2009 Zilliken “Rausch” Kabinett, Mosel
Strong BUY recommendation. For 12 Euro you will get a Top Riesling from the Mosel. This Kabinett with 70g/l RS reveals on one hand a fruit intensity rather on Spätlese level, on the other hand it still shows the special lightness of being of a Kabinett. Heavenly!
Focused crystalline fruit of pineapple, orange and citrus fruits with an already legendary balance.
Of course a baby, drinking window 2016-2030 and according to John Gilman maybe until 2040. Mamma mia, this is good… 92+ pts.
Kim, you have to! This is nectar of the gods. And read the article from Eric Asimov/NYTimes about Riesling Spätlese.
Also go to “The Crush” and speak with Stephen Bitterolf, a true Riesling-Expert and really a nice guy.
Recently had the '89 and '92 of Zilliken Spatlese and was very impressed. That’s an interestingly high level of RS for a Kab. Thanks for the note - great stuff.
WOW, you got a Magnunm?! The first Dry Grand Cru Riesling “Grosses Gewächs” Mr. Zilliken ever made. YES, I tried it…lovely juice. Wait a few years, then you will have a lot of fun.
Global warming has eliminated kabinett from existence. 70 g/l of residual sugar is auslese style, and so to call this wine kabinett is another cruel joke on people who have been drinking German Riesling for more than the last 5-10 years.
“Global warming has eliminated kabinett from existence. 70 g/l of residual sugar is auslese style, and so to call this wine kabinett is another cruel joke on people who have been drinking German Riesling for more than the last 5-10 years.”
I’m not sure that global warming is much of an issue this year as some German producers still have grapes hanging on the vines as I write this, waiting for the acidity to drop!! Global warming has made it difficult in some recent vintages to produce elegant Kabinett and a few vintages have made it impossible.
Yes 70 g/L is high, but residual sugar and acids are only numbers - they are naughty entities that don’t correlate with ‘style’. Style correlates with style!
If you have been drinking German Kabinett for more than the last 5-10 years you should find that years like 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2008 (even 2009) has rendered beautiful Kabinett very true to the Prädikat, but every year is different. That’s why we are mystified and in love with these wines.
Some producers make them fat and some don’t - there are plenty to choose from in each category, you just have to know where to look.
You can always compare to a very lean vintage from the 80’s and call it ‘classic’ or ‘true’. I don’t see phenolic ripeness and higher extract levels originating from better work in the vineyard as a bad.
The good news is that there is great QbA and QbA Feinherb produced today that will also age for 20 years.
/Ulrich
Having started drinking kabinett with the 1975 vintage, I can say with conidence that the recipe has been lost. The pradikat has been skewed to the point where it is no longer recognizable. I’ve tasted my fair share of monster wine labeled as kabinett from years like 2003, 2005, 2006 & 2007, such that I see no reason to waste time, money or efort on what has become a labeling joke.
Davis,
You’re not the only one with a long track record in the Riesling department.
Would you care to comment on the recent vintages that I stated, instead of the ones that you cite; vintages that we both know were difficult vintages for making a slim Kabinett? If you say that it’s impossible to make a “real” Kabinett within the last decade then you would have to take all recent vintages into account or else you’d have to modify your statement.
If you take a wine like Grünhaus Abtsberg Kabinett 2002 you have a wine that is extremely 70’s stylistically (with all the good and bad involved implications). This wine is not possible according to you, or?
Do you agree that vineyard work has improved since the 70’s?
Certainly there has been improvement in the vineyards. I would not (and was not trying to) deny that.
I have not had the 2002 Grunhaus Kabinett, though Grunhaus is a highly traditional estate (and much criticized lately because of it), and I would not be shocked if they held true to the real kabinett style as opposed to some steroid-infused monster wine.
As for 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2008 you are still generally talking about wines with much higher ripeness and sugar levels than is traditional for kabinett - most are at least spatlese. A few producers are making kabinett feinherb, and I like those wines very much. Sadly there aren’t many.
Martin - I’ve tried the wine and I wish that you were here so we could talk about it. First, I think your descriptors are spot on. I get the pineapple and citrus and in addition something that reminds me of spring water. A freshness!
However, I’m not sure about the acidity in this wine. The attack is so full fruited that I don’t feel the acidity initially. It feels almost fat. But then, out of nowhere this bright acidity appears and stops the wine from becoming cloying leaving me thirsty for more. The finish is persistent and full-flavored (in synch with the nose) with this wonderful trailing minerality. This wine is gum-sucking good!!
I guess my question pertains to how this will age. Am I responding negatively to baby fat? Where will this go.
this Kabinett will age wonderfully, promised. Concerning the acidty, I use a big stemware ZALTO “Universal” which always support the acidity&minerality. Next time use your Vinum Bordeaux which I always see on your lovely photos.
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