Berlin Riesling Cup - Grosse Gewächse 2011

[Lars_Carlberg]

@Claude Kolm

La Borne is indeed an amazing wine, Lars, but it is an auction wine and made in very, very tiny quantities.

BTW, you can get some great wines, too, if you go across the street from Wittmann to Groebe.

Claude, I know. Philipp told me when he poured the wine that it’s for auction and from an old-vine plot higher up in Morstein. It tasted finer and lighter than the Morstein GG.

I’ve only tasted one wine from Groebe till now. He has many of the same holdings as Keller.

[Lars_Carlberg]

@Martin Zwick

@Lars Carlberg

@Martin Zwick

Henry,

honestly I was totally surprised about the result,as the Rieslings from Tim are quite wild as you know. Or as the famous german dealer Pinard de Picard says “born to be wild”. I thought these wines are not everbody´s cup of tea. BTW, a strong recommnedation is also the sweet 2010/2011 “Felseneck” Spätlese GK.

In addition the german journalist Stephan Reinhardt strongly recommends 2011 “Schiefergestein” Kabinett.

Cheers,
Martin

Martin: The 2011 Schiefergestein is quasi the “second (dry) wine” from Felseneck. It’s one of my favorites. The fruity Kabi has Felseneck on the label. I might be wrong, though. I really like Tim’s wines, especially Felseneck. I, however, have to cringe a little (sorry) when seeing such a great line-up of dry German Rieslings judged by point scores with decimel points. In addition, there are some other top wines out there. A couple of weeks ago, I tasted Wittmann’s 2011 GGs, including an old-vine Riesling called “La Borne,” alongside Ansgar Clüsserath’s. And Eva’s Apotheke Spätlese trocken (no GG) was no slouch either.

Is that quote really from Tino Seiwert of Pinard de Picard? In Germany, K&U is one of the top merchants as well.

Lars,

yes, it is from Tino. Have a look: http://www.pinard-de-picard.de/news/n_12.10.09_TinosWeine.html

And don´t worry about the scores with decimel points, we have deep respect for the GGs. This is a kind of statistic we only make once a year. I outscource this to a friend, who makes it like this. As a host I have a lot of other things to worry.

No doubt, “La Bourne” is great, but like Claude said in very small quantities and sometimes only at auction.

Cheers,
Martin

Thanks for your reply, Martin.

[Martin_Zwick]

P.S. I had 2009 “La Bourne” in the Berlin Riesling Cup 2010 and was ranked 2nd place close behind 2009 G-Max.

[Lyle_Fass]

@Robert Panzer

Lyle, did you have the Wagner Stempel Heerkretz GG??? The Hollberg was in the lineup, and placed well, it seems.

Yes I did. Actually did a mini Heerkretz vertical on my visit this past August. Link is below. Hollberg showed better, as it usually does when young, but after aeration (Oliver Mueller gave us the bottle), Heerkretz showed its breed.

2011 Wagner-Stempel

[Martin_Zwick]

YES, I choose “Höllberg” for the Berlin Riesling Cup, as it is more open at this stage. But not doubt, “Heerkretz” will show its true potential in the coming years. Why I am such confident?! I tasted a 2002 Heerkretz last year at the estate, simply AWESOME

my visit: Wagner-Stempel 2010 - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers

[Cam_Wheeler]

@Martin Zwick

P.S. If you´re looking for a new book about german Riesling. Here we have a new released book by the well-known journalist Stephan Reinhardt.

The Finest Wines of Germany by Stephan Reinhardt - Paperback - University of California Press

Hoping this is going to be good, I pre-ordered it and it should be here in Australia soon. Have been waiting for a good German riesling wine book for ages - I’ve been looking out for the out of print Stephen Brook guide and only once found it at a reasonable price, only for it to get lost in the mail!

[Bill_H_o_o_p_e_r]

@Martin Zwick

Challenging question, Claude. Of course it is a mix of all three. For example I heared last week-end that the winemakers of Pfalz region will maybe harvest this week. In contrast the winemakers of the Nahe region did´n´t even think about it right now. This explains a lot…

I just drove through the vineyards in Forst in their entirety and not a single producer has harvested from the Kirchenstück or Pechstein and only one or two have begun in the Freundstück, Jesuitengarten and Ungeheuer. In Deidesheim, the soils can be a bit sandier which has the effect of producing grapes with thinner skins and hence more susceptible to botrytis so they are typically harvested before the Basalt-rich Forst vineyards. I would guess that in the next two or three weeks, most of the GGs will have been harvested (von Buhl is selecting tomorrow for Noble-sweet wines and letting the healthy bunches hang longer.) It has been an incredible vintage so far -extremely healthy bunches, ripeness (but not over-ripeness) and still showing excellent acidity. The Flavors that these grapes are bringing is the most astounding part. We harvested our basic Riesling at 86 Oechsle, 10 g/l acidity, and 3,02 pH. The rest will be harvested in the next few weeks. I had lunch with Hans-Günter Schwarz yesterday and he compared this vintage in the Pfalz to 2001. I hope that he is right.

The last time I checked the data for this year the Nahe was almost 5 Oechsle higher and less acidity than the Pfalz on average (which doesn’t often happen.) but the Pfalz has had a couple of weeks the longer season because of earlier bud-break. The main things that will determine the harvest date this year for all regions will be a Botrytis outbreak or when the leaves fall. The same will happen in the Nahe where presumably the vines will be bare sooner still. I hope those guys have a phenomenal vintage too, but I don’t like to see all of the half-baked generalizations.

Cheers,
Bill

[Lars_Carlberg]

Thanks for the update from the Mittelhaardt, Bill.

Today, I was at Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier and spoke with the director. They have vineyards in the Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer and harvested their first Riesling in Ayl (Saar) yesterday. It’ll be the base wine for their Sekt.

We’ve been having quite a bit of rain lately. The main concern is rot. Last week, there was some fear of frost too. The yields will generally be quite low owing mainly to the cold weather during flowering. Peronospora was an issue for some growers. Must weights don’t seem to be too high, and the acidity levels look good. Each district is different, though.

[Claus_Jeppesen]

Had the chance to follow the Berlin Riesling Cup winner, Shäfer-Fröhlich Felseneck GG, for 2 days and this is just an outstanding dry white wine.
Even better than the brilliant 09 and 10 versions.
In the nose it is weirdly alluring, sweet apples and dark berries scented in combination with a special bitter mineral smell……on the tongue the combination of a sweet note (it is a bone dry wine!) and a stern blue Devonslate feeling that is in a class of itself. The aftertaste is extremely pleasing and long.
It will be very hard to find a better dry white outside Burgundy
The remaining question is the cellar life of the S-F portfolio. Gillmann says about this wine: “This is just a humbling bottle of dry Riesling from a magical terroir! (drink 2020-2065)" 98+ points”
The wine tastes beautiful right now, and it still has to be proven it can live that long………

/Claus