All this great riesling chat on the forum here has prompted me to open a Leitz tonight…the 2011 Rudesheimer Kirchenpfad Kabinett. Stay tuned!
cool little event although my visit was far too brief. really enjoyed the leitz wines as well as the rebholz and beurers.
thanks for the reccs robert. looked for you to say goodbye etc
Neat event, though I’m very glad I went to the first session, it got incredibly crowded once the 2nd session people showed up.
my main take away is that 2014 is a very weak vintage, I’ll try and find the time to write up some real notes. Producers showing vintages other than 2014 made a better impression IMO.
The 1994 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Auslese was my wine of the tasting though not necessarily of my day.
Am I here the only one who thought the tasting format was awful (edit: Jay preempted me just as I posted this)? I went to the first session and it was already overly crowded. More space was definitely needed. Hell, the producers looked cramped together… A few more spit buckets would’ve been helpful too.
Definitely.
For tastings like these, I’ve just realized that manners-be-dammed, the only way to survive is to spit into your tasting glass and then dump the glass into the bucket.
I agree 14 is not as good as 13 (a personal favorite) or 12; however, not sure yet if it is weak vintage. I do want spend more time with specific producers and bottles. Lets not forget Germany is a huge country and not all regions and producers faired the same in 2014, some did much better than others.
The Immich 13s were just awesome so call me a fan of stressed yeast (I am guessing you were tasting Sponti).
And to say the Saar does not make good dry wines is just insane!
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Well, I think MAKING dry wines in the Saar is insane. To each their own.
The Immich 13s were the worst wines of the tasting for me. All yeast, no grape.
I was not at Rieslingfeier, but after tasting through a number of '14s in bottle at home with meals, I will say that to my taste it is a very inconsistent vintage. And that’s not just a general vintage thing, I have found it to be a wine thing, where wines show very differently from bottle to bottle.
There are some lovely '14s, but it’s much more of a crap shoot than say 2012.
Bingo. Horribly hot and crowded. The choice of venue was very disappointing.
I think the last time I was at a wine event in NYC with enough room for people to walk around was in 2007.
More highlights from the dinner? Always a fun read.
La Fete du Champagne and to only a slightly lesser extent the La Paulee Verticals manage it very well.
It’s a big problem at source too. The auction in Trier last year was ridiculously cramped. Arrive at 9am or suffer.
It’s really not that hard!
David, my impressions have been that the wines of the Rheingau fared better in 2014 than from the Mosel, and off/dry wines better than sweet. The wines seem larger scaled than the more delicate and lacy 2013s, yet not as tightly packed as the (ultimately better?) 2012s.
I disagree. I have had some dodgy Rheingau wines as well.
I have been stocking up on 2014 Rheingau Kabinett here in AB and believe there will be a better/more varied choice once the 2013s are gone.
FWIW I liked this tasting format far better than the crawl. Yes it got crowded as soon as the VIP hour was over. For all those mentioning spit buckets, I thought you could drink riesling all day and not get a buzz ![[drinkers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/82916bed5ad74ac8470bc04089d9758b0c80c9fa.gif "drinkers"){kind=small}
(j/k, +1) I was talking with Stephen about the variations year to year and he definitely said it’s still evolving & he’s still trying new things for the event. I unfortunately didn’t make it to the dinner this year which is too bad as the number of winemakers continues to grow and the enthusiasm from both those visiting for the first time and those getting able to participate again was palpable.
I took notes on most of the wines I tried (and I think I made it to most of them) but re-reading them they get quite repetitive. A few that stood out (just going in order of the tasting book which was a nice touch)
13 Schloss Johannisberg Grunlack Spatlese - just incredibly zesty. Nice mix of all the notes the riesling grape can show
Schlossgut Diel: I don’t think I’ve had any of their wines before but all that were poured stood out. The 13 Goldloch Kabinett was full of pineapple that I rather enjoyed, and the 14 Pittermannchen Spatlese was as close to drinking key lime pie as I think I’ve come in a wine
13 Immich-Batterieberg CAI - great structure at a great price point, looking at the list probably the QPR of the day
13 Steinmetz Goldtropfchen - another wine with a lot of zest and inexpensive
14 Weiser-Kunstler Ellergrub Kabinett - not too sweet, not too dry, mouthwatering citrus & slate
13 Maximin Grunhaus Herrenberg Kabinett - quite a complex nose and nice citrus/herbal flavors
14 Hofgut Falkenstein Euchariusberg Spatlese - a great citrus/stone fruit mix with plenty of acid
of course all of the Prums were nice as well
2013 is the better vintage IMO.
Based simply on what people were opening at the Grand Tasting I’d agree. I started out thinking “I prefer this producer to that producer” and ended up noticing “I prefer the producers who are pouring 2013s to the ones pouring 2014s”.