Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Kabinett Tasting 2000-2015

Daniel Vollenweider fresh off a flight that brought him to NYC for Rieslingfeier opened a vertical of his Kabinetts ranging from 2000-2015. Specifically he opened 00, 01, 02, 04, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. 2000 was his first vintage. He fell in love with Riesling after tasting a 1990 Egon Müller Spätlese, moved from Switzerland to Germany in 1999 to work for Loosen and made his first vintage in 2000.

It was a fascinating opportunity to taste the same wine across so many vintages. The group’s favorite overall was clearly the 2001 yet everyone agreed it was still too young to show its full potential

2000 - Drinking very well. Very difficult vintage with lots of rot and fungus. Less ripe than the 2000 and not as complex but still a very good showing.

2001 - Classical vintage all around for every Prädikat Daniel noted this was one of his latest harvests. This is a beautiful wine with everything in balance.

2002 - Physiologically riper that 2001. Daniel noted that there was rain late in the season that forced him to wait an extra 10 days to pick. The aromatics on this wine were completely different than the 2000 and 2001. Overall a good showing but lighter and not as structured as the 2001.

2004 - This was a great showing for this wine. I think 2004 might be overlooked. Daniel also noted this was another very late pick and similar to 2001. I loved the acid in this wine and although it has less fruit than the 2001 I still liked it very much.

2007 - Very warm year with high yields. More exoctic with some mint and herbal flavors most likely due to the very warm year. Daniel noted the 2007 Spätlese is in a great place now. I think we were all pleasantly surprised by the 2007

2008 - A cooler year. Acids were much more pronounced and too my liking The 2008 had the most petrol of any of the wines. Some might say this was out of balance slightly and especially in comparison from the riper years but I liked the high acid slimmer profile.

2010 - From another ripe year. This to me was extreme in every sense both fruit and acid. Daniel noted that this was a small crop year and there were also rains at harvest. I also like this very much.

2011 - Muted nose. This was showing a bit shut down. I did also like the acid in this. I think this wine just needs time.

2012 - This was partially corked.

2013 - I love 2013 and this did not disappoint. This was by far my favorite of the young wines and possibly my favorite overall. Tons of acid, exotic fruits, blood orange, herbal, mint - it has it all and sticks out in this tasting like the eccentric artist in a conservative family!

2014 - Smooth easy drinking wine and unfortunately like many 2014s there is just something missing.

2015 - Coiled tight and very hard to get a read on this. I can tell it is a great wine but it is not ready to distinguish itself just yet.

Daniel also noted that over this span he is aiming for lower RS and has reduced by approximately 10 grams from 55-65 in the early years. This is a function of consumer preferences and not climate.

In conclusion I think these are beautiful Kabinetts that age very well. I only wish he had more quantity.

More information:

Love his wines. Access is spotty around me.

Laura and I started following his work with the 2001 vintage. There was a small group of us in New England that used to cobble together case purchases from about 2002-2007 (it may have gone on longer). I finally got access again with the 2012 kabinett, but that source has gone away. Need to find a new outlet for the wines.

We had a chance to visit with Daniel in 2003, and taste through the entire 2002 range. It was a really fun tasting.

David - The earlier wines have held up really well.

Yes they have. One bottle of 2002 left in the cellar.

I’ll echo the thoughts of awesome wines/wish they were easier to acquire at times.

I still have a couple of the '05 Kab remaining in the cellar, which is one of my favorite Kabinetts from the vintage.

A bottle of '05 Reiler a few months ago was stunning. Glad that Vom Boden’s carrying them now.

1 '05 Kabinett resting at Schloss Bueker. A bunch of 2012 Kabinett in the cellar, but then also a wide range of bottlings from 2002-2007 - no more than 3 bottles left of anything.

Ii started buying Vollenweider with the 2001 vintage and really love them. The oldest kabinett i have left is the 2007 but i still have some 2001 Portz. They might age beautifully but they are so delicious young and hard to resist.

Had a vertical of 12 vintages of the Spaetlese Goldgrube with Daniel a few years ago. Impressive wines from his very first vintages. Daniel is a very competent and passionate winemaker and it was very instructive to discuss with him at length the vintages and the individual wines. He had the analytic data on the wines and it was very interesting to see how much one can be fooled by the interplay of RS and acidity.

I opened a bottle of the 2014 of this wine was disappointed and asked myself whether I really needed Kabinett as it was lacking. So, this may be vintage related and I may give another chance to another bottle from another vntage.

Love his wines. I had some '02 WG Kabinett, but those have been drunk. Still have '01 WG Spat, and '01 Portz in 375s, one 750, and one magnum (not sure when I’ll drink that!). Also, '02 Reiler and Portz Spat, and '04 Reiler and Padauer Spat. At the time those were available, I was a friend with the west coast importer so I had easy access. Also, some '04 and '05 GK Spatlese, all in 375s. I bought some '08 Kab (WG, but not sure) from WTSO. IIRC, his '07s really shot up in price so I stopped buying.

How was it lacking? I am not a big fan of 2014 Mosel wines, but have not had the Vollenweider Kabinett.

Had a bottle about a year ago and liked it. A wine full of tension and energy, with RS just barely perceivable - certainly a wine on the austere side.