Which Riesling are you drinking?

Stefan Kraml, who was the winemaker at Grünhaus from 2004 to 2023, is now the cellar master at Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier. Before his time at Grünhaus, he made the wines at von Othegraven from 1999 to 2003.

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2001 Donnhoffs I’ve had recently have mostly given up the ghost. Structure mostly gone now, leaving rich, viscous apricot behind. Good foil to sichuan, in a way, but not great at this point.

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I think it’s more climatic influences rather than deliberate stylistic changes, though the leesy stink that used to pervade the wines for decades has been moderated.

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The best Riesling available at the Swedish monopoly near where I was. We only had 1/3 of the bottle but would have loved to taste it over a longer time and more air.

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Two beautiful wines from a dinner at Smithereens last night! Speaking of value wines in the Should Wineberserkers Try to Attract Younger Members? thread this Max Kilburg bottling is stunning for $20. Creamy peach, lemon zest and an addicting streak of acidity. Fantastic feinherb a style of wine I need to drink more of for sure.

The 2010 Schafer-Frohlich Spatlese Goldkap was firing - Lychee, some white flowers & honey on the nose but the palate hits you with spice & this great 2010 acidity that reminded me of eating a crunchy granny smith apple. Great showing much better than an 08 I opened a few weeks ago.

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Max is an absolute star! His 2021 Pinot came in #2 at the Big Pinot study we did at Markus Molitor and his 2015 was wine of the night at the Die Mosel event.

disclaimer we sell his wines at source | material

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Happy to see this. Thanks for check in!

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Had many good rieslings during my trip to the Mosel. Three older trockens were particularly stunning

97 Selbach Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spätlese Trocken - Just perfect in every way. Aged tertiary riesling flavors, medium bodied and just beautiful.

97 Clemens Busch Marienburg Spätlese Trocken - This was more rich than the other two. More savory and a bit rustic around the edges but sill a treat to drink.

93 Von Schubert Herrenberg Kabinett Trocken - Ethereal, light as a feather. Stunning wine. I love aged Kabinett Trocken.

Not great notes but I point these wines out to illustrate how well Mosel Dry wines can age. All of these were drunk in the Mosel and presumably were stored well.

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Where did you get the Selbach? I don’t recall Terry bringing in any Trockens from them that far back.

At a restaurant in the Mosel.

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Sounds great although that’s probably much more special than the typical/standard kabinett trocken!

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2017 Dr. Wehrheim Kastanienbusch Riesling GG

Pretty similar to the last bottle from 11 months ago. Firm and muscular in the Kastanienbusch style, but with golden ripe fruit, some tangy juicy elements, and herbal mineral detail. A very nice wine that is delicious at dinner, although I think the more recent vintages here have a bit more spark and interest. (Which is of course a good thing…)

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One thing I’ve noticed with the Elisenberger bottlings from them is they take a while to really develop. I picked up a case of this on a visit to the winery maybe 15 or so years ago and it always seemed kind of disjointed with no balance and often wondered why I got so many. Then at around 10’sh years it really came into its own. We were just visiting the Mosel at the beginning of December and we had the Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett Fuder 4 and it was one of the top young wines we had during our two week trip.

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Emrich Schönleber - Halenberg GG 2017

Intense straw yellow color. Peach, apple, ripe apricot, tea, dried yellow flowers, little petrol note, mieralic, smoky. Fresh and salty, full body, balanced and long lasting. In a great spot right now with some air :top::clinking_glasses:

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I’ve liked recent releases of their Halgans trocken a lot, which IS the poor mans version of the Halenberg.

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I’m pretty sure I’m at the point where I can’t let a vintage go by without trying that Loewen Kab… It’s consistently very good to excellent, and a couple vintages I’ve had have been mind-bending. And almost always at a price closer to $20 than it is to $30! As always, appreciate your input, Scott. Thanks for posting!

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What did you think of the ‘21?

Oh, man! That is surprising, and disappointing. :cry:

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Sadly never saw that vintage at my usual sources (WHWC; Wine House; or K&L), which bums me out because I’ve generally been a fan of the ‘21 Rieslings I’ve had thus far; plus, I enjoyed the three Loewen trockens I’ve tasted from that vintage, too —- in fact, enjoyed them so much I splurged on a yet-unopened bottle of their 1896 feinherb (gray label), which is tied with one other wine for most I can remember spending on a Riesling at retail. Have you had the ‘21 Herrenberg Kab?

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No, I haven’t had it, but Vinopolis is selling it.

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