NobleRottersSydney - German night

Another German night, after a few years rest, and a plea to be more imaginative with wine selections was met with a couple of red wines, just for a novelty. Too many Rotters failed to show (or provide bottles), admonishments are sent! Great view from Sydney Tower before we lose daylight saving time for the winter.

• NV Pol Roger Champagne Brut Réserve

  France, Champagne

  {cork, 12.5%} Strawberries and yeast on the nose. Dry and refreshing palate; tending towards pinot-flavoured. Fine bubbles, good persistence, light/medium-body, medium length finish. Good stuff.

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• 2010 Weingut Prinz von Hessen Riesling Kabinett

  Germany, Rheingau

  {screwcap, 12.5%, AP 28 11} Sweet apple sauce nose. Floral too. The light-bodied palate has a slightly-developed brownish character to the flavours, which are dryer than the nose indicated. Yes, trocken is fair. It has medium intensity and acid, with some flavour towards the middle of the tongue. The finish is just a bit on the short side; this entry-level Riesling is drinking pretty nicely now.

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• 2009 Weingut Prinz von Hessen Riesling Dachsfilet

  Germany, Rheingau

  {cork, 13%, AP 46 10} Interesting and even seductive nose of floral aromas, lime and lychee. Rather more schist-like in character than the previous wine; this has a minerally quality to the palate, which seems oddly lacking in taste; the wine seems to be more about structure and texture than flavour. Medium acid and light-bodied weight meet in a dry, medium length finish. Might hold; perhaps it’ll develop a bit more with time. Mysterious.

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• 2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  {cork, 8.5%, AP 32 08} Floral and apples. Granite, mineral and steely. This is about off-dry, only light/medium-bodied, but manages great presence on the mid-palate, coating the tongue from front to back with classy Riesling fruit tinged with brown earth and, above all, acid, which still dances and tingles and supports the long finish. All class, with years still ahead of it.

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• 2003 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  {cork, 10%, AP 12 04} Floral, apple nose. Minerals. Quite developed too, but not really aged. Smells sweeter than kabinett really. The palate is pretty good, seemingly having coped well with the heat of the vintage; there’s still some acidity holding it up; it’s nicely balanced with a crunchy feel to the texture, which lets it pass for dry. Custard apple flavours, it’s dense to the point almost of medium-bodied weight, with good mid-palate; even so I’d say it’s into its drinking window.

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• 2011 Bernhard Huber Pinot Noir

  Germany, Baden

  {cork} Very new world. Nose of smoke, peat, strawberries. Youthful. Ripe and modern palate, with smoke, meat and plum flavours. Some oak too. Medium-bodied, dry. Short/medium finish. Slightly short finish. Thoroughly competent, and it’s nice the Germans can buy a nicely drinkable local red, but it’s not terribly memorable otherwise.

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• 2003 J.B. Becker Wallufer Walkenberg Spätburgunder Auslese trocken

  Germany, Rheingau

  {vinolok, 15%, AP 2 06} Whiffy: estery, fungal, medicinal. All that alcohol; yet has leanness too. And tastes a bit too bacterial to be considered sound. More likely a mix of too old, too alcoholic and sabotaged by the vintage than outright faulty, but it’s getting hard to tell now… Pass.

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• 2010 La Chartreuse de Coutet

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  {375ml, cork, 14%} Apricot and sweet orange. Some botrytis character but not a lot. Freshly translucent on the palate; gentle flavours of honey and nougat. Medium-dry. Pleasant; really nicely balanced if not terribly complex. Nice effort for the shorter term.

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Not many of us tonight, but good wines anyway. As we expect.