Tag Archives: germany

Wine of the Day: JB Becker Martinsthaler Rodchen Spatlese Trocken 1990 5-3-16

JB Becker Martinsthaler Rodchen Spatlese Trocken 1990 750ML ($59.95) Buy Now: $49 special

My, how time flies! Much as I don’t want to make anyone feel old, I’d like to highlight the fact that Milli Vanilli were the biggest thing in the world at the time this wine was made. While the R&B duo from West Germany may have soared –peaked-crashed-and-burned, Hans-Joseph Becker from the Rheingau has only now begun to enjoy the spotlight. At 70!

I drew out Sunday night’s dinner with little tipples from this old bottle – a dark brown, star-stamped bottle from which copper-gold splashed out brilliantly. In the decanter, the wine caught candlelight in so gorgeous a way I literally sighed. Then came drinking! At once, a sense of energy and integration, yet I could easily sift through the layers to reveal essences which had been tucked away across the past quarter-century. Over time, orange rind and sea mist gave way to lime, rain-soaked stones, and a delicate hint of petrol. I’d describe it as charming, deliberate, and tangible; as fun as it is serious.

Mr. Becker farms organically and prefers native yeast fermentation, but seems to make no fuss of either. Fermentation takes place in pressurized tanks in order to achieve it quickly and steadily; Becker then racks the wine into barrel for at least two years of aging. Many bottlings are held back for years and years and years. As my comrades at Vom Boden – Becker’s US importer – phrase it, “go as quick as you can; then slam on the brakes and wait out all the others.” Not unlike Milli Vanilli, you could say, except that the voice is entirely Becker’s own.

– Tyler

Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Eiswein 2011 – April 2016

Weingut Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Eiswein, Nahe, Germany 2011 375ML ($239.95) Buy Now: $139 special

Wine Advocate 92 points “Musk and leather; prickly radish and lemon rind; caramel apple and honey; passion fruit and mango inform an intense aromatic as well as ultra-concentrated palate performance. Unlike with so many other 2011s rendered from frozen grapes in early 2012, one can’t complain here about a lack of Eiswein-like acidity – but it takes-on a somewhat detached, slightly metallic and strident edge. Perhaps this extreme wine’s caramelized and animal aspects will reconcile themselves in time with its sharp citricity and radish-like sizzle, but the ways of Eiswein in the bottle are capricious.” WA

Wine of the Day: Geltz-Zilliken Riesling 4-11-16

Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Kabinett Erste Lage 2013 750ML ($37.95) Buy Now: $21.90 special
Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Kabinett Erste Lage 2013 375ML ($21.95) Buy Now: $14 special
“This opulent Riesling has an aroma of crushed peaches and mint. It’s sourced from the estate’s top vineyard (Rausch), which is covered in Devonian slate. It’s rich and full in body with a lingering waxy texture and a surprising vibrancy given its lushness. The sweetness is nicely balanced by the high acidity. Enjoy on its own or with spicy pork dishes.” -Suzanne

Wine Advocate 91 points “The 2013 Riesling Kabinett Saarburger Rausch is a rich, sappy, juicy, piquant and elegant Riesling with an extremely stimulating and lush fruit intensity. With 7.5% alcohol the wine is light (though not light-bodied) but intense in its tropical fruitiness with mango, peach and pineapples flavors. Almost a Spätlese, even for Zilliken, but again “not explosive enough,” says Dorothee.” SR

Wine of the Day: Peter Lauer Fass 8 Kabinett 3-30-16

Peter Lauer Fass 8 Ayler Kupp Kabinett, Mosel, Germany 2014 750ML ($37.95) Buy Now: $31.90 special

Like tiny flowers pressed between the pages of a book you borrowed years ago but have yet to read (or return!), this year’s Fass 8 is delicate but not wimpy, bittersweet yet not overwrought, and perhaps a little flirtatious. It trades off solos from sweet to saline and floral to fruit with ease, ne’er too serious and yet fully confident with what’s at stake in the glass. After all, Riesling faces an uphill battle even during its own renaissance.

I fear that writing down a bunch of adjectives in quick succession reduces this wine to something to be scored rather than enjoyed. To hell with points! All I can say is that I really enjoyed it and believe that the chances are pretty high that you will, too.

Lauer himself – the third in the family to coax wine from earth and into bottle – makes drop-dead gorgeous wines. It seems as though this was once a secret, known only by a spattering of sommeliers and retail nerds. In counting myself among the latter, I’m not too worried that the cat’s out of the bag with this one. There’s enough to go around. Enjoy it. – Tyler