Rotters’ German wine nights have often been problematic in the past, with the wide range of sweetness on offer making a balanced selection of bottles hard to assemble on a random basis. On the grounds I was building up too many Germans in the cellar, it therefore seemed opportune to do a ‘curated’ tasting night instead. So, here we are. Minus both doctors and ‘Remote Kim’ but otherwise in good form. And well exercised in my case, having schlepped over a dozen (cold) bottles into the CBD on public transport. No decanting tonight, everything was opened shortly before pouring. Whites served around 10C, reds nearer 15C.
Sparkling & Dry
First up after the local bubbles are the dry ‘great growths’ from Rheingau. The main conclusion to be drawn from the wines from these two small, absurdly steep vineyards (60° at their most vertical), is that they’ve hardly evolved (especially Breuer) at ten years old. Yes, they’re impressively, austerely beautiful. But they all needed another decade in the cellar.
- 2012 Moorilla Muse Extra Brut - Australia, Tasmania, Coal River
{cork, 11.1%} No quality German fizz being available locally, this was pressed into service as the opener. I recall a screeching mouthful of cut-glass acid when first released (although I see it was only back in 2018 that I tasted this before). Four years on lees, then two more in bottle prior to sale. This has settled down considerably since then, with a distinct apple and citrus character. Barely developing for a decade, yet the texture is quite soft, with fine, creamy bubbles. Little yeast character is evident. Very blanc de blanc in flavour/style. Light/medium weight. Still amazingly fresh, if not (yet) especially complex. Cries out for oysters. Can be kept without risk for another decade at least. - 2016 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Katerloch - Germany, Rheingau
{cork, 12.5%, AP 61 17} Yellowish fruit aromas & flavours, schist. Medium weight palate, with a hint of tropical fruit richness with a lime twist, but always dry, with medium acidity. Even palate, medium length juicy finish. Still quite a way from any true development. Wait some more. - 2014 Georg Breuer Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling - Germany, Rheingau
{cork, 11.5%, AP 7 15} Still austerely young. Stone fruit, herbs, apple. Juicy-flavoured palate, but always with a steely texture. It’s medium weight, with medium/high acidity. Another even palate with a medium length finish, but this still seems fairly closed; or at least, the best is yet to come. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... e=10352354]2012 Georg Breuer Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling[/url] - Germany, Rheingau
{cork, 12%, AP 7 13} Two years older, and this is significantly more mature than the ’14. Sweeter bouquet of peaches and apples. The palate is more of the same, with generous pulpy apple flavours, tiny hint of cinnamon, but still with a laser-line of acidity. Medium weight, medium length finish. Perfectly balanced and yet understated too. Again, keep! - 2012 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Berg Schloßberg Riesling - Germany, Rheingau
{cork, 12.5%, AP 24 13} Of the four, this was the most approachable and generally mature, but it was hardly fully evolved. Apple & honey nose and palate. Medium weight, dry palate that seemed far less acidic than the previous wines, which certainly gives it a more mature quality. But it still has a stony character to it, an acid spine too. Riesling at its purest, with another decade of maturity to come.
If the trocken Rheingaus were dauntingly statuesque and nobly impressive, the Spätlese bottles were the siren, sexily seductive supermodels of the night. Except the Richter, overbearingly assaulted by a ‘Harvey Weinstein-like’ contaminating case of cork taint.
I expected the reds (only brought along to stave off a riot) to be fairly light but had hoped for a little more interest than was on show here. Would air-time (or a decant?) have helped? Not noticeably, I suspect.
- 2004 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe
{cork, 8%, AP 12 05} We didn‘t vote for a WotN – such a tawdry concept! But this might have taken the prize. Amongst the most enchanting mouthfuls of wine I’ve ever had, with its honey apple flavours, perfectly balancing sweetness and acidity. I struggle to sum this up in words, to be candid. The impact lessens on the back palate; that’s about the most criticism I can come up with. Only light-bodied, but perfectly off-dry, with a long, tantalising finish. I could drink by the bucketful, honestly. - 2005 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
{cork, 8.5%, AP 22 06} A soggy cork here, which eventually came out in one piece. A little ullage, not overly so. But, cork taint! There’s are the remains of a really beautiful wine lurking here under the TCA. Ruins can be evocative – castles, for example – but not so much wines. Still, we pulled thirteen corks tonight, so one of them was almost certain to be ‘unlucky’ with taint or oxidation. Shame. NR (flawed) - 2005 Joh. Jos. Prüm Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
{cork, 8.5%, AP 06 06} Intense, developing, vibrant nose of passionfruit and pineapple. Startlingly tropical and fresh for nearly eighteen years! A joyous riot of developing fruit and sugar in the mouth, with a vast array of tropical fruits, medium acidity, light/medium weight and a long, balanced palate that finishes with a dry twist, not a sugary droop. Awesomely impressive wine. Near peak? Dunno – how long do these things last? - 2017 Weingut Thörle Saulheimer Spätburgunder Kalkstein - Germany, Rheinhessen
{cork, 13%, AP 02 19} Developing sort of nose with faintly earthy aromas leads to a palate that offers texture and character (of a sort) but not much in the way of actual fruit flavour. Has a furry aspect to the mouthfeel, little oak, medium powdery tannins, medium acid, even medium weight, but just needs some berry flavours. Perhaps a little pepper and spice is on offer, but that’s about it. I’m all for subtle, but it’s got to taste of something, surely? Not obviously faulty, either. Possibly time will help. But won’t win German pinot any fans. - 2014 Enderle & Moll Pinot Noir Buntsandstein - Germany, Baden
{cork, 12%} Transparent, fading garnet, although not too orange in hue. Aged nose of floral hints, pale cherry, dust and earth. The only real trace of fruit on the palate is a wisp of bitter black cherry; but it has little of complexity to offer. Light/medium in weight, with low dusty tannins, medium acidity, it has only a short/medium length finish; only a decent balance along the tongue commends it. The overall impression is just of a wine fading away, like a painting exposed to direct sunlight. No direct evidence of poor storage, but auction sourcing, so cellaring may have been sub-optimal. Whichever, it’s not impressive on this showing.
Continuing the tortured metaphors; these were a chronological manifestation of the Three Bears’ Porridge: too young, too old, and just right. They were also two of the bottles I was most concerned wouldn’t show well, as my experience with older Dr Loosen is running about 40/60 between triumph and disaster.
- 2005 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Auslese - Germany, Rheinhessen
{375ml, screwcap, 9.5%, AP 3 06} This was not only very young, it was doing its best to impersonate top Sauternes, with a mildly developing nose of marzipan and vanilla. It’s certainly fresh – a tribute to screwcaps – but it still seemed a bit ‘arms-and-legs’. Air may have helped. It has medium-sweet fruit, beautiful flavours of apple, vanilla, custard. It’s medium weight, with medium/high acidity and is clearly nowhere near its peak yet. Like the Prum, the medium/long finish turns refreshingly dry at the tail, leaving you wanting more. Will be spectacular with time. - 2004 Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Josephshöfer Riesling Auslese Lange Goldkapsel #6 - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
{375ml, cork, 7%, AP 49 05} The most intimate of the sweet wines tonight. Also seems like it’s in its perfect drinking window. Gentle butterscotch nose, not extroverted at all. Beguiling. Medium/dry palate, with orange and apple flavours, without much botrytis evident. Medium/high acid offers the necessary offset to the sugar; this is all about balance, with its medium weight and medium long finish. Perhaps unfairly overshadowed on the night, but in great shape for drinking now. - 1997 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
{cork, 7.5%, AP 12 98} Another soggy cork here, but there was no worrying level of ullage considering a quarter century has passed. Colour is still quite a pale gold, so not obviously oxidised by cork. Still, the bouquet is a bit tired and flat, and although it picks up a little over the next few minutes it never really captures interest. The was medium/dry fruit here, but the acidity has faded away, and taken the body with it. Short, muted finish. Hard to know if this bottle is typical, but I suspect it is. Drink up. - 2006 Dr. Loosen Riesling Beerenauslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
{375ml, cork, 6.5%, AP 72 12} Research tells me this is 150g/l of residual sugar, and comes largely from the Bernkastler Lay vineyard. It tastes a lot sweeter than that; it’s honey nectar in a glass, and yet it’s only light/medium in weight. There’s a luscious intensity to the palate, a luminous glow of sweetness, and I think the medium/long finish is only compromised by the acidity being a little low – this also explains the seeming sweetness. So, it’s a lovely wine, and it was great that Loosen made so much of this available as a comparatively affordable price. I suspect the 187ml bottles might be on the downslope though!