| | I really enjoyed this small tasting of 12 wines, which gave me a chance to renew my acquaintance with the lower-level 2010s and taste a few more 2011s across the QbA level, with a couple of pradikat wines thrown in at the last flight. With the reputation and quality of the producers invovled, it also meant that all the wines were of a minimum quality, with a few really solid ones that would make for excellent wines that could grace any meal without breaking the bank. FLIGHT 1 - 2011 Weingut Josef Leitz Riesling Eins Zwei Dry "3" - Germany, Rheingau
Not bad. This showed a refreshing nose of grapefruit, lime and slate, with a hint of fresh flowers and a nice minerally touch. It was bone dry on the palate and very steely, with an almost metallic minerality and bright acids racing through simple white fruit and citrus flavours. With time, a touch of stone-fruit peeked out as well, finishing in a mouthwatering back-palate. Quite simple, a bit stern, but this was otherwise a really well-balanced effort. Good for a simple meal, say with fish or seafood. Drink now or over the next few years. (88 pts.)
- 2010 Weingut Spreitzer Riesling Trocken - Germany, Rheingau
A rather uninpsiring wine. A bit reductive on the nose at first, it opened up into a pretty nice melange of ripe peach and apricot notes with slightly earthier aromas. The palate was rather simpler, perhaps lighter than the nose suggested, with brighter, more citrussy notes of lemons, limes and green apples leading into a finish of sweeter white peach flavours flecked with gentle earth and mineral notes. Pleasant flavours, a nd I liked the mouthwatering acidity which played a nice counterbalance to the fruit, but it did ring a bit hollow on the backpalate. Nicely drinkable, but not great. This is definitely one for early consumption. (86 pts.)
FLIGHT 2 - 2010 Schloss Lieser Riesling Trocken - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Pretty solid. Bottled under screw-cap, this had the slightest bit of reduction on an otherwise tight nose of earthy mineral, with subtle white fruit and gooseberry aromas glaced with slightly toasted caramel note. A bit hard to access at the moment.The well-defined palate was pure Mosel though, with impeccably balanced flavours of limes, some fleshy lemons and ripe apple laced with bright, citrussy acidity and flinty minerals. That toasted caramel note emerged again right at the end of a long, juicy finish. It was quite a big and ripe for Mosel at this level, but very nicely balanced and structured. I would leave this aside for at least a couple of years given the tightly wound structure, but it was a very solid QbA that shoudl develop well. (89 pts.)
- 2011 Willi Schaefer Graacher Riesling Trocken - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
This was pretty good - my favourite QbA in the line-up at any rate. It had a lovely, open nose, with drifts of floral, almost chamomile-like perfume, drops of honey, sweet white peache aromas and a hint of mineral - very exuberant for a young Mosel. While not quite as expressive as the nose, the palate was also rather surprisingly giving, with deliciously forward flavours of fresh green apples, pears and maybe a touch of peach surrounded by a little halo of white flowers. With time, it opened up even more to take on delightful tropical shades of lychee and passionfruit. I liked this quite a bit. Nice finish too. Slightly more austere than the attack and midpalate, it showed some tingly, mouthwatering citrus acidity and a touch of flinty mineral receding into the distance. An excellent QbA - this is the type of wine I would reach for on an everyday basis with pleasure. Great to drink now now, it will get even with a few years in bottle. (91 pts.)
FLIGHT 3 - 2010 Schäfer-Fröhlich Fröhlich trocken - Germany, Nahe
Yet another very good QbA, this had the most unusual nose of the wines tasted, almost reminiscent of a Sancerre, with bright, expressive tropical notes of green mangoes, gooseberries and passionfruit, with a touch of flowers chasing behind. Really pretty stuff. The palate was quite a delight too. Bright, tropical and very forward, it spilled into the mouth with exuberant flavours of green mangoes and passionfruit, maybe even shades of lychee and rambutan. Yet for all that, it was nicely reined in with well-integrated acidity and a nice lingering lick of minerality around sticky tropical fruit flavours at the finish. A real charmer - this delicious wine may lack the depth of SF's Pradikat wines, or even one or two other QbAs on the tasting line-up, but it was a really impressive wine at this level. (90 pts.)
- 2011 A.J. Adam Riesling Trocken - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
I did not like this that much. Saying that though, it was another wine that showed a very nice nose. A bit deeper and riper than the other 2011 wines, it displayed bold aromas of ripe apples, peaches and berries with a touch of warm earth and some white meat inflections at the edges. The palate reflected the nose - big, bold, very weighty for a QbA, it had mouthfilling flavours of ripe stone fruit seasoned with liberally amounts of stony mineral and toasty spice. Almost a halbtrocken in sweetness to my taste, and I thought this was a bit in-your-face, certainly lacking some of the lovely balance that the better wines in the line-up had. Finish was a bit mixed as well. It was very long and intense, with nice touches of tropical fruit and spice, but there was also a slight bitterness to it. This should improve with a few years in the bottle, but I am not entirely confident of that. On this showing, I would pay a little more and get the excellent Adam Hofberg Kabinett instead. (87 pts.)
FLIGHT 4 - 2011 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Drachenstein Riesling Dragonstone - Germany, Rheingau
Not the best Dragonstone I had, this was decent rather than good, and I actually preferred the Eins Zwei Dry tasted earlier in the line-up. Very tight on the nose at first pour, a touch reductive too - not surprising given that it is bottled under screwcap - this took a bit of time and some air to coax out gentle honeyed tones and a touch of apple and sweet stone fruited scents. The off-dry palate was similarly a bit clenched, with rather monolithic layers of indistinct stone fruit on a base of sweet lemons and limes. This was not giving much at the moment. What I did like was the feel and balance on the wine, with well-integrated acidity and a nicely textured, if slightly short finish. All in all though, a decent wine, easy drinking, probably good for a simple meal, but a bit boring. (87 pts.)
- 2011 Nik Weis Selection Urban Riesling - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
One of the cheaper wines in the line-up, and it showed it too - this just was not much good for anything beyond a forgettable quaff. A bit of sulphur and some reduction on the nose masked what may otherwise have been simple, but pleasant notes of stone fruit and apple aromas. Very simple though. Same thing on the palate, which showed rather one-dimensional flavours of sweet apples and peach petering away into an uninspiring finish. It also lacked cut and focus, coming across a bit flabby.Drinkable, but disappointing - this was by far the weakest wine of the tasting, but you do get what you pay for. (86 pts.)
FLIGHT 5 - 2011 Nik Weis / St. Urbans-Hof Riesling Estate Old Vines - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Far better than the entry level "Urban", this was actually a pretty interesting wine at this level. Also a bit reductive on the nose, it blew-off with a bit of time to unveil a fresh nose of green apples, fresh lemons and some slatey mineral. I liked the palate a bit more than the nose though. This had good depth for a QbA, with a mouth-coating attack of white fruit - apples and pears I thought - leading into a deep midpalate with hints of earthy mineral, and then onto a surprisingly full, nicely long finish layered with a nice bit of tangerine and lime. This was not the brightest nor the freshest of the wines on show, but it was decently balanced. Very open, this was decently good, early drinking stuff. (88 pts.)
- 2011 Weingut Hain Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling QbA - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Another pleasant but rather uninspiring wine. It had a very minerally nose, with stone and slate aromas mixed with some white fruit and a touch of nectar. It had a bit of sulphur, so giving it some air before serving would be advisable, but it was otherwise pretty plesant on the bouquet. It came across as surprisingly deep and sweet on the palate though, almost like a ripe Kabinett in its flavours of sweet apples, peach and apricot, finished with a touch of mineral. Decently balanced, pleasant enough, but also was a bit run-of-the-mill and boring. Okay for drinking now over a casual meal. (87 pts.)
FLIGHT 6 - 2011 Schloss Lieser Riesling Kabinett SL - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
I am usually a big fan of almost anything Thomas Haag produces, but this just did not appeal that much to me. Bottled under screw-cap, this had the most reductive nose on the tasting line-up, with a good bit of sulphur thrown in for good measure. It really needed a bit of time and air before opening up ever so slightly with sweeter notes of stone fruit, honey and a bit of toasted caramel. It was was cloaked by sulphur and reduction most of the time though. The palate was thankfully lot more giving. This was rich, sweet wine, perching on Spatlese rather than Kabinett level, with big flavours of stone fruit and fleshy apple dominating the attack and midpalate, before moving into a full, fleshy finish, with tropical notes flecked with a hint of citrus fruit. A bit too monolithic at the moment, and perhaps lacking a bit of acidity, but this really needs a few years in the bottle before being judged. At the moment, decent, but not my favourite. (87 pts.)
- 2010 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Magdalenenkreuz Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Rheingau
The last wine in the tasting, and fittingly one of the best. I thought this was quite lovely. Perhaps lacking in some complexity, but it was such a pleasure to drink. This had a really nice nose, with smells of sweet stone fruit, spice, mineral and flowers - all so pretty. After that, the palate was actually surprisingly subtle and superbly controlled, with well-integrated acidity woven into gently mouthwatering notes of white peach, nectarine and a slightly brighter crunch of green apples. Just lovely balance here, with each juicy sip calling out for another. It had a quietly length finish too, gliding away with a last kiss of green apples and the slightest touches of lemon zest and mineral. This was really inviting. Still very young - it could last for years more - a bit simple maybe, but it is already drinking wonderfully (91 pts.)
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