Last month I went to a tasting of Rieslings from Germany, the majority from the renowned maker Joh Jos Prum; due to a last second change in venue the wines were tasted in a relatively dark room, which made judging the colours of the wines difficult (as well as taking photos!).
2007 Schafer-Frohlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Dry, Nahe (cork): 13% alc. Bright straw colour with some spritz. Still some sulphur on the nose, slightly cheesy, with sweet lime, some honey and talc, faintly herbal with breathing, followed by marzipan characters, a little Sauternes-like at times. The palate has some caramel/bluegum honey sweetness matching crisp apple fruit, finishing dry, tingly and minerally. Needs time to improve, although I don't think it will ever be outstanding.
2009 Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett #20, Mosel (cork): 9% alc. Very bright straw. Obvious sulphur characters dominate the nose with struck match, sandshoe rubber and durian characters; a sweet entry leads to a palate with apple and passionfruit and a grippy mid-palate, finishing crisp but also very slightly bitter. I suspect the phenolics are a little high (skin contact?) - overall the balance isn't as good as the previous vintage.
2008 Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett #17, Mosel (cork): 8% alc. Very bright straw/green. Still obvious sulphur here on the nose with sandshoe rubber, but there's also sweet apple cider characters emerging; the palate's well balanced, full of juicyfruit gum, lemon sherbet and lime, sweet but crisp, finishing long and minerally.
2007 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett #9 (cork): 8% alc. Pale straw/green. Sweet, perfumed nose full of lemon blossoms and lemon sherbet; a sweet lemon entry leads to a palate full of apple and lemonade and subtle grip, finishing with notable elevated acidity on the finish.
2009 Joh. Jos. Prum Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese #13, Mosel (cork): 8% alc. Very pale green. Obvious sulphur here, with durian and sandshoe rubber characters; sweet apple on entry leads to lemon sherbet and powdered chalk, the crunchy acidity making for a lovely texture throughout its considerable length. Impressive.
2009 Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese #24, Mosel (cork): 8% alc. Very pale green. Struck match at first, leading to lemon blossoms and lemon sherbet on the nose; the palate's rounder than the Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, seemingly riper with higher acidity through its core and equally impressive length. Not much between these two wines - I marginally prefer this one.
2007 Emrich-Schanleber Monzinger Halenberg Spatlese, Nahe (cork): 9.5% alc. Bright green/straw. Sweet talcum powder, lemon sherbet and frangipani, becoming slightly biscuity with breathing; the palate's just as sweet and chalky, with lovely grip on the finish. Very good, a major step up on the previous wines.
2007 Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese #24, Mosel (cork): 8% alc. Bright straw/green with noticeable spritz. Spicy nose with sugary biscuits and ground spices, which flows through to the powerful, chalky palate, full of sweet apples and racy acidity all the way through the lovely, long finish. One of the highlights of the tasting, my third favourite wine overall.
2009 Zilliken (Forstmeister Geltz) Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spatlese, Saar (cork): 7.5% alc. Bright straw/green. Seems to have some signs of botrytis on the nose and palate, a sweet and exotic bouquet of rose water and Turkish delight; a sweet entry of apricot leads to a chalky/grippy mid-palate and finish, not quite as integrated as the following vintage.
2010 Zilliken (Forstmeister Geltz) Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spatlese, Saar (cork): 7.5% alc. Bright straw/green. More spice here than the 2009 vintage, some marzipan and coconut characters matching rose water/holy water on the nose; the palate's fat but well balanced, full of sweet apricot and spice, finishing with zippy, clean acidity.
2001 Weingut Max Ferd. Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese #21, Mosel (cork): 8.5% alc. Pale straw/green. The nose has sugared biscuits and touches of hazelnut and car rubber, but also damp cork taint that badly scalps the palate. This was the second bottle we've tried in the last few years that has been buggered, and unfortunately the Importer has a very bad reputation of refusing to replace corked bottles!
2001 Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese #14, Mosel (cork): 7.5% alc. Pale straw. Sweet nose full of mango, marzipan and smashed up, sugar coated biscuits; the palate's sweet without being cloying, crisp apples with lovely balancing acidity, finishing long and refreshingly dry. An excellent wine, my second favourite tonight.
2005 Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese #28, Mosel (cork): 8% alc. Bright straw with noticeable spritz. Spicy and sweet nose, biscuity with a touch of apricot, then mango, ground nutmeg and vanilla cheesecake; the palate's again sweet without being cloying, with a powerful mid-palate and chalky, crisp finish. The most complex and complete wine of the tasting; top marks.
2010 Schloss Lieser Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese #11, Mosel (cork): 7% alc. Bright straw with obvious spritz. Quite volatile and sweet, boiled lollies, fennel, nail polish and airplane glue; the palate's fat and seems extremely ripe, with salty caramel and screeching acid way out of balance resulting in a hot wine that's not enjoyable. Will it come around?
2007 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese #1 375ml, Mosel (cork): 7.5% alc. Bright straw. This starts off sweet and slightly volatile, liquored apples and spice with touches of honey and nail polish, with breathing there's bright redcurrants and smoke. The palate's very high in acidity with the same redcurrant characters, slightly gamey too with salty caramel; I swear if this was served up to me blindfolded I'd probably pick it as a red wine! A very odd way to finish the tasting.
Cheers,
Ian
