2008 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese. Fresh, citrusy and structured, linear, not too interesting. Notice that others are more enthusiastic than me. Guess I want my Rieslings with more age and complexity.
1974 Cappellano Barolo. Surprising amount of sediment. Classical aged Barolo, but, alas, a bit over the hill. Perhaps this was never a great bottle anyway.
1976 Balthasar Ress Hattenheimer Engelmannsberg Riesling Beerenauslese. Mature oranges and marmalade, spice and acid on the nose; fresh, long – the aromas almost duplicates the fantastic nose. What a lovely wine!
Overall I’ve found 08 to be lacking for Donnhoff- stilted in nature and more muddy in discernible flavors and scents than prior vintages, specifically Oberhauser Leistenberg. A little surprised that the Niederhauser Hermansshole was, but not too surprised. If you’re looking for Donnhoffs exhibiting age beyond their vintages I was personally partial to the 07 Niederhauser Hermannshole Spat- complex with a backbone of steel and a lingering honeyed flavor enough to give the implications of botrytization on the palate but with a distinctly spatlese-esque acidity and flavor. Really spectacular.
I’ve also had the 06 Donnhoff NH but found it a little more predictable and flabby in flavor than the 07…incredibly rich, almost unctuously so.
It’s a shame your Cappellano didn’t show well. They can be great from that era, but many of the bottles were poorly stored or transported at some point.
Certainly agree that Cappellano from this period can show well, a fairly recent note on the 67 (funny looking coke-shaped bottle): Wonderful old Nebbiolo color with residual red; gorgeous nose with rosehips and blackthorn; some spiciness in the mouth, fresh with plenty of tannins, clear fruit, intense. - Both were recently removed from a good Italian cellar.
Those were bottled by a merchant in Torino named G. Troglia. The hit rate for good bottles on those is much lower than the Bordeaux-style bottles which were bottled at the winery.
Well I will just chime in that the concept of '08 Donnhoffs (any of them - even the Estate Riesling) being considered “muddy” or “not too interesting” makes little sense to me. Linear makes perfect sense given the brighter acids of the vintage. We’re now nearly 3 years post release, so top saptlesen (and kabinetts) are into that shut down phase, so maybe that is what is going on.
Anyway, I vastly prefer '08s from Donnhoff to the surrouding vintages, precisely because of their focus and bright (though not searing) acids.
Ken, the 1967 was second row, second bottle from the left. On the back of the attached ‘booklet’ it reads “G. TROGLIA - TORINO”. The 1974 was estate bottled.
David, the Donnhoff in question was consumed last year. Compared with the 08 Adam QbA I had at the same time, it exhibited a lack of focus and fairly flat nose. I’ve personally had much better luck with 07’s and found them to be more consistent and charming, comparatively speaking.