If you’re going to do that have a ginger ale.
Why?
Because rule #1 of Berserkers is you must tell other people what they are allowed to drink.
I enjoy them , but there are so few good times to drink them. We had a Knelbel Uhlen Auslese, Vintage about 2009, last weekend. It was extremely complex, with a white and tropical fruit melange plus honey flavors and good acidity. 6 people shared a 375 after the main meal. Very well received.
This has become my strategy.
This thread sent me to CT. According to it, I own 159 750s, average vintage 2007.4; 107 375s with five pending, average vintage 2009.2; and 3 500 mls, all from 1998. Not sure I drink enough to justify. It seems I have drunk 2 750s and 2 half bottles this year. Last year I also drank four all 750s. My purchases of auslesen have greatly diminished. In 2024, I’ve bought 5 half bottles, in 2023 nada, in 2022 two half bottles. But I used to buy more - e.g., I. 2021-2020 I bought 60 750s and 22 half bottles. Most of the auslesen in my cellar is from Prum, Selbach, Schaefer and Haag.
To me, there is a big difference between gka, which I generally save for after dinner, amd most “regular” auslesen (at least from the Mosel), which I think work very well before dinner or when hanging with friends and we want to drink wine but aren’t dining.
Agreed. Like many newcomers to wine in the early 1990s in the United States- Germany was often an afterthought for me and the prevailing wisdom was that the bigger and sweeter, the “better” they were- a simplified belief supported by misunderstanding the price difference and the progression of the hierarchy by which German wines were classified (the former being a function of rarity and the latter of assuming the hierarchy is an implicit statement of quality versus level of sweetness.)
In terms of actual tasting, after an extensive education in the way of Bordeaux and Burgundy- young German wines at the Auslese level or higher were an overwhelming and exciting experience for me. I bought them avidly without really thinking about how they would fit at the dinner table, and woefully uneducated on just how long Auslesen take to mature. All I knew is that they were very sweet and either uncommonly concentrated or ethereal (or even both), and that I wanted them.
Over the years I have come to discover that Spatlese is more my speed and that Auslesen take an incredibly long time to fully mature. And by that I mean 20-30+ years- think a Lafleur or Latour time table here. More problematic- when they do mature, unless they are of the highest quality I find them rather boring as they lack the verve and complexity to stand up to their blaring sweetness.
These days I do what many of you do- when I am running low and need more Auslese, I wait for a well-provenanced collection to come to auction and then buy 20+ year old examples at prices akin to new releases of the same or very similar wines.
For me Auslese is not a sweet wine when mature.
A 25-50 year old Auslese fits a lot of dishes, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Italuan etc
A 1997 VS MG Abtsberg is a nearly perfect match with steak tartar at Common Lot right now
I have thoughts here.
I personally never reach for it.
When i’m in the Mosel, I adore it.
I think that it is a far more versatile style than gets used, particularly the non-baroque non-fatty/botritisy style.
When harmonized and weightless between its concentration and acidity, it can be magic.
Prüm is a reference point of this style to me.
Alex Loersch is really really good at it too; he loves sweet wines, and his basic Auslese is in the style that people used to call “a drinking Auslese”. He joked that he likes to make Sauflese, a play on words, like a chugging/guzzling Auslese…
Some 20+ years ago, I will never forget when Johannes Selbach turned me onto old, high acid Auslese paired with well marbled fatty steak. The combo is insanely delicious, the acidity and sugar with all of the maillard reaction char and meat juice savoriness.
Jay’s mention of the tartare with old Auslese brings that to mind.
It is a pity that they aren’t used and celebrated more, because they genuinely are a unique and inspiring category of nectar, and ridiculously good values often.
Great post @Robert_Panzer
One thing is clear from this thread is that if more people tried non standard pairings like steak, yakitori and beef tartare perhaps there would be more interest in Auslese.
@Donald_Pennet pointed out elsewhere that the decline in the consumption of Foie Gras has also contributed to the lack of interest in sweeter Auslese.
I think older (25-50 yo) Auslese are excellent sipped on their own and they go great with sharp cheeses, dried fruits, and even charcuterie.
I don’t own any but a good friend shared a number of bottles from his cellar with me this summer. The oldest was a 71er and the youngest was a 89er. The corks and fill levels varied from perfect to worrisome, but all were outstanding. The 1989 Schloss Schonborn Erbacher Marcobrunn was a truly special bottle.
I think there is a mind set to Riesling that once you get past it leads to some pretty incredible experiences. We drink a couple of bottles a week, auslese on the porch before dinner talking, and a dry one with meals. I have perfected a fairly mean Kung Pao chicken, and I am beginning to make a dent in my Prum auslese and spatlese. Cheese is for wines with more bottle age. As others have pointed out, these are world class wines at budget prices.
I love Auslese with bleu cheese, buffalo wings, thai curry, fatty steak (e.g., ribeye), and bleu cheeseburgers. And, to be clear, I don’t pair if the food is exceptionally spicy.
Agree . Auslese is good with Sichuan Peppercorn based dishes.
I generally find good Auslese great with a variety of dishes.
We drink probably 3-4 bottles of Auslese a month. Not really sure why the pendulum has swung away from it, I imagine it’s a tough sell for the wineries but I’m relatively unfashionable in general so I think it’s OK. And yeah…with Szechuan is a definite for us.