I haven’t shared many of my tasting notes yet, but I wanted to share my thoughts on a few great Rieslings I had over the summer. These were not tasted blind. I’m still new at properly tasting wine, so I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I’m also attending an importer tasting of my favorite German Riesling producers this weekend and plan to post my tasting notes, so in anticipation of that, hopefully this can give you some sense of my palate if if it has any similarities to yours.
2012 Max Ferd. Richter Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese (Mosel Saar Ruwer, Germany) - 6/1/2019
43 degrees; pop and pour; pretty crappy wine glass
Look: medium gold; no legs
Nose: Meyer lemon; honeysuckle; candied ginger; green papaya
Palate: Meyer lemon; to candied ginger and Meyer lemon at the end, with maybe some honeysuckle and slight minerality; medium+ sweet; high- acidity; light-medium body; no heat; not much of a finish (but no bad aftertaste at all); very slight effervescence
Overall thoughts: nice, ripe fruit, but decently simple; could use a bit more acid or minerality to balance the sweetness better, but it’s still balanced pretty nicely; good with bleu cheese; seems a bit more balanced after sitting out and/or warming up
88 pts
2015 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel #22 (Mosel Saar Ruwer, Germany) – 6/13/2019
49.5 degrees; pop and pour; pretty crappy wine glass
Look: medium-pale yellow; medium speed legs
Nose: Meyer lemon, ginger, honeysuckle
Palate: candied lemon, ripe pineapple, lemon flower honey, honey, little ginger, bit of minerality, bit of salt; medium length finish with honey, a bit of salt and slight minerality; creamy texture; high sweetness; high acidity; medium body; no heat
Overall thoughts: excites the mouth with great acidity; wonderful ripe fruit and honey; lovely sweetness and substance balanced with lively acid; excellent
94 pts
2015 Schloss Lieser Riesling Kabinett SL (Mosel Saar Ruwer, Germany) – 6/13/2019
53.5 degrees; pop and pour; crappy wine glass
Look: pale yellow; no visible viscosity
Nose: petrol, mineral / limestone, faint Myer lemon
Palate: ripe lemon, lemon drop, rip straws (sour candy), soft petrol, salt, soft minerality; shortish finish of limestone; medium sweetness; high acidity; light+ body; no heat
Overall thoughts: excellent balance; electrifying acidity; great fruit and lemon flavor; excellent. Ridiculous QPR for me, but I (and my wife) seem to like this significantly more than others (on CellarTracker and the pros), so I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.
94 pts
2016 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #10 (Mosel Saar Ruwer, Germany) – 6/14/2019
49.5 degrees; pop and pour; wine glass
Look: medium - pale yellow; pretty much no apparent viscosity
Nose: bottom of new sneaker; soft Meyer lemon; not much nose
Palate: riper Meyer lemon; lime; soft petrol; salinity; limestone; medium sweetness; med-high acidity; light+ body; a touch of creaminess; very slight fizz
Overall thoughts: great balance, energizes mouth with good acidity; good, fresh lemon flavor and crispness from minerality, but seems a bit tight and reserved. I think it might need more air and just more cellar time (even though, I usually love young Rieslings). I’ll see if it has improved at all the next day.
Update: There was no noticeable/significant improvement the next day. I suspect that this wine needs some more time in the cellar.
90 pts
2017 Dönnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spätlese (Nahe, Germany) – 8/2/2019
Drank at 51 degrees; out of white wine glass
Look: pale straw; very few, quick legs
Nose: white flower, limestone, soft lemon, stone fruit, salt
Palate: ripe stone fruit to lemon to strong salinity with a soft background of minerality; high saline finish with minerality, salt fades to soft minerals and lemon, medium length finish; medium sweetness; medium+ acidity; medium+ body; a fairly silky oily texture (very nice)
Overall thoughts: Great wine with very nice layered flavors, especially fruit and salinity; very nice silky smooth, oily mouthfeel; could probably benefit from a bit more acidity, but it’s still nicely balanced. The great mouthfeel elevated this wine even though it could use a bit more acid
92 pts