2007 Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett- Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (1/4/2012)
The more I drink this wine, the less I like it. While it’s termed a Kabinett, it’s got the sweetness level of at least a Spatlese and really approaching an Auslese. I understand why folks have a hard time understanding German wines. This wine is really best for spicy food or foie gras. It has too much sweetness for courses early in an evening where you would typically use a Kabinett, such as a seafood course. (88 pts.)
I bolded a section of your post, as it’s yet another brick in the wall of declassifying to meet market demand while failing to meet market “need.”
The numerous warm vintages of the last decade+ in Germany have all but destroyed kabinett. Years like 2008 and 2010 do something to keep it alive, but I miss the delicate wines of the past.
I’m with you David. I like Riesling a lot, especially with 5-10 years bottle age. But not having studied German wines, I’m frankly scared every time I buy one because I don’t know if I’ll get a nice dry example or a sugar bomb. I’ve got a couple of other 2007 Kabinetts that are much drier than this wine. You would think the appropriate German wine authority would enforce some standards.
Well there are standard for dry wines (trocken and halbtrocken), and minimums for must weight (a pseudo stand-in for ripeness) to be classified as kabinett, spatlese, auslese, etc. What does not exist are maximums for the pradikats. The ceiling is essentially unlimited, except perhaps in the “tasting/testing” that gets done. I had a long talk with Nik Weis of St. Urbans-Hof several years ago, where we both came down on the side of there being some kind of maximum ripeness or residual sugar content or something to preserve some of the identity of kabinett.
A contributing problem is the idea (in much of Germany) that the wines have to either be dry or really sweet. There’s not much for the middle ground.
What I will direct you to is a specific bottling: Selbach-Oster’s Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken. It’s a wonderful, food friendly wine that is also delicious as an aperitif (especially when young). Because it is halbtrocken you know it will be just off dry. I have bought that wine in multiple vintages and never been disappointed.
Thanks David. I’ll keep an eye out for the trocken and halbtrocken reference when buying, so I know it’s more likely to be a dry wine. I’ll also seek out the Selbach-Oster wine.