Poll: What is your favorite German vintage in the "Run" ('01 - '10)?

WINE TALK
21

I wouldn’t be surprised if 2011 knocked all of them, including 71, into a cocked hat.

Anyway, again favourite vintages are just that - I’ve drunk many wonderful and different wines from a selection of these years. For me, a great German vintage is one where everything is in perfect harmony from Kabinett to TBA - 71, 01, 05 come to mind but I’ve equally enjoyed some of the recent mixed vintages - had some gorgeous wines from 07, 08 and 09. It’s these years I often look to Kabinetts for my immediate pleasure.

22

Leitz & Spreitzer = Two magic words for me. flirtysmile

Not tryin’ to turn you on 2003, but Spreitzer’s “303” is still a real beauty. Yes, not quite the acidity of the '04, '05, '06 (close), '07, but a great one nonetheless.
2003 produced my 2nd favorite Leitz Magdalenenkreuz (behind the '09).

These 2 wines are no-brainer must-buy Rieslings every year.

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23

Rich,

For serious???

Have you already tasted some 2011’s?

From the few, brief reports I saw it looks like an excellent year.

Small crop (but bigger than 2010), early frost damage (so some fruit is from secondary shoots), some hail damage, & beautiful, extended dry harvest conditions (always a winemakers dream!).
Acidities average to slightly lower.

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24

Minor exception to my dislike of 2003 - my favorite Leitz Magdalenenkreuz Spatlese. Of course I was there the day they picked it, had the vineyard workers in my rented mini-van, helped press a TBA from selected, raisined grapes, etc.

25

Although some 2011s have already been bottled, most wines will remain in tank or cask till the spring or late summer. I tasted some cask samples at Günther Steinmetz a few weeks ago. He has some impressive wines, including for the first time old-vine Hofberg and (Piesporter) Falkenberg. The wines at this early stage have more breadth than the 2010s. (By the way, his 2010 Juffer Kabi feinherb is one of my faves along with '10 Geierslay “sur lie.”)

Tomorrow, I’m appointed at three top Middle Mosel producers for re-tasting some of their 2010s and getting an early glimpse at their 2011 Rieslings: G. Steinmetz, R. Haart, and A.J. Adam. I’ll be reporting on these and much more with in-depth profiles in a few months.

26

2008 slightly beats out 2001 for me. I’ve only had a smattering of the 2001s and they’ve been great, but the amount of quality wines I had from 2008 has me leaning slightly in its favor. Can’t go wrong either way in my opinion.

27

Evening all,

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Rieslings are what I unutterably adore and I don’t go for the dry wines much, so please forgive me if I don’t go beyond my limited fields of joy and just comment on these areas.

If I were forced to choose a bottled, ‘finished’ vintage it would be 2001, but based on the early ones I’ve tried I’d go for 2010 in a Planck-second. It has the pure, focussed acidity and direct minerality of 2001 but with more luxurious panache. I think the wines are generally true to their ripeness categories (although some are obviously supercharged Kabinetts and Spatleses) in that they never lack the sculpted minimalism one hopes for in German Riesling. They’ve got the nervy, edgy, painful thrills as well. You can knock back 2010 Kabinetts all day whilst the searing agony of acidity scalds your stomach thanks to that lovely sweetness that keeps you grinning whilst you hold your stomach and wince - in this vintage there is the sugar and the acid in brilliant harmony. When I went to the boozer to recover from the first big German 2010 tasting I attended (the (mercifully brief by my standards) write up is here if you seek diversion) I had to leave my pint after a couple of mouthfuls to go to the chemist next door and get some Gaviscon; after that tasting even bitter just hurt too much. I was pleased my pint was waiting for me on my return, much thinking about the wonder of the wines was required and beer often helps.

Third place is a toss up between 2005 and 2009. 09 is extravagant and hedonistic, charged with lewd enjoyment value, whilst 05 has more classical harmony, but both are vintages that appeal to my lubricious tastes whilst still having good balance. I’ve had some really great 05s recently but also some fiery-needles-in-the-eyes 2009 Kabinetts over the past few days that have all thrilled me, so I cannot jump on either side of the fence on this one. They’re both the cat’s unmentionables, if not as good as 10 and 01.

This is probably a statement of the bleeding obvious, but there is much that is common about 2010 and 2009 in Burgundy and M-S-R Rieslings. 2009 are tits out for the boys (and ladies, if you are that kind of lady) and nothing is wrong with that. The 2010s have plenty of ripeness and yet greater beauty and balance with really fine acidity and a very strong mineral component. I really enjoyed tasting the 2010 Burgundies the other day.

Back to Germany. 2008 wines are nervy and exciting and, if you don’t mind a bit of severity, remarkably pleasurable. They’re surprisingly accessible now, for such fierce wines. I really enjoyed a Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Kabinett a few weeks back and an Auslese a few weeks before- very sexy I thought as I cursed and swore with pain with each one. 2004 and 2006 strike me as similar but I haven’t been drinking many recently.

The vintage that has given me perhaps least pleasure, oddly, is one of the ripest: 2002. I’ve had some great JJ Prum, Erben-Thanisch and Schloss-Lieser but I haven’t enjoyed a lot of 2002s as I don’t think they have the acidity. I like acidity. For some unaccountable reason I’ve got a bit of Egon ‘Yoda’ Muller 2002 and they really disappointed me when I tried them on release - they just seemed flabby. Fancy that, flabby Scharzhofberger!

2003 just doesn’t do it for me but many people, including Yoda and ‘Shouting’ Manfred Prum promise us they’ll be mind-bending when venerable. I’ll try and last that long and see if they’re telling porkies.

Riesling, isn’t it great?

Cheers,
David.

28

I’m hearing very good reports from the M-S-R but regardless of yet another amazing vintage prediction it intrigues me that 1811 and 1911 are two of the greatest vintages ever in Germany. Three centuries in a row…who knows? Personally, I feel it’s still too early but some growers who were part of the 71 vintage are saying it could be, potentially, beyond even that extraordinary year. Can’t wait to taste. [cheers.gif]

29

I’m surprised people haven’t distinguished more based on Praedikat. For example, the 02 QbA, Kabinetts and some Spaetleses were outstanding, but the higher levels a little less outstanding. In 06, by contrast, the miserably wet weather in the summer (I can testify to the drenching rains in August because I was there for a week) and parts of September meant great botrytised wines but some spottier results down the ladder.

It’s hard for me to evaluate the comments without knowing people’s preferences and what levels they’re referencing.

And why is it that 07, which everyone seemed to be oo-ing and ah-ing about when the wines were released, gets so little love? I remember some winemakers saying it had been a near perfect growing season – long and even. No one here seems to rank it highly.

30

Well for me 2007 is lacking in acidity. Maybe in time it will wow me, but right now it does not.

As I drink widely across the pradikats, my assessments were for the vintages as a whole, not picking star pradikats by year.

31

When young wines are full of puppy fat and plump they often mask the underlying acidity; I’ve had some outstanding Kabinetts from 07, 08 and 09 and not noticed any particular problems with acidity. However, if you’re referring to auslese upwards I take your point. In fact I remember thinking how lovely the breed of some of the 07 Kabinetts were and how similar they are to 97.

32

John,

I guess I could have been more specific in my poll question, but just wanted to keep it simple for clarity’s sake.

For myself, I base my opinion on what I tasted - whatever combination of Pradikats.

I (usually) drink more Spatlesen & Auslesen, followed by Kabs. In general, anyway. Maybe ~ 50%/30%/20% - ish.

Also, to me, one of the really special things about this run of good to great vintages is - it’s unprecedented, as far as I know.
. . . . Maybe during the Medieval Warm Period . . . but I don’t think Riesling was really established til 100 or so years later. [wink.gif]

I guess the point is: the “worst” of these 10 vintages were actually pretty damn good! [grin.gif]

I put 2002 last. Based on a smaller sample size than most others of the run. Really liked the wines fruit & firmness, but there was an occasional thread of a bit of green, overly malic quality to a % of the wines I drank - mainly Spatlesen & Kabs. Not that i mind acidity - I LOVE acidity, some just had a hint of green is all.
Don’t think I tasted any Auslesen actually, so I can’t say, but I would have thought the Auslesen would have performed better from my tasting of lower Pradikats.

I Love the '07’s too (they came 2nd behind the clear winner - 2001) I put them (basically) my 3rd place with '09 & '05) behind my absolute favorite (2010), & 2001, but also '04.

Loved the ripe acidity, fruit & balance of the '04’s (for me Kab - Auslesen) - it was also maybe a slightly smaller set of wines tasted, & have been drinking more '07’s lately so, who knows how I might rank 'em differently in a year.
2004 surprised me a bit as having all the positive attributes of a year like '02, but with a riper, more tartaric acidity.

I would put 2008 midway between 2002 (greener acids) & 2004 (riper acids). Was a bit surprised that 2008 had more support than 2004.

2006 - is for me most definitely an Auslesen/botrytis vintage for the best wines. Certainly with as much rot as was reported, I can see people marking this vintage down, but there are a ton of Wow wines too.

Looks like we’ve extended the “Run” in 2011. I’m sure we’ll see some notes on barrel samples soon.

Prost!

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33

Rob: As I indicated above, I tasted at a few top Middle Mosel growers’ today. The 2011s that I tasted from tanks/casks have a lot of breadth and depth, yet Andreas Adam said, “there will be a lot of thin stuff.” He, of course, is referring to growers who had overly high yields and picked too early. It was great to know, too, that I was the first visitor to taste A.J. Adam’s 2011s. They’re quite impressive, as well, but I didn’t expect anything less from him.

In general, quantities on the Mosel are much higher and acidities lower than the 2010s. Both vintages are quite ripe, even though must weights are more or less all in the Auslese range for Qualitäts- and Prädikatsweine. Again, you have to taste and retaste. I found, for example, Andreas’s 2011 Hofberg feinherb less opulent than the 2010. Likewise, when comparing Reinhold Haart’s wines from the same vintage, the 2010 Goldtröpfchen Spätlese struck me as being even more delicate than the '10 Ohligsberg Spätlese. Johannes Haart agreed.

34

Lars,

Thanks for the 2011 update.

I grow grapes for a living, so I know great grapes don’t just HAPPEN, & there’s always bound to be “Thin Stuff” pretty much every year.

I guess it’s too early to characterize the vintage, but just hearing about another very good to great year is good news for us Riesling Lovers!

Prost! & Please update us on any other early thoughts, or upcoming tastes of more 2011’s. [thumbs-up.gif]

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35

David,

Thanks for the comments & Great 2010 write-up.

It seems we’re (for the time being, anyway) in the minority in putting 2010 tops.

I’d wager that if I put this same poll up in a year or 2, we’d get a different response.

I have never tasted Riesling this intense, across the board.

One thing I do disagree with: I think the 2010’s are Tits-Out as well! . . . but more of a perfectly shaped B, rather than the C & D cup '09’s. [wink.gif]

Cin-Cin!

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