CdP and Riesling Tasting

Brad put together this wonderful tasting of some top-notch wines. Quality-wise, this must be one of the very best glass-for-glass tastings of the year thus far. Perfect for a lazy Saturday afternoon.

3 excellent vintages, these had been opened in the bottle since Monday! From the way they tasted, not a moment too soon either.

• 2005 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape 94 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  A seriously good wine. Still very tightly coiled in spite of being opened in the bottle for 5 days. I can only imagine tough it would be if popped and poured. When we got to it, it had a rather reticent, but very nice nose of graphite, dried earth and stony mineral woven into dark cherries and a high-toned whiff of flowers and black pepper. The palate was just that touch more expressive, with a pure, pure expression of sweet dark cherries and red fruits showing layers of concentration. There was alos a nice metallic minerality and a toss of earth. Structure was very 2005 though - lots of tight tannins holding the wine up into an incredibly long finish that just about went on forever with lingers of dried, plummy fruit. Excellent, and will get better with age. Very noble, serious CdP. A lot less friendly than the 2007 version at this point, but there is little to suggest that the 2005 will not be every bit as good a vintage in a decade or two.

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• 2006 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Certainly a good wine with plenty of potential, but this paled so much in comparison to the lovely 2007 and the stern but oh-so-noble 2005. Nose was the most open of the three vintages, with fleshy red fruits, some meat and whiffs of tobacco smoke. The palate struck me as having lots of fresh acidity; more than most 2006 CdPs I have tried. It was welcome though - this was a notceably big wine, with fleshy red fruit, concentrated dark cherries and a meaty undertone. All this sprinkled with a peppery tone and packaged with clingy, powdery tannins. Finish had decent length, with a sprinkle more tannins, a hint of tobacco and some lingering flavours of dried wood and hot stones. Unusually for a 2006, this needs plenty of time still.

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• 2007 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape 94 Points

  France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  Very different from the 2005, but every bit as good. This is friendlier at the moment, but I think the 2005 will age rather better. Nose was very expressive. I got perfumed, flowery tone with more than a hint of rose petals, along with a panoply of red fruits like cranberries and cherries, this was very deeply fruited indeed. Some inflections of meat and a stoney note added a touch of complexity. Great weight on the palate, with stickly, sappy red cherries wed to more pebbly aromas. Tannins were very fine. Balance was there, but somehow, this did not come across quite as finely posied and balanced as the 2005. There was just that touch of heat at the finish which otherwise distracted from what is a delicious, complex wine ending with a longish pull of earthy bramble notes and bittersweet mineral. THe 2007 will get better with time, but not sure that it has as much upside as the 2005 because of this.

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Fascinating line-up, with the Donnhoff absolutely stealing the show.

• 2007 C. H. Berres Riesling Impulse 87 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  I would expect more from a 2007 QbA. This was the only weak bottle in what was otherwise a sterling line-up at today's tasting. Nose showed simple tones of grass, herbs and a little chalk. Clean acid on the palate, but it came across a little off-balance and weakened significantly at the mid-palate, where the sticky white and yellow fruit flavours fell away into a watery pool. Finish really surprised me though, with rather unexpected length as the wine picked up and opened out to show some honeyed jackfruit tones, white fruit flavours and even a touch flowers. That was probably what saved the wine. Otherwise, very ordinary stuff.

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• 2008 Weingut Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Klosterlay Riesling Kabinett 91 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Wow - this was an unexpectedly good Kabinett. Nose had lovely aromas of honey sweets, meadow flowers and a chalky, slatey minerality woven through peachy fruit. Very seamless transition into the palate too, which was had clean, spritzy acidity adding zip to mouth-coating flavours of whote fruits and flowers. It might have been a bit sweet for a Kabinett, save for the pulling power of the acid and a juicy, lemon citrus tone. Certainly not incredible complexity, but this had lots of power and grip, with plenty of minerally dry extract moving into a shortish, but deliciously clean, mineral laden finish that closed with a lovely touch of guava. Here's a Rheingau Kabinett that can rival the very best the Mosel can offer.

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• 2007 Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch (Müller-Burggraef) Berncasteler Doctor Riesling Spätlese 91 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Pretty good - I enjoyed this. Nose showed a rather Sauv Blanc like profile with herbs, grass and matted earth along with a smoky overtone. Mush the same on the palate, which attacked with lots more grassy, herby flavours with some smoked hay tones. Far from unpleasant though - this was actually very refreshingly flavoured. The mid-palate went a bit soft, lacking acidity maybe, but that passed very quickly into a delicious honey note before taking off into a seductively flavoured finish. Long, lingering and juicy, it showed clean honey-lemon flavours which stayed in the mouth in a rather charming linger. Lacks a bit of stuffing to merit more serious attention, but an interesting and yummy wine while it lasted.

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• 2007 Nik Weis / St. Urbans-Hof Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Auslese 93 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  I thought this was excellent. Lovely. minerally Mosel nose, with chalky, flinty aromas spiked with gunpowder and a touch of diesel the first thing to hit the senses. A few swirls, and lovely honeyed notes emerged. The palate had absolutely superb balance, which is something I look for in a good Mosel Auslese. Delicious but subtle flavours of honey and mandarin orange were all nicely integrated with a clean freshness that showed plenty of charm. I thought the mid-palate faded just that little bit, but the finish came back really long and minerally - full of wet stones and apricot tones. Nothing flamboyent or showy about this wine - it just creeps up on you with its great charm and quality. Much enjoyed.

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• 2003 Künstler Hochheimer Hölle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 94 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  So good. This was my second taste of the wine, which nicely confirmed my initial impressions. Started out a little reticent this time, but it really took of with some air. Nose showed beautiful expressive tones of honey, apricot, orange and musky white flowers. Palate again struck me as very clean and balanced for a 2003, especially with the creamy richness that this wine showed. It had delicious flavours of nectar, flowers and peach all beautifully integrated into a lovely whole. Lots of intensity throughout. Finish has nice length as well, with more rich, peachy white fruit and musky flower tones in the mouth. This sure went down fast. Delicious.

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• 2004 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Eiswein 96 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  This was quite, quite stunning. Really complex nose, with super-integrated tones of white button mushrooms, dried apricots, honey, vanilla cream, earth and gunpowder all playing with the senses in a deep, rich melange. This still showed lots of youth though - the nose gave an impression that there was just so much more to come with time, with layers still left to be unlocked. I got the same impression on the palate as well, but boy was it ever impressive even on the day. Unctuous and powerful, but showing a perfect balance, this had complex flavours of lemons, dried figs and apricots, honey, maple syrup and flacks of fresh cream all moving inexorably through the palate in a perfectly integrated seamless stream that poured into a super-long finish laden where sweet honey and orange candy tones melded into the whole mixture. This was a gorgeous wine.

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• 2007 Reichsrat Von Buhl Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Beerenauslese 93 Points

  Germany, Pfalz

  This was a massively sweet, super-rich wine. Not sure how I should rate this - obviously good, but just too overwhelmingly sweet for my palate. Lovely golden colour on the wine. The nose was sweet, as would be expected, but really, really nice. I wrote "wow' in my handwritten notes, as the aromas of honey and marmalade along with a minerally undertoned and perfumy top-notes of white flowers, spice and aromatic incense wafted out of the glass. The palate was just a bit too cloying though. Huge, unctuous weight on this, almost like drinking honey or syrup. Very primary at the moment too, with raisiny, sultana flavours dominating along with a trickle of metallic mineral especially towards the longish finish. There was some acid, but it was lick trying to hack away at that massive mountain of botrytised honeyed sweetness with an ice-pick. No doubt all the right material is there, but this needs a long, long time to tone down.

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• 2006 Gutsverwaltung Niederhausen Schlossböckelheim Schloßböckelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese 93 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  A very nice wine. Strangely enough, slightly paler coloured and not quite as sweet and viscous as the 2007 Von Buhl BA that preceded it. Quite a relief too - this was positively refreshing mercy for the palate. The very interesting nose had lots of Oolong Tea aromas, with dashes of earth, some mushroom and a flowery perfume. Very lovely. Palate showed some botrytised sweetness, but was really well balanced and integrated, with some freshness running through rich, delicious flavours of orange marmalade with hints of tea all round. Still rather primary, and probably lacking in the sheer power and concentration that one would expect from a TBA, but the wine certainly had a sense of being very well-knitted together. Finish was decent too, clinging to the mouth in a charming linger of cherry flavours. Very enjoyable indeed.

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