To be fair, at the VIP they were pouring a bottle of '11 Scharzhofberger Auslese.
The VIP was definitely worth the tariff.
Sounds like a great time – I’ll need to plan to attend next year (and step up for the VIP, it sounds like)…
I had quite a different take. I buy mainly sweet rieslings (more and more Kabinett, less and less at higher levels). And my complaint has often been that the dry Austrians and German Grosse Gewachs were too rich and a bit low in acid. But I was quite excited by a lot of the dry wines:
Alzinger – My only experience has been with some fabulous aged Gruner Veltliners. But these rieslings showed very well, particularly the '15 Loibenberg Smaragd.
Hirtzberger – Terrific stuff, particularly the '15 Hochrain Smaragd.
Leitz – I opened an '07 Spatlese of his recently that was outstanding, and the '15 Trockens he was pouring were great, I thought: The Berg Roseneck “Katerlock” GG; the Berg Rottland “Hinterhaus” GG (the tops for me) and the Berg Schlossberg GG. It was also such a pleasure to talk to Johannes, who is so down to earth.
Donnhoff – The '15 Leistenberg Kabinett had Donnhoff’s signature intensity, with a lot of acid to counterbalance the richness/sweetness.
Beurer – These were eye-openers for me, because most of the Schwabia wines I’ve had have been industrial Trollinger Halbtrockens (off-dry, almost pink reds). These all had a distinct earthy and herbal quality that I guess is the terroir. The vines are in a valley east of Stuttgart. I loved the '15 Estate Dry, the '15 Pulvermacher GG and the 2010 “Jungers Schwaben.”
Selbach-Oster – The Schlossberg Spatlese Feinherb Ur Alte Reben was first rate (110-year-old ungrafted vines).
I like the Diel wines. The estate Qba bottling for the US market, “Von der Nahe,” was a lovely Feinherb level wine. I assume that will be fairly cheap.
Schloss Lieser was great across the board. No surprise there. The '02 Niederberg Helden Spatlese was a bonus treat.
The only wines I found a little too dry for my tastes were a couple of the '15s Clemens Busch and the J.B. Becker wines. (I quite liked Busch’s '14 and '15 Marienburg Rotenpfad GGs.) And the Frick wines didn’t send me.
And, yes, I would have preferred more Saar wines from Egon Muller. The Slovakian 2015 “Chateau Bela” was clean but boring and I found their Australian 2014 Kanta downright weird. It had a bug spray element for me.
I never made it to Von Winning’s table, but I’m on the same page as you on the others.
Interesting that you mentioned this one because I thought the next wine from Donnhoff, the Hermannshohle Spatlese, was the best wine of the afternoon - although I really liked everything from Selbach, Schloss Lieser and Hirtzberger, as I mentioned, and also liked a lot the Fricke 2015 Lorcher Schlossberg (labeled dry but with 20-22 grams of RS), the Diel Goldloch Kabinett, and the Hofgut Falkenstein Sonnenberg Spatlese Feinherb.
One interesting tidbit. I was told by a guy who said he works for Rudi Wiest that JJ Prum bought or is buying Weins-Prüm.
Much better organization compared to last year…more breathing room and no collapsing coat racks…my favorite sets of wines were from Vollenweider (VD baby) and Selbach-Oster. I too was disappointed by the Egon Muller table, last year’s wines were much more compelling there.
Oh yeah, it was great to run into our own Jay Hack! I think he mistook the event for a Saxum tasting…
Thomas Haag looked a little perplexed when Jay proclaimed, “I’m a Saxum guy, I like 16% wines.” Haag probably thought he was saying he was a Saxon.
There and several other tables Jay introduced me as a AFWE type who didn’t like alcohol.
Funny, but I don’t have any notes on the Hermannshohle. But it was at Donnhoff’s table that I ran into Jay Hack…
Well maybe so, but I felt that Müller could have done better by us poor plebes who couldn’t get into the VIP event. Frankly, I felt a bit insulted by what they presented. The AU wine was weird and bitter, the Slovak a bit better, but only a bit. '15 Kabinett was OK, but no cigar. Considering what they charge (for the German wines), for ex the '13 Kabinett was $80 and not so great IMO, I’ve about given up on them.
OK, rant over! ![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
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Not quite. JJ Prum acquired the house, the WS and GH. Loosen the Pralat and Wurtzgarten. The Domprobst I can’t recall.
What were the Selbach Osters they were tasting? I am in the process of putting together a mixed case of their wine and would love some insight. Saw someone mention the Ur Alte Reben, what others were highlights?
Glad to see a few people got to experience the Vollenweider wines. Daniel is a super passionate, super nice guy and while i feel like he’s largely under the radar still he makes some delicious wine. Def producer to check out if you havent tried them.
2015 Schlossberg “Bohmer” Dry. This is a lieu dit/subzone of Schlossberg. My notes say simply “very dry.”
I don’t have notes on the third wine, the 2015 Schlossberg Kabinett, perhaps because it followed the Ur Alte Reben. It may have been sweeter than the Ur Alte Reben, but the UAR was a hard act to follow.
Thank John, that is great. I am all in the UR Alte Reben and considering it can be found for less than $30, it seems to be an all out steal.
Were they tasting any of the single parcel Auslese? The Schmitt/Rotlay/Anrecht?
While I won’t defend the value of Egon Muller wines I’m surprised to hear the 2015 Kabinett wasn’t showing well as my one experience was stellar. Could it have been too warm? Just opened?
Jay: In my post above, I omitted my notes on the Egon Muller Scharzhofberg Kabinett. Those read: “Incredible concentration and acidity. Long, tart finish.” That was in line with that bottle you poured at Chelsea a few months back. A really fine wine. The discussion here was skewed by their strange decision to offer their subpar Slovakian and Australian wines.
Not the most generous pourers, Egon’s lot.
I got a pour of the Egon 2015 QBA and not the Kabinett at about 11:30am. Drank well but didn’t match up with some of the other standouts on the day including the VD and Selbach-Oster. That Australian Riesling was terrible!