This Week's Tasting
Riesling Dry, Riesling Sweet
May 29, 2024
The Riesling grape is deservedly coming into its own. We’ll try three traditional off dry, and three dry examples.
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This Week Wed, May 29, 2024 Riesling Dry, Riesling Sweet In-store, 5 - 6:30pm
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The Mosel at Lieser
The riesling grape is deservedly coming into its own. We’ll try three traditional off dry, and three dry examples.
2021 Burklin-Wolf Riesling Hommage A Luise
Last Week'sWeek's Great Riesling deserves an encore
• Dr. Bürklin-Wolf is one of the finest estates in Germany, a certified organic, biodynamic, and family-owned winery with a 400-year history. Under the direction of Bettina Bürklin-von Guradze, it produces only handpicked, estate-grown wines. The idea is to focus on the raw material, health, and balance in the vineyards using biodynamic methods to produce wines of outstanding quality.
• This shows the balance of the Pfalz region. Off-Dry (Hommage à Luise Riesling) are fermented in a mix of stainless steel and old oak casks.
• Organic, Aroma: lean, light clean, fine herbal, fresh; Mouth: clean, light, pretty fine acid, shows its flesh more than its ripeness, good intensity, long; Very Good Plus $21; Case, $17.99
2022 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett
A classic Vineyard in a generous vintage
Ernie Loosen is famous for making affordable food and palate-friendly wines. This 2022 from one of the classic vineyards in the mid-Mosel is no exception.
Aroma: Fresh lifted dense & full, lithe & fruit with citric note; Very Good Plus $26.99; Case, $22.99
Schloss Lieser
One of the Mosel's Best Estates
Schloss Lieser and its grand cru Niederberg Helden vineyard are smack in the middle of an east-west passage of the twisty Mosel. Thomas Haag and his vineyards have attained a reputation for purity and richness that many think is among the best of the Mosel/. They do everything simple and right: hand harvesting, passing through the same plots three or four times to get each grape at its best; in the cellar, natural yeasts stainless steel fermentation and aging on the lees.
We will taste two of his wines
2021 Schloss Lieser Riesling Trocken is lemon and spice to your seafood and a pure pleasure to drink with various other dishes.
Aroma: deep riesling dry, followed by crisp flinty t slate; Mouth: appetizing bright ripe acid, lime, very good drive, very intense, following acidity dances on the tongue, very long; Very Good Plus $21; Case, $17.99
The 2021 Schloss Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Feinherb is just a hair off dry, with a sweetness that is more body and richness than taste and does not become apparent until it has warmed in the glass Purity again, and richness that will only increase with age.
Color: Pale gold green; Aroma: on opening fresh, intense mineral, strong stone over deep fruit, savory, later; Mouth: bright, soft and fruity, bright acid, intense clean, fresh intense, supple and fresh mostly dry, later racy bright and firm, a bit of sweetness on the finish; Excellent $37.50; Case, $31.99
2020 Settlement Wines Riesling Ashmore Vineyard
Not just Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand
Poise and balance here, if not the acidity. I was impressed by how Steve Planthaber, former winemaker at Cloudy Bay, got riesling so right. It's heady and rich, full and fat but poised
Aroma: heady fat, spicy acid, clean, zesty, and forward; Mouth: bright and forward. Juicy with a fine edge, rounded good acidity, good breadth in the mouth; Very Good - Excellent $33; Case, $27.99
2019 Selbach Saar Riesling Spatlese
A lesser-known wine from the Selbachs of Mosel fame, this is a Spatlese from vineyards in the Saar. Again, the attention to grape purity manifests in the wine. Organic and biodynamic farming here.
Straight from its beautiful slate-riesling scent, this delivers power and grace. There's a floral aspect to highlight the pear and orchard-fruit flavors in the middle, lengthening out to lemon oil and lime zest at the end. All knotted up in its youth, this wine shows its stamina, holding fresh for days after its opening.
Organic: Aroma: heady and rich, a touch or botrytis?, over dusty slate edge; Mouth lovely ripe and full, fat good intensity, ripe and juicy, soft to the palate Very Good - Excellent $21; Case, $17.85
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- Len Rothenberg
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