Deutschland 2009: Part 1

I was looking forward to this after the last 2007 German Riesling tasting proved to be quite eye opening. There were a few wines at that tasting that blew me away and I knew that would be very hard to match. There were several Terry Theise imports at this tasting so I knew at the very least it would be a solid event. I most looked forward to the Leitz, Schaefer, and Selbach-Oster wines as I knew those producers had a solid track record of producing great wines. While those producers did not disappoint there were a few other producers I had not heard of that have made great wines in 2007.

• 2007 Weingut Reuscher-Haart Piesporter Falkenberg Riesling 86 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Pleasant sweet nose with soft stones and citrus. The palate is also sweet with flavors of pear, stone fruit, and minerals combined with adequate acidity and persistence. This is a straightforward and drinkable yet unexciting Riesling.

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• 2007 Hexamer Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Riesling Quarzit 90 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  Pale yellow platinum throughout with a unique and expressive nose of lemon peel, melon, and underlying minerals. The palate has great sweetness and acidity with flavors of heady stone fruit and minerals. Great balance and stuffing for this designation. This wine is sourced from a single vineyard.

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• 2007 Künstler Hochheimer Stielweg Riesling Alte Reben trocken 93 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Light gold with medium legs in the glass. This has a great nose with notes of cinnamon, soft smoke, and melon. Wow, the palate has crushing density with liquefied stones, smoke, citrus, and underlying stone fruits. This is very explosive on the palate and the tremendous structure and grip really set it off as a superb dry wine.

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• 2007 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett halbtrocken 89 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Soft yet expressive on the nose with flowers, minerals, and citrus. The palate is quite delicate and balanced with more of the citrus fruit combining with great acidity. This is an attractive wine with nice restraint and persistence.

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• 2007 Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett 87 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  This has a high-toned mineral driven nose that shows plenty of stone fruit along with hints of petrol. The palate yields good sweetness with flavors of apricot and pear. Good fruit but somewhat monotonous.

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• 2007 Weingut Reuscher-Haart Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Kabinett 88 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Pale gold with a reticent nose that shows hints of citrus and stone fruit. The palate has more power with a soft honeyed sweetness including a specific flavor of bruised apple. This has good balance, texture, and density for a Kabinett.

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• 2007 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett #16 91 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Quite transparent with a pale platinum color in the glass. The nose is very impressive with aromas of crushed stones, flowers, and stone fruits. The palate explodes with gorgeous floral fruit including flavors of pear, combining with minerals on the finish. Tremendous persistence and density for this level. More powerful than the #9 yet not as complex or fresh.

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• 2007 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett #9 91 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  This looks identical to the #16 in the glass with a more citrus and pineapple driven nose, which also shows hints of grass. Really great complexity on the nose. The palate is soft yet lifting with tremendous balance and flavors of stone fruits. Seemingly more complex and fresh than the #16 but not as powerful.

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• 2007 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Klosterlay Riesling Kabinett 91 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Quite an intriguing bouquet on this wine which has wonderful spice tone and notes of apple, smoke, flowers, and underlying minerals. The palate is also superb with flavors of cinnamon apple and citrus. Great acidity with barely noticeable sweetness. I think this has great style with a slightly dry and rich overall tone (10% alcohol).

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• 2007 Weingut Johannishof (H.H. Eser) Johannisberger Vogelsang Riesling Kabinett V 92 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Almost pure transparent silver in the glass with a touch of yellow. This has a superb nose with complex aromas of honeydew, chalk, flowers, petrol, and minerals. The palate has explosive fruit density with flavors of melon and mountain creek water. Great persistence and minerality as everything seems to be soaking in liquefied stones.

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• 2007 Schloss Saarstein Serriger Schloss Saarsteiner Riesling Spätlese 85 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Unmistakable funk on the nose, which has aromas of bleu cheese, minerals, and underlying stone fruits. The palate yields ample sweetness just not a lot going on flavor wise. I don’t know if this is in a weird phase or if this is the style of the wine but just okay for me and maybe even off-putting for some. 85?

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• 2007 Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese 93 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Pale gold in the glass with great aromas of soft melon, white flowers, and mineral undertones. From the beginning the palate has a tremendously velvety texture leading into great sugar/acid balance and superb fruit density. The flavors offer a spicy tropical tone along with hints of crushed stone. The texture, density, and balance in this wine deliver a tremendous packaged attack. 93+

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• 2007 Meulenhof Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese 88 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Light gold in the glass with aromas of solvent, citrus, and minerals. The palate offers good sweetness with decent character and texture in a more tropical toned style. The finish is adequate though I would like to see more complexity from this wine.

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• 2007 Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 90 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Slightly grassy on the nose with further notes of lemon oil and crushed stones. The palate offers an attractive sweet entry leading into apricot flavor and spice tone. This has great fruit and acid density giving it a nice dry tone.

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• 2007 Weingut Reuscher-Haart Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese #12 91 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  The nose offers good sweetness with an elegant tone to the aromas of honeysuckle and smoke. Great sweetness and fruit density on the palate with radiant flavors of citrus and stone fruit leading into a long finish.

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• 2007 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese * 92 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Tremendous floral tone to the elegant aromas of slate, soft citrus, and stone fruit. The palate has superb sweetness and fruit density with a floral tone to the honeydew fruit through the long finish. I think this is the most subtly elegant wine of the tasting although there is obviously plenty of underlying stuffing.

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• 2007 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Magdalenenkreuz Riesling Spätlese 91 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Silver yellow in the glass with unique smoky yet floral aromas of liquefied stones and herbs. The palate has supple texture with ample sweetness, acidity, and mineral infusion. Elegant fruit on the palate where I would expect to see a little more exotic character but very good nonetheless.

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• 2007 Weingut Spreitzer Winkeler Jesuitengarten Riesling Spätlese 92 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  This has one of the more complex noses from the tasting with aromas of herbs, stones, grains, and underlying stone fruits. The palate has a great soft texture with tropical tone to the flavors of honeysuckle, spices, and chalk. Balanced, persistent, and very unique.

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• 2007 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 'Rotlay' 93 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Pale gold with medium thick legs in the glass. Heady aromas of herbs, crushed stones, fresh flowers, honey, and tropical fruits. The palate offers more of the same with a gorgeous honeyed texture to the flavors of tropical fruits such as guava along with mineral undertones through the long finish. I can only imagine this getting better with age. 93+

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This was a very solid tasting though not as great as the first put on by Winex. A few wines seemed to under perform for their level and none of the wines seemed earth shattering but I certainly enjoyed the great majority of them. I continue to be impressed by the wines from Rheingau in this vintage, specifically the drier styled efforts. Maybe they just click with my palate but I really love the powerful fruit density and brutal mineral structure at play in these wines. With that said the Mosel wines are undeniably attractive as well, more for their tremendous elegance of fruit, softer mineral tone, and subtle complexity. In any case there seems to be plenty of diversity in this vintage with wines to please a wide array of palates.