I gave her one of those for her birthday one year.
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No pets, but I have an extensive series of notes forthcoming from an event in Philly today.
Stay tuned.
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Gunther Steinmetz 2019 Brauneberger Juffer Auslese:
Opens with a bit of honeyed apricot opulence, but as it aerates, the sugar takes a back seat to the racy structure, and it ends up becoming rather sleek. It’s dense and massively concentrated, though with very little perception of weight, and the end result is a wine that is incredibly refreshing and hard not to gulp. I had to force some restraint on my over eager palate to savor this, because there is so much to savor - a full spectrum of riesling fruit, saffron, mineral notes which smash through the wall of fruit, and a complex, resonant finish full of glorious Juffer spice which spreads out in a most dramatic peacock’s tail in the back of the throat. This is a 100 point wine at maturity (just pretend I have enough experience with wines at that level to make such a proclamation), but there is zero chance my remaining bottles will live that long. I want my marshmallows now, goddamnit!
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The kids are alright!
Numerous Rieslings on offer today. I am going to work through them one at a time.
First up the 2001 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett (Mosel) was nothing short of a perfect bottle. Still showing fresh fruit, though the youthful sweetness had moderated to about a feinherb level. Very long, mineral infused finish and only a tiny dose of that controversial “petroleum distillate” on the nose. If you have some do yourself a favor and drink it. Just wow. The bottle only made it to a few people before it was drained.
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1998 Weingut Karlsmühle Lorenzhöfer Riesling Eiswein
Hand-carried home from London in May 2002. Really terrific. Burnished orange gold, deep-fruited with dried fruit quality framed by perfectly balanced acidity. Yumola
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This is a 2019 melsheimer reiler mullay hofberg sekt that I bought from Robert Panzer. Opened for a family Xmas event with my cattle dog and thoroughly enjoyed it. Sometimes bubbles can obscure variety but this shouts Riesling while coming off as a serious bottle of Sekt.
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- 2001 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile - France, Alsace (12/21/2024)
To my taste there is no better dry Riesling than CFE when it is on form. This bottle was 100% on form, loaded with dry extract that conveyed immense depth, and balanced by its acidity to provide lift. It’s a marble statue in wine form.
Apologies - I forgot to get a label shot of this before the bottle was commandeered.
Edit - I found a photo on my phone.
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Only the Hasensprung and although I have a saying—leave me not temptation for I WILL deliver evil, I will let it sleep a little longer and opened a 2020 Emrich-Schonleber Nahe Ries Trocken. Apple base nose, but also white grape, peach and lilac mixed in. This is fairly one-dimensional and not a lot of subtlety g but has good consistency with the aromatic profile. Don’t think there’s any reason to wait. Will check on it tmr with some salmon
Some people have described me as having dog-like characteristics. Does that count? 
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Melsheimer is a specialist for sparkling wine.
Another from yesterday’s activities…
1999 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese (Nahe)
A very nice showing from this wine in an ill-considered vintage. ‘99s are rarely ever exciting, but they make for pleasurable drinking. This particular bottle had a bit of a checkered past in terms of provenance but still showed fresh, peachy fruit and some emerging spice notes. Moderately sweet, it powered through the difficult arugula salad course! Well cared for bottles should be fine for quite a while longer.
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And another…
- 2009 Pegasus Bay Riesling Bel Canto - New Zealand, South Island, Canterbury, Waipara (12/21/2024)
Never thought I would taste one of these with 15 years of age on it, but strange things happen in life. Richer in texture than I expected it to be, there was also a splash of RS that buoyed the fruit. Lots of mineral expression underneath, it just surprised me that I had to dig for it. Interesting but I recall the wine more fondly from its youth.
Photo isn’t loading properly. Will edit later.
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Thanks for this and the great note on it, David. Visited the winery long, long ago (1998)
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Hauntingly beautiful. Such a vivid and pure expression of riesling fruit with apple, pear, peach, lemon, and pineapple topped with cream and cherries. Explodes with baking spice in the middle. Well integrated acidity and a surprising stony mineral core keeps the opulence in check. The wine is ripe, concentrated and mouth-filling, but oh so airy and quaffable. There is considerable depth, but its seductive perfume and playful fruit make this wine easy like sunday morning.
I feel for those who will miss out on such beauty due to an aversion to a little residual sugar. I don’t think this is wine is lessor, at least in any meaningful way, to the superb Grosses Gewachs for which this estate gets such (deserved) accolades. This seems like a generous gift from the estate given the price differential.
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The bottle I drank had this on the label so I searched for it.
“Feinherb” is a German wine term used to describe a specific style of wine that lies somewhere between dry and off-dry on the sweetness scale. It is primarily associated with Riesling, but you may also find Feinherb versions of other grape varieties like Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner
Feinherb’s can taste somewhat dry if they are at the lower bounds of Feinherb and the wine is very high in acid.
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2023 Max Kilburg Treppchen Riesling Kabinett Vorm Berg
Yes another baby. Bosc pear, candied ginger, lemongrass, and sea breeze on the nose. Sleek, crystalline, and playful, this kabinett glides across the palate nicely with focus and precision like an Olympic speedskater. Underneath the refined acids are pleasant flavors of underripe tropical notes of guava, pineapple, and candied orange citrus that linger a decent length, with just a touch of slate minerality. Goes down way too easily at 7.5% ABV.
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Sounds amazing. I really need to get a hold of some '01 Kabi…
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