Tag Archives: Riesling

Wine of the Day: Joh. Jos. Prum Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett 2012 – July 2016

Joh. Jos. Prum Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett, Mosel 2012 750ML ($27.95) Buy Now: $19

Joh. Jos. Prum Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett 2012

Joh. Jos. Prum Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett 2012

The other day, while researching the Middle Mosel in Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine, I learned that “Badstube is one of the few if not the only German Grosslagen made up entirely of first-rate terroir.” With reason (my background is in Burgundy) I expected to pay a premium for such a wine. Then I found a bottle of Joh. Jos. Prüm 2012 Bernkasteler Badstube Kabinett on our shelf, for $19. So I bought it, and opened it, and spent an evening reveling in the beauty of German Riesling. Fine to enjoy now, but also ready for many years of cellaring, this wine first of all exuberates class. Prüm is a top-rate winemaker, and when you match this with the Badstube you have something powerful, full of exotics, and extremely satisfying, especially at such a reasonable price. Take note: the same could be said for the rest of the German wine we have in stock. – Daniel

Mosel Fine Wines: “This delivers a simple yet attractive nose of citrus, white peach and smoke, in which one notices a great touch of herbs and ground spices. The finish is balanced yet powerful. The sweetness is nicely framed by the structure of the wine. Now-2022.”

Wine of the Day: Weingut Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese 2015 6-25-16

Weingut Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese, Nahe 2015 750ML SOLD OUT, ETA Fall 2016
Weingut Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese, Nahe 2015 1.5L SOLD OUT, ETA Fall 2016

donnnsad“Portland was host to a smattering of winemakers represented in the Terry Theise portfolio this week, none the least of whom was Anne Donnhoff sharing her entrancing range of 2015s. To say I tasted the wines quite young would be a bit of an understatement (many other winemakers were pouring barrel samples!) but there’s plenty to gleam from the youthful expressions Riesling in all its Pradikat guises.

“I could, and have, waxed poetic about this ethereal wine – the vineyard home of Donnhoff’s elusive eiswein. The vineyard is a monopole composed of grey slate on clay soil. This year’s Theise release grants us a Spatlese, Auslese Goldkapsel and, rumor has it, an Eiswein (stay tuned for that!).

“At the tasting, the Brucke Spatlese was poured after the Felsenberg Spatlese, which was fitting as it showed a touch sweeter on the palate with gentler acidity. The palate was creamier than the Felsenberg with a touch of the apple-skin-like texture I found in the wine’s 2013 release.

“It was the aroma in the glass that, like an old friend, brought a smile. Words escaped me for a few blessed moments while I sniffed. I was taken back to a few months ago when my little Meyer lemon tree blossomed. The scent from that day that filled my living room what not quite something to fit into words: certainly there were notes of citrus, a touch of Meyer lemon zest, and that haunting citrus-flower quality that evokes Proust’s remembrances of madeleines and lime flower tea. And here we find it, the word that best describes the Brucke wines: evocative.” -Suzanne

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

Becker 1990JB 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

Wine of the Day: Karthauserhof Schieferkristall Riesling Kabinett 2012 4-22-16

Weingut Karthauserhof Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Schieferkristall Riesling Kabinett Feinherb, Mosel 2012 750ML ($37.95) Buy Now: $29 special

Karthauserhof SchieferkristallWhy we love it: For being unapologetically German Riesling-y and, well, just fun to drink. Had a bottle open for the better part of a week and it kept getting better. Everything that should be “there” is – the quince, citrus, petrol, citrus, and lush-though-controlled residual sugars. Good now, and even better in the coming months. Who am I kidding? Years. – Tyler

Mosel Fine Wines 91 points “Schieferkristall refers to the Kabinett-styled wines at the Estate (the reference to Kabinett is pushed to the back label). A whiff of wild yeasts gives quickly way to a very attractive and floral bouquet of rose-water, grapefruit and mint. The round and fruity feel from the residual sugar (20 g/l) is nicely balanced by some zesty acidity and a pure and spicy feel in the long finish. This is a deliciously fresh and lively off-dry Riesling made with a small 9.5% of alchohol. 2014-2020”

Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Eiswein 2011 – April 2016

Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Eiswein 2011Weingut 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