2012 Hermann Ludes Thӧrnicher Ritsch Spӓtlese Trocken
Still plenty fresh, crunchy, and juicy, although the mellowed aged character is evident in the broadening middle. Delicious, but not as fun as a recent 2015 Klüsserather Bruderschaft Riesling Spätlese, and I’m also not sure I wouldn’t prefer the recent vintage releases for the vigorous youthful zest.
1990 Bach Wagner Thӧrnicher Ritsch Auslese
When Ludes sold out of all their back vintages, apparently they began pointing wine dealers to these folks, who stopped making wine but still have old family stocks. It’s classic aged Riesling, still some sweetness, but not a ton, and a bit watery/simple in the midpalate. Great for restaurants that want cheap aged Riesling on the menu, but doesn’t engage me for very long.
2022 Immich-Batterieberg Escheburg
Dark cool herbal hard IB fruit. Impressive density, compactness and salty distinction, for a ‘village’ wine. But I guess the vines are fairly old. Interesting interpretation of Riesling, and I do appreciate the diversity of flavor profiles, but I still struggle to connect with the IB wines.
2022 Koehler Ruprecht Kallstadter Saumagen Spӓtlese Trocken
Tough one here. First bottle showed no fruit and was tart, sour and chemical. Technically no cardboard, but it went against all expectations, so I assumed corked. Second bottle tasted the same, which makes me think this is either a tough period or a strangely-missed vintage. Usually love this bottling, but no pleasure here, and these may have been my first 2022s from KR.
A couple of very good wine here recently. Zilliken Rausch Kabinett 2019 was in a great place. A touch of creamy mango and pineapple, but well balanced and great with various Asian foods.
Then checking in for the first time on Carl Loewen 1896 Riesling, 2021. Short version: too early. 2016 and 2018 have both drunk really well this year and show how glorious this wine can be. 2020 was in a bit of a sulk - hopefully with some more time it will come round. The 2021 has great potential - there’s masses of flavour and complexity. But there’s a slight sour green note, and the acidity isn’t in harmony yet. There’s lots here to like, but I think it’s going to take time to settle and integrate. Leave the rest of the case 4-5 years I think before trying another. Planning to drink my stocks of 2018 and 2019 in the meantime…
Yes, would be interesting. I don’t drink a lot of pradikat riesling these days, but the KB struck me as more finessed than the TR wines, which tend to have an herbal bite than I appreciate.
We opened a 2015 Laible Achat last night with pork chops, having seen in CT that our last bottle was almost exactly 4 years ago! That one was a little flat and lifeless - not so now! Last night’s bottle was lively, vibrant, expressive, with an intoxicating nose of lime/lychee/celery seed. The nose suggested a richer palate than we ultimately found, which is not a criticism at all. The wine was firm in its expression, but light on its feet. Pure deliciouness. We seem to be about the only people who drink Laible on this board, and I think that’s a shame.
I’m a Laible fan, but I don’t see them at retail in the US. Have bought some from LF, but spotty.
Speaking of rieslings that don’t get enough love, last night’s 2020 Beurer Kieselsandstein was a lively joyous bottle that converted quite a few first-timers to the Beurer Fan club.
Also quite well and opened some newbie eyes to Austrian Sauvignon Blanc. We had it in a decanter for maybe 45-60 minutes as we drank the bottle. It was relatively linear, which was fine, although might have expected more breadth and richness given what I know of 2019 in Germany. Maybe that would have come with air or maybe conditions in Sudsteiermark were different! Either way, delicious.
A friend in my wine circle (@AndyK who happens to be Austrian) has blinded me twice on that exact wine, knowing my dislike of Sauvignon Blanc. I really liked it. I now have 2 bottles of ‘19 in my cellar. Just goes to show…
For me in general, it’s fine when blended with Semillon (dry or sweet). I have a visceral response to the slightest bit of grassiness or even worse, gooseberries, with that variety.
Nice. We were talking last night about how it would be interesting to taste blind. My friend swore she would never identify as SB. I, on the other hand, was sure that I detected some underlying grassy gooseberry notes that were ‘typical’, but then presented in a different frame from the Loire/NZ reference points. But I’ll never know because I saw the label!
Thanks for the detailed information. I feel these Ziereggs mature at a glacial pace We had the 2017 recently and it was still super young and very primary. I have never tasted a more mature Tement, but the potential should be huge. Cheers
Nice! We opted for the 20 Kieselsandstein over the 19 SP Berge GG, on the logic that we wouldn’t have time for it to open, and the somm confirmed that logic. (Was a ‘quick’ pre-dinner drink) Who knows if we were correct.
I am putting together a blind tasting event as part of a fundraiser for my kid’s school. Would appreciate some suggestions for a dry German riesling that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else! Thinking $30-40 a bottle or so, hopefully some petrol notes. The tasters aren’t going to be big wine people, and they’ll be trying to blindly match four whites to the descriptions/identifications I give them. Thanks!
We had the 2017 recently and it was still super young and very primary. I have never tasted a more mature Tement, but the potential should be huge. Cheers 
