That’s really shocking! I went last fall and we had the best time, no hygiene issues, I thought the wine was great, and we had an awesome cheese board. Didn’t like their “classique” blend but the single vineyard rieslings were great, the Willow especially. OT for this thread but we loved the Caywood Chardonnay too. Really stinks they didn’t have their A game for you, hope it was just a one-off bad day
Enjoy!
Or serve some to the „but Riesling is always sweet“ crowd, this will teach them.
Helpful info. It’s def on my “to revisit” list.
After I left my manager position at a wine store I had come back to see many sparkling rieslings.
I was like “ah, I see you’ve already changed thing”
I don’t mind a little off dry sparkling Loosen.
Has anyone here had the Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Trocken 2021 before? I picked up the last bottle available at my trusty local bottle shop and I’m curious when I should think about opening it. I’ve read that Vollenweider was more known for his Pradikät wines, but I’ve never seen his wines available in this market before. I understand this was his last vintage before passing.
Along with slate and quartz, Krettnacher Altenberg has diabase intrusions, especially in the prime western end of the south-facing slope in the place-names Auf dem Hölzchen and Ober Schäfershaus.
Hard to top Boxler (although I would also give a shout out to Kientzler) - the tiny town they are in is clearly glorious for all fruit given it is Christine Ferber’s home as well. Her jams are legendary, and her tiny patisserie was a highlight of our entire Alsatian trip.
Switching hemispheres entirely, always glad to see the Rieslingfreak wines making more inroads to the US. Really beautiful wines, albeit ones that I feel need years in bottle (even beyond the norm) to become approachable.
Big fan of Mme Ferber as well, even if the „Extra Lime de Tahiti du Jardin des Hesperides” right now in the jar is somewhat underperforming
Fun side note: thanks to her recommendation, we have a classic copper jam pot from France… which sent the Cornell Enology department on a deep dive to figure out why a copper pot doesn’t leach dangerous amounts of copper into jam (given the acidity). The best theory is that the sugar in the fruit immediately oxidizes the outside layer of copper, thus sealing off copper ions from getting pulled in.
“The More You Know!”
As promised, @Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m and @Dennis_Atick , don’t be like me: this is so promising, but also so quiet and shut down. Much more shut down than the 2017 Fahrlay-Terrassen we had a while back. See you in ~ 5 years, 2019 Raffes.
Thanks for the check-in. Not wines to approach young, for the most part. Just not worth it.
You win, you win. In all seriousness, this did open up and show even more promise, but we’ll be waiting on all the other 19s and 20s I have.
What‘s going on here? Flat, lacking acidity and grip, not recognizable as Riesling. Premox??
One of top names in the Rheingau, it used to be an annual buy.
I bought massive quantities of Steinmetz over the summer as I was not sure if I would see such a bounty of available wines again and shipping season has finally arrived. Opened four bottles this week.
2022 Piesporter Treppchen:
This is incredible! Concentration without weight, silky texture, intensely mineral, and a finish that goes on and on. Took about three hours of air to fully open up. Should be long lived. I have six more bottles, and it will be a teat of my will power to give them some age.
2020 Wintricher Ohligsberg:
Not as impressive as the Treppchen, but definitely an A student. Exotic fruit profile with a strong mint leaf flavor which evoked a mojito. Lost some intensity of flavor over the course of the night.
2020 Wintricher Geiserlay “Sur Lie:”
This comes across as a Kabinett trocken, which isn’t a category I have much affection for. It’s good for what it is, and shows some development, giving it a bit of complexity. I would be happy to drink this anytime, but I found myself frustrated while drinking it, missing the gravitas of the grosser wines, most of which only cost a few dollars more.
2022 Drohn Hofberger Spatlese:
I am utterly confused by this wine. Low acid, short finish, but beautiful creamy and luscious fruit with some botrytis. Doesn’t drink overly sweet, in spite of the low acidity, which makes me wonder if this isn’t mildly shut down, the acids just hidden, but the fruit is so intense. Delicious even without the tension. Will be an amazing wine if it develops some cut.
Sounds strange. The reviews for this were perhaps a little less glowing than other vintages, but not to this extent. Hope it’s a one-off for you. I love them and they make the majority of my riesling holdings.
Elemental Riesling. So minerally, salty. Brisk acidity, it’s very young and rough edged but so alive. It’s so very good now but I think the future holds even more promise.
On day 1 question marks and hopes that it comes around, on day 2 the wine completely falls apart … I had this happen with other Rieslings from the Rheingau (but not with a GG till now). Something in the air, incompetent winemaking ? Oh well, it’s not like there are no alternatives.
Gackes is this part of the vineyard Ritsch Weinlagen