My turn again to host Leo’s blind tasting group this month (or is it the Leo Occasionally Shows Up Tasting Group now? 
) The venue this time was Riverpark, where we had a fantastic Riesling-friendly menu for a lineup of mostly whites. Can’t say enough good things about the wine service here, which was fantastic and very attentive, and added to the excellent food. As always, this lineup was a blast to put together - a few oddities here and there, but for the most part a focus on some of my favorite producers, and for the most part the wines showed really well alongside the food.
Starting bubbles:
2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Grand Cellier d’Or 1er Cru
Liked but didn’t love this. Bright citrus and pear fruit, some yeasty and biscuit notes with a racy spine of acidity beneath, refreshing but not particularly complex or exciting.
2005 Raumland Sekt Triumvirat - Grande Cuvée Brut
A sparkler from the Rheinhessen with equal parts Pinot Noir, Meunier, and Chardonnay. Wanted to see how this would fare in a flight with a similarly priced grower Champagne, and it showed well. Not as good a showing as my previous bottle, but it held its own with the Vilmart. A more friendly, fruit forward style with lots of orchard fruit gently framed by yeasty elements, fresh and lively with a faint touch of sweetness, though a bit short on the back end.
First dry white flight with a spring onion soup:
2008 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Grosses Gewächs
Spectacular aromatics. All sorts of exotic floral, spicy and funky sponti-yeast notes, flamboyant and perfumed, yet very precise on the palate with powerful acidity beneath layers of fresh citrus and stone fruit and vivid stony mineral notes. Intense with great depth, yet precise and very light on its feet. Outstanding.
2009 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Grosses Gewächs
The same flamboyantly spicy and floral scent as the '08 showed, but the fragrance here suggests something a little sweeter and more richly fruited. It certainly is riper with more richness on the palate, but again there’s fantastic acidity and a vivid stony mineral base beneath.
Second dry white flight with veal sweetbreads
2009 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Grosses Gewächs
Came across rather understated in contrast to the other Dönnhoff GGs; it’s a bit quiet aromatically at first but air brings out some smoky and spicy notes to frame the rich fruit here. There’s a gentle stony undercurrent beneath and a bright acid spine, and it’s lovely though not as compelling as the Dellchen or the Felsenberg.
2009 Dönnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Grosses Gewächs
A powerhouse on the palate, there’s palate staining intensity here but also tremendous acidity that makes it feel very racy and precise. Really vivid mineral characteristics here, the fruit seems to be carved out of stone. Thrilling wine, my favourite of the GGs.
2009 Dönnhoff Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling (“Felsentürmchen”) Grosses Gewächs
The most delicate and understated of the Dönnhoffs; but also the most complex aromatically. A really beautiful fragrance here with flowers, hay, earth and fresh apple and citrus fruits coming together, and a very polished, graceful palate presence with bright acids. Really elegant, seamless, and long.
In-between transition flight before the reds
2012 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett
The cut on here is remarkable. Fresh herb and mint tinged citrus, pear and gooseberry fruit with a base of slate and stone, on an incredibly light and precise frame with powerful acidity and just a faint sense of sweetness, finishing very long. Fantastic.
2012 Alfred Merkelbach Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese "Urglück"
Beautiful aromatics, full of fresh lime, red apple and strawberry fruit tinged with higher toned floral and spicy notes. It’s a very light, understated wine that keeps opening up with air, showing a bit of sweetness over the bright acid spine, and it’s all too easy to drink.
A lone flight of reds with duck breast.
2001 Éric Texier Côte-Rôtie Vieilles Vignes
Very good, though overshadowed by the absolutely stunning ESJ poured alongside. Bright red fruits and olives tinged with some high toned funky stemmy notes and developed earthy and leathery characteristics, very graceful on the palate with most of the structure here coming from the acidity rather than tannin, and drinking very nicely now.
1990 Edmunds St. John Syrah Durell Vineyard
From magnum, decanted a couple of hours before serving. This is just mindblowingly great syrah, so complex, graceful, and polished with layers of red fruits, olives, earth, spice, and more savoury meaty and leathery notes coming together into a seamless whole. It’s at a stage where the fruit’s still quite fresh and intense, but there’s also a lot of flavour and textural development apparent, and it’s an absolutely thrilling wine to sit down with and drink. Stunning. My wine of the night.
Onto sweet wines with cheeses
2008 Müller-Catoir Haardter Herzog Rieslaner Spätlese
Fun, but not as complex as other bottles I had right on release. Lots of ripe, sweet apricot and tropical fruit tinged with fiery spice, faint burnished notes and honey. This has the sweetness and density of a ripe Auslese, but there’s great acidity beneath as well to keep it nicely balanced. Lovely.
2006 Schlossgut Diel Scheurebe Spätlese
Something’s off here, the aromatics are rather muted and the fruit’s somewhat clipped on the palate.
2005 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese
Double decanted three hours before serving. Yeah, it’s incredibly young, but it’s absolutely amazing to drink now as a dessert wine with cheese. A classic Prüm fragrance; sweet orchard fruits and flowers combining with more savoury and funky mineral and sulfury notes, and remarkably complex and elegant on the palate. The mouthfeel is remarkable, very glossy and polished with bright acids beneath, finishing incredibly long. Brilliant. Can’t wait to see what this turns into when it’s mature.
2012 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese
Double decanted three hours before serving. It’s made of the same material as the '05, also showing that classic Prüm fragrance with great complexity, but it doesn’t have quite the same sense of seamlessness and polish on the palate. There’s great depth here and perhaps even more cut and focus, and I love the sense of purity to the flavours. This (like the '05) is going to be amazing with time.
Great seeing the group again, and as always, it was great fun hosting this. Thanks all!
