Tasting Notes 2002
Austro-German 2001 trocken shootout
The local wine club gathered for a friendly match between Austria and Germany on the field of dry Rieslings from the 2001 vintage. I am not a great believer in my ability to judge wines by the dozen (or more), with only a small sample and no time to taste the wine again and again aver some time, but this would be fun and educational for sure. The tasting was blind, of course. The list of wines was known with one ringer among the12, and the wines were served blind in random order.
I give my personal ranking and the group’s. The wines were discussed as we tasted, so there was a tendency to come to a consensus, and the rankings ended up very close to each other with 1 or 2 exceptions. About half the group were fairly seasoned Riesling drinkers, the others were perhaps a bit less experienced.
No.1: fruit driven (peach, mirabelle?) a faint touch of mineral on the nose, fat, tastes sweetish, turns alcoholic, some grapefruit bitterness on the unimpressive finish. Lacks depth and mineral cut.
Guess: perhaps an overdone German?
Rank: 10 Group 11
FX Pichler (Wachau) Dürnsteiner Kellerberg Smaragd
No.2: citrus, stone fruit, stony and pure nose, powerfull, full but focussed, has real depth, very long and elegant finish. Superb. Vastly better than No1.
Guess: hopes it might be a German surprise. No idea really.
Rank: 2 Group 2
Nigl (Kremstal) Piri Privat
No.3: mineral, cherry fruit, some spritz, steely and sleek, stony and a bit closed on the finish, good potential
Guess: Austria
Rank 7 Group 8
Prager (Wachau) Klaus Smaragd
No.4: starts closed, but nose did open up nicely, mouth coating density, nice peach fruit, long, with piquance in the finish, plenty of potential.
Guess: German (reminds me of van Volxem, but no particular wine of theirs)
Rank 3 Group 3
Wittmann (Rheinhessen) Morstein 1 Gewächs
No.5: citrus friut, a bit broad on the nose, high acidity, a bit crude, hard and stony finish, lacks finesse, has some potential
Guess: Austria
Rank 9 Group 10
Leitz (Rheingau) Berg Rottland 1 Gewächs
No.6: mineral, citrus, exotic touch, spicy, wonderful nose. Power and finesse, great harmony, complex, perfectly balanced right down the superb finish. Easily the best.
Guess: nailed as Hirtzberger (and everyone who had tasted it before)
Rank 1 Group 1
Hirtzberger (Wachau) Singerriedl Smaragd
No.7: Greenish minerality, touch of peach, firm and concentrated, long and crunchy, some grapefruit in the finish
Guess Austria (Prager?)
Rank 6 Group 7
Laible (Baden) Durbacher Plaulerain “Achat”
No 8: Nose lacks freshness, a bit lumpish, camomile?, a bit broad, opulent, poached peaches, alcohol, overdone, seems tired
Guess: not sure
Rank 10 Group 9
Löwenstein (Mosel) Winninger Uhlen “R”
No.9: stones, a bit grassy, gooseberry perhaps, pronounced acidity, apples and a touch of apricot, sleek, descent length, crunchy steely, lacks a bit in complexity.
Guess: German
Rank 8 Group 6
Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Herrmannshöhle Spätlese trocken (Ringer)
No.10: citrus, slate?, has depth, firm, dense, crunchy minerality, some discussion on how “bitter” it really is on the finish, maybe a touch of bitterness but not the grapefruity sort, more a stony kind. Lots of character, good potential.
Guess: Löwenstein perhaps? (many guessed that)
Rank 4 Group 4
Loimer (Kamptal) Steinmassl
No.11: fine fruit, cherry, raspberry?, minerals, a bit heavy but good acids, dense, good length, has class, not my favorite style but very good for sure
Guess: Wachau, maybe FX Pichler
Ranke 4 Group 4
Knoll (Wachau) Schütt Smaragd
No.12: yeast, lacks clearity, sour from start to finish, minerals, no fruit, no charm, has length though. (the only wine to have been decanted)
Guess: no idea
Rank last Group last
Würtz-Maas 1 (Rheinhessen)
Some comments with hindsight: The showing of the Pichler was a bit of a shock, even if I was already unimpressed with the Pichler 2001s at a visit in the Wachau last year. I don’t know why some people have raved about them. They are not my thing, and the group agreed clearly. Never had the Nigl before, and it was most impressive. My enthusiasm may have influenced the group a bit, along with that for the Wittmann, which saved face for the German contingent. I had a Wittmann Auslese from 2001 which was not very impressive, but this “first growth” deserves its designation. I believe one can find 2 or 3 more dry German Rieslings in this class (van Volxem came to mind, Künstler perhaps, Mosbacher etc…), but I do not think anyone can touch Hirtzberger’s Singerriedl (neither can any other Austrian, I guess). The wine stands apart for me as a dry Riesling of the highest order. Some discussion about quite how good it is. It lacks perhaps a mystery. It is all very pure and healthy, but is it soul moving and inspiring, like my favourite sweet Rieslings can be? The Dönnhoff makes a strong argument for residual sugar, I guess. Good as it is, it is hard to see how it could ever challenge a sweet Herrmannshöhle from the Master. The Uhlen was a real dissapointment, while the Loimer was a surprise, and had really fooled a lot of people who placed it in the lower Mosel. It tasted like the Uhlen should have tasted… The Würtz-Maas is a new project for top noth dry wine from Robert Weil’s former wine maker. There is some excitement about this wine in Germany. I don’t see what the fuss is about.
As the tasting wore on, I am sure my ability to judge the wine deteriorated. These were just snapshots. The impression I think was a correct one though: the Austrians had the edge over the Germans. Even if the home team was perhaps not the best squad we can assemble, I think we would have perhaps been a closer second, but not the winners. The honour goes to Austria. They have Ronaldo in their team.
Impressions of 2001
Mosel Saar Ruwer
There is no doubt that 2001 will be a vintage to remember for the Mosel. My impression from the VdP tasting in early June was very positive. There are some wonderful Spätlesen to be found, perhaps as good as I can ever recall tasting since I go to such events. I didn't find that many great wines higher up, but the reason may be that many of the best were not yet shown to the public. I did not see an Auslese that for me belonged in quite the same class as Selbach-Oster's Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese ** that I had to good fortune to try some weeks ago. It reminded me of climbing through the rocks around the Sonnenuhr in late October, tasting the sweet but well balanced, incredibly aromatic little yellow grapes from the old vines. The wine captured their aromas beautifully, and ranks among the finest young Auslesen I ever encountered. Wines like that cannot be made in the cellar, they can only grow in very special places in very special vintages. Theo Haart has a beautiful collection of wines, with plenty of stuffing and excellent acids, of which the Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Spätlese was my favourite. The Auslesen seemed very fine to me too, perhaps needing a bit more time to show well, but didn't seem to have that much to offer above the superb Spätlese. I was very keen to try J. J. Christoffel and Mönchhof side by side, since both estates are now under one roof, managed be Robert Eymael after the retirement of Hans Leo Christoffel. The big question is how much Hans Leo Christoffel is still involved in making the Christoffel wines. I don't have the answer. But it is clear that the wines from the two houses taste rather different, and my preference in each case of the direct comparison was with Christoffel. Those were the more subtle, aromatic, well balanced, and deeper wines to me, relying less on sugar and CO2 and simple primary fruit. The highlights at Christoffel were the Ürziger Würzgarten Spätlese and the Ürziger Würzgarten Auslese***. Another highlight was tasting the wines of Dr. Loosen. Thomas Loosen thinks this is the best vintage since the current team has hit its stride. Without tasting the Auslesen except for the Erdener Prälat Auslese I can say that it sounds not too far off to me. That Auslese unfortunately was not making the case as convincingly as the Ürziger Würzgarten Spätlese that really has a special intensity and length to it. The dry version, sold as Ürziger Würzgarten QbA trocken is also very special, dense, full of spice and minerality. A great collection is also that of Willy Schaefer. I especially like the Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett and the Graacher Domprobest Auslese Nr11, but there are several other goodies. The wines of Fritz Haag and hisson at Schloss Lieser impressed me less. Fritz' wines seem superior in their balance, but like in previous years look a bit too slick and uninspiring to me, while I continue to find Lieser wines too sugary and primary.
Saar and Ruwer also had a rather fine vintage, if perhaps not as ripe as the Mosel. But the wines of the Karthäuserhof left me cold. The dry wines are rather hard tasting, and the sweet ones appeared aromatically somewhat bland for wines of such pedigree. Perhaps I'm not doing them full justice, but I was underwhelmed. From the Saar I liked Zilliken quite well, esp. The Saarburger Rausch Spätlese in uncorcky versions. The Kabinett was nice, citrussy and racy. Egon Müller showed only 2 lesser wines, including an unconvincing Scharzhof QbA that tasted mostly of banana. I sure hope the Scharzhofbergers are on a different level. The chances are good, I'd say. Much better was von Othegraven's Kanzemer Altenberg Spätlese and Schloss Saarstein's Spätlese.
Pfalz
The Pfalz has firmly set its sight on the goal of being known for world class dry wine. Tasting through the VdP line ups in May, I could not help feeling it is all a terrible mistake. The percentage of dry Rieslings in particular that I actually enjoyed having in my mouth was miserably low. Some from Bassermann Jordan, one or two from Georg Mosbacher, esp the Deidesheimer Maushöhle Riesling Kabinett trocken and Meßmer's Burrweiler Schäwer Riesling Kabinett trocken. Strangely, a lot of dry Spätlesen seem less well balanced, often even drab and hard tasting to me. Meßmer's collection was a highlight, with a juicy Weissburgunder Spätlese trocken and a lovely Muskateller Kabinett whose moderate sweetness was balanced nicely by piquant acidity. Best of all was his Burrweiler Schäwer Riesling Spätlese that thankfully did not have to go down the rocky road to dryness. A nervy Riesling with depth and power, that proves beyond doubt the potential of this site for great wines with residual sweetness.
Müller Catoir seems to play in a different class from the rest of the Pfalz though. I only tasted a small selection of mostly dry wines from the retirement vintage of Hans-Günther Schwarz. No one has done more than Herr Schwarz in recent decades for the standing of the Pfalz as a source of great white wines. The 2001s are set to be a fitting climax and I can't wait to try the sweeter styled wines. There was not one among the 8 wines I tried so far that I would not be happy to drink. The dry Rieslings have a fine balance, nice depth of fruit, and no rustic or hard tones despite their considerable acid structure. The Weissburgunders are beautiful, with the Kabinett being especially good value for money. The Muskateller Kabinett trocken has a nose that has to be smelled to be believed. And zippy acidity in Riesling like manner. The sweet Scheurebe Spätlese must count as one of the subtlest rendition of this grape I ever encountered. Herr Schwarz leaves a well oiled machinery for making great wines behind, but there is no doubt he will be missed.
Nahe
I only tasted the wines of Helmut Dönnhoff so far. Going by these, the vintage is a wonderful one. There are more Spätlesen and Auslesen to choose from than I can recall, all with plenty of stuffing, about as ripe as in 99 but with an acid structure that is closer to the racy 98s. Such an array of wonderful renditions of the vintage that it is hard to be selective about them. This vintage only lacks the crowning glory of a legendary Eiswein a la 98. Not that the 2001 Eisweine are not extremely fine (we tasted 1 of two that were picked on the same day), but the Oechsle readings simply didn't reach the heights this time, to make another "Montag".