Just got a case delivered that includes 2015 Reinhold Haart Piesporter Goldtropfchen GG and 2016 Schloss Lieser Niederberg Helden GG. Both were wines I had in 2017 when in the Mosel and loved. Anyone have these lately and can verify whether they’re currently shut down?
Hi Brian,
Don’t know whether it helps, but I had the 2015 Schloss Lieser Niederberg Helden GG back in December and this was definitely not shut down. FWIW, here’s my note:
Pop ‘n pour. Some terpenes on opening, then tropical fruits, grapefruit. Crazy, zingy acidity on palate, salty with sweet lemon, spices, grapefruit pith. Bucketloads of acidity, but kept in balance by a light touch of RS, and ripeness of fruit. With air nose begins to explode with perfume, and palate takes on ever more of a mineral expression. Superb wine! In day 2, leftovers showed acidity melding further revealing rich texture. This will go a long way.
Maybe other Mosel experts can chime in whether this can help you extrapolate to the 2016 or perhaps the Renhold Haart 2015 you have? I personally was under impression that German Riesling’s don’t necessarily shut down that hard… at least they don’t usually have slatherings of oak that needs to integrate!
In my limited but growing experience, some Rieslings will shut down and just show a bit of citrus/lemon instead of their full range of fruit and other flavors. I still don’t think this is unenjoyable if everything else is in balance, but it certainly falls short of its potential. For my taste, a lot of dry Rieslings I’ve had seem rather closed the first 2 - 3 or even 5 years, and seem rather austere and restrained. If I have young dry Rieslings, I try to save at least half of the bottle for day 2 or 3, where I often find it to be improved.
Brian,
I would say that I drink mostly GG’s when it comes to Riesling. There is a window in the early release where they can be brilliant, but that window can pass quickly. I find that they start coming back out and showing their full range sometime around 7-10 years. If they were my bottles I’d be patient to the best of my ability in those two vintages. Right now I’d stick to the 18’s or something from 2013 or before. If you have 6 bottles of each wine then it may be informative to open one and check in on them. I hope this was helpful. Those 2015’s should be a real treat in another 2-3 years
Really? I open 100s of GGs per year and I don’t find they shut down for 7-10 years like the Pradikats do. Occasionally a wine or vintage will go through a weird period for example soon after landing the 2015s shut down hard but soon reemerged. I had 2015 and 2018 Dönnhoff Brucke GG Auction last night and it was hard to tell them apart.
Can you drink them that soon…sure, but it’s like driving a Ferrari 25 miles an hour in my mind. They offer so much more with some patience & time sideways.