1997 Von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Auslese- Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (12/12/2020)
Incredibly youthful and impeccably precise, this is just about perfect wine. From the time before pradikat inflation, this wine is drinkable with dinner, rather than being better suited as an aperitif or for afterwards. Still showing fresh fruit, it has also developed a creamy edge that brings a more mouthfilling sensation to a wine that is light on its feet. In a class of its own, Grunhaus is just Grunhaus, one of the three most distinctive estates in the larger Mosel region, alongside Prüm and Müller.
David, I have always loved the Von Schubert wines, especially because they have been on the drier side for the pradikat. I almost pulled the '02 vintage of this last night to accompany Thai food. Went with the '04 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese Rotlay instead, which was really nice, but just a bit sweet for my current tastes. I bought mostly Auslese in the '95-'07 vintages and wished I had more Spatlese, honestly.
Great note, and sounds fantastic. I’d certainly place it on Mosel’s Mount Rushmore for distinctive estates. Plus one of the best visual labels out there.
A question to you guys who have experiance with older Mosel Auslese (I habe only young wines).
Do you think it‘s worth to buy the Goldkapsel?
As you know nowadays most of the famous Riesling estates have a normal Auslese and a (much more expensive) Goldkapsel version.
In many cases the normal auslese and the GKA are very different wines IMHO. GKAs tend to be richer and sweeter and more of a pure dessert wine. They are today more like a cleaner BA. So, it is to me more of a question of what type of wine do you want than which is better. I have been buying more GKA for sweet wines than BAs or TBAs over the last several years both because they are less expensive and because I have grown to like wines better with less noble rot.
Thanks Howard,
I‘m sure you are right that GKA are often ritcher and sweeter. Interessting to see it as a „special category“ between Auslese and BA.
I remember from discusions with producers (e.g. Daniel Vollenweider) that they said to me things like: this barrel was fantastic, I made it a GKA. So, I saw it primarly as a question of quality.