Daniel Vollenweider fresh off a flight that brought him to NYC for Rieslingfeier opened a vertical of his Kabinetts ranging from 2000-2015. Specifically he opened 00, 01, 02, 04, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. 2000 was his first vintage. He fell in love with Riesling after tasting a 1990 Egon Müller Spätlese, moved from Switzerland to Germany in 1999 to work for Loosen and made his first vintage in 2000.
It was a fascinating opportunity to taste the same wine across so many vintages. The group’s favorite overall was clearly the 2001 yet everyone agreed it was still too young to show its full potential
2000 - Drinking very well. Very difficult vintage with lots of rot and fungus. Less ripe than the 2000 and not as complex but still a very good showing.
2001 - Classical vintage all around for every Prädikat Daniel noted this was one of his latest harvests. This is a beautiful wine with everything in balance.
2002 - Physiologically riper that 2001. Daniel noted that there was rain late in the season that forced him to wait an extra 10 days to pick. The aromatics on this wine were completely different than the 2000 and 2001. Overall a good showing but lighter and not as structured as the 2001.
2004 - This was a great showing for this wine. I think 2004 might be overlooked. Daniel also noted this was another very late pick and similar to 2001. I loved the acid in this wine and although it has less fruit than the 2001 I still liked it very much.
2007 - Very warm year with high yields. More exoctic with some mint and herbal flavors most likely due to the very warm year. Daniel noted the 2007 Spätlese is in a great place now. I think we were all pleasantly surprised by the 2007
2008 - A cooler year. Acids were much more pronounced and too my liking The 2008 had the most petrol of any of the wines. Some might say this was out of balance slightly and especially in comparison from the riper years but I liked the high acid slimmer profile.
2010 - From another ripe year. This to me was extreme in every sense both fruit and acid. Daniel noted that this was a small crop year and there were also rains at harvest. I also like this very much.
2011 - Muted nose. This was showing a bit shut down. I did also like the acid in this. I think this wine just needs time.
2012 - This was partially corked.
2013 - I love 2013 and this did not disappoint. This was by far my favorite of the young wines and possibly my favorite overall. Tons of acid, exotic fruits, blood orange, herbal, mint - it has it all and sticks out in this tasting like the eccentric artist in a conservative family!
2014 - Smooth easy drinking wine and unfortunately like many 2014s there is just something missing.
2015 - Coiled tight and very hard to get a read on this. I can tell it is a great wine but it is not ready to distinguish itself just yet.
Daniel also noted that over this span he is aiming for lower RS and has reduced by approximately 10 grams from 55-65 in the early years. This is a function of consumer preferences and not climate.
In conclusion I think these are beautiful Kabinetts that age very well. I only wish he had more quantity.
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