with palate lightness is perpetuated,
but the acids are blazingly bright and nippy (an evident legacy of frost)
which sets
up a somewhat awkward contrast with the hints of caramel in the apple-rich,
tropical finishing fruit. When this electrically intense wine has mustered
and
organized all of its forces, and if its somewhat obstreperous acids calm
down, we
shall be able to enjoy a wine as satisfying as it already is formidable.
How many
years that might take, I am not at all confident in predicting. With this
wine,
comments von Kunow, “We just kept harvesting over and over –
every time it
was dry for two days in a row.”
von Hövel 2004 Riesling Auslese A P #8 Oberemmeler
Hütte
Rating: 88 points, Cost: $39.00, Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
The nose of the 2004 Oberemmeler Hütte Riesling Auslese A.P. #8 offers
minty
overtones to aromas of pear, cherry and spiced apple. Pure and rich on
the
palate, with an attractive creaminess of texture, at least today it misses
the clarity
and focus of the corresponding Spätlese. The finish offers a decisive
sense of
slate and strong fruit, encouraging one to believe that additional clarity
and
complexity may follow in time.
von Hövel 2004 Riesling Kabinett Scharzhofberger
Rating: 87 points, Cost: $22.00,
Wine Advocate #163 (Feb 2006)
Ebernard von Kunow’s 2004 Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett is site-typically
peachy in aroma, delicate, juicy and satisfyingly palate-tingling. It
displays clear
fruit accented by salty minerality in the finish, this year atypically
out-performing
its counterpart from the Hütte.
Rudi Wiest Selections
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