But Alex if 04 Von der Fels, Kirchspiel and Hubacker are all stunning at the moment. And especially from Sarah’s cellar. I don’t think it is a major leap of faith to think wines from even better vineyards will last 15+ years. I can’t recall which GG but I think John Gilman has a 50 year window on one. Having said that I have no problem drinking them young, middle age and older.
“ As readers may recall, the “RR” Reserve bottling from Klaus-Peter Keller hails from a small section of the grand cru Kirchspiel vineyard that has red soils, rather than the limestone prevalent in the rest of the vineyard. Klaus-Peter chooses to bottle this wine on its own, rather than blend it in with the terres blanches sections of the vineyard.”
I don’t think it is a major leap of faith either. I wouldn’t be surprised if, 10-15 years from now, all of us were posting that these wines need more than 15 years. My only point is that I’m not quite sure 15 is the right number. But I don’t have much experience pre-2009. Just a random bottle here and there. I’ve basically stopped drinking the GG young, except if one shows up on a restaurant list, on the theory that they are going to need quite a while to show their best parts.
A
our host Michael Quentel said the perfect phrase immediately after the tasting:
“Viele Weine, selbst gute, lassen dich Lärm schmecken. Aber nur die allerbesten geben dir Stille zu kosten. Ich habe an diesem Nachmittag Stille verkostet.“ „A lot of wines, even good ones, let you taste noise. But only the best of the best let you taste silence.
This afternoon I tasted silence.“
I would say this is the best comment about KELLER wines I have ever heared and read.