A Weissburgunder and two Rieslings

WINE TALK
1

Had a very solid bottle of the 2006 Furst Weissburgunder “pur mineral.” Rich as 2006’s can be but with a good weightlessness on the palate and extremely pure citrus and stone fruits. Nice acidity balances out the rich, unctous palate. Very good but not great. I think I prefer this with more cut and less richness.

Opened up a glorious bottle of the 2001 Leitz Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Spatlese. 2001 still remains my favorite vintage and I hope we will see another like it in our lifetimes. The acidity is so clingy and long with beautiful precise and focused mineral tang. Even on the little wines like this Spatlese the length is just amazing. There is filigreed citrus fruit along with beautiful elegant minerality, lightness and grace that is just classic Rheingau. Wonderful wine.

There was a peaking bottle of the 2004 Schonleber Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Grosses Gewachs which was beautiful. Big nose of mineral, wet earth, citrus oil and many other nuances. Truly fractal. Always changing. 2004 was such a good vintage for GG wines due to the wonderful acids and tarty mineral edge. The palate was all chiseled with fresh fruit, crisp acidity and great finesse. This wine has shed some weight and now dances all over your palate. The inner mouth aromas are profound and the sense of place, freshness and purity is unparalleled. A citrus-stone fruit flavor stains your palate on the finish and slowly dissipates. A monument for Nahe GG. I have one more bottle left which i will not touch for 3-5 more years as I know more complexity will develop.

2

Lyle, have you tried the Weissburgunder from Heidi Schrock? I haven’t had a lot of Austrian WB, but hers is one that I find very good.

3

The 07 Weißburgunder Pur Mineral is a gem, too, as is the 07 Weißer Burgunder “R”?

Any idea why they call one Weißburgunder and the other Weißer Burgunder? Or is that just one of those mysteries of the German language?

4

It is great the Schrock. Try FX Pichler or Hirtzberger too.

5

It’s a mystery of course. [stirthepothal.gif]

The '07’s at Furst are great. So clean and pure.

6

There’s probably a grammatical rule that dictates that wines under a certain price take the compound noun while the more expensive ones get a separate adjective. Or perhaps a VDP rule?

7

I really think it’s like a color/colour thing.

Gilman??

8

VDP probably requires Weißer Burgunder for Grosses Gewächs labels because that is the name of the grape type that that they recognize: http://www.vdp.de/de/klassifikation/ . Additionally, it helps to distinguish the two bottlings.

9

Lyle,

You consider the Berg Roseneck Spatlese to be a “little wine?”

I have always enjoyed the '01 Berg Roseneck. It was a little less sweet than say the Berg Schlossberg on release making it more immediately drinkable.

10

Furst doesn’t put the Centgrafenberg designation on the Weißer Burgunder bottlings, though, so I assume the VDP rules wouldn’t apply.

11

I don’t understand what Fürst does – the “R” are not designated Grosses Gewächs, but they get served at the Grosses Gewächs tasting in Wiesbaden every year, so evidently the VDP does consider them to be Grosses Gewächs.

It’s also possible that the American importer has asked for the Weißburgunder designation on the “pur mineral,” which must account for 99+% of Fürst’s Pinot Blanc that is sold in the U.S.

12

Interesting. Thanks Claude.

13

Yes, in the Leitz Spatlesen lineup definitely. Rottland and Schlossberg are always bigger and with just “more.” Roseneck for me is always leaner, less sweet as you say and with a delicate playful minerality. So it is little for me. Plus I think it was $19 on release. That is also little.

14

The difference in labeling for Furst’s wines in Germany vs. USA is dramatic and has always confused the heck out of me.

I ordered some Riesling Burgstadter Centrgrafenberg based on what I tasted at the estate in Germany and what I got was Riesling “pur mineral” with the back label sating Burgstadter Centgrafenberg. And the whole “R” thing is just as confusing.

15

I prefer Roseneck since it is usually “clean” where Schlossberg is frequently influenced by botrytis.

Of course my real preference is the dry wines from Rottland.

16

Well, this theory is down the tubes – Fürst makes the same Wießburgunder/Weißer Burgunder distinction on his website. My guess is just to distinguish the two, the same way that he has different labels for them (and at least in some markets, different shapes to the bottles).