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Riesling Lunch
Frank's place in Matraville
Tasted January 26, 2020 by chatters with 136 views
Introduction
Off to Frank's to try a dozen Rieslings of various structural hues...matched with oysters, Vietnamese pork roll, a stunning citrus and herb salmon dish and then, passion fruit and panna cotta...
Flight 1 - Lunch! (12 notes)
We served the sparklings with the Oysters, the Spatlese with the Pork rolls, had a little break with the two Clonakilla's before we had the Salmon dish with the three German dry rieslings - the Robert Weil was the best match - the other two would probably have been better matched with weightier fayre. The Auslese's were matched with Panna cotta with the Schloss Vollrads proving the best. Finally, as the plates were tidied up and the conversation flowed freely we had the last two whites.
White - Sparkling
2014 Rieslingfreak Riesling No. 9
From Coravin. Kerosene, honey, lime and a little spice, Bone dry, the mousse is quite aggressive and there is crisp and chalky burr on the id palate. the honey note is present on the palate but subservient to the lime which is joined by lemon as well. I'm surprised to say I find this rather nice.
White - Sparkling
2017 Domaine Simha Riesling Paysan - pet nat
herbaceous, stalky, a little ash, very grapefruit nose. A little alcoholic warmth, with touches of raw ginger, coarse textured grip on the mid palate and there is a touch of bitterness on the finish. Hmm. This encourages me to try my hand at a Pet Nat myself.
White - Off-dry
2010 Schloss Schönborn Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg Riesling Spätlese
After a brief airing this shows peach, a little apricot, pineapple and ripe apple. On the palate it's juicy acid fruit sweet. Off dry, peach, ripe fruit tends to tropical here as well, a touch of fresh pineapple, burr to the mid palate. Far better than my earlier Coravin tasting: I think the air has helped here. Anyway, regardless, this is very nice.
White
2001 Clonakilla Riesling
Lime, lime curd, honey, with time a touch of kerosene and a slight meaty note, a touch of tomato leaf. Juicy acid, breadth on the mid palate, slight texture, lime, honey. there is a touch of tomato leaf on the palate as well. Hmm, with time the tomato leaf grows and is joined by tomato ketchup and the wine starts to fall apart both oddly and impressively.
White
2010 Clonakilla Riesling
aromas of lime, kerosene, slightly dusty notes with a little saline herbaceousness underpinning this. With time meat, tomato leaf, sulphur. Sharply juicy, citrus, touches of green apple, slight alcohol warmth, it's also a bit skinny and linear. Hmm.
White
2012 Weingut Robert Weil Riesling Trocken
Lime, lemon, steely minerality on the nose. Lemon and lime, steely minerality in the mouth as well. A little textured burr on the mid palate. Long. Simple. Still quite primary and enjoyable.
White
2012 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Wachenheimer Altenburg Riesling
A little sulphur, sweet spices, slightly meaty, touches of honey, touch of tomato leaf, with time in teh a little peach and honey on the nose as well. in the mouth it has juicy acidity, the palate feel is textured, creamy and a little rich. The fruit is a touch faded but what is there travels long. Tiny touches of honey join here and it begins to open with more time in the glass.
White
2007 Dönnhoff Hermannshöhle Riesling Großes Gewächs
Medium plus intensity aromas of apricot, peach, honey, slight cream, sweet spice and butter back this up. More of the same on the palate. Very rich. Super long. Beautifully balanced. Utterly lovely.
White - Off-dry
2009 Schloss Vollrads Riesling Auslese
Honey, cream, caramel, a little toffee apple on the nose. Juicy acid, caramel, toffee apple, a little cream, slight texture on the mid palate is a touch granular. Sweet. the acid keeps things fresh and this is rather nicely balanced, medium plus length. Not massively complex but this is good.
White - Off-dry
2006 Weingut Salomon Undhof Riesling Undhof Auslese
Honey, toasted nuts, a little butter and liquorice, rich, dense, slightly toffee'd, honeyed, silky textured, sweet, a touch of citrus underpin but, for me, a touch too much sugar for the acid. A bit too toffee'd and cloying as well. Not quite but I can see the attraction.
White
1999 St Hugo Riesling
Honey, lime, a little lemon and finger lime, very slight kerosene. Juicy acid is fresh but this is quite softly textured, lime fruit, slight alcohol warmth. Nice and in rather splendid condition.
White
2017 G.D. Vajra Langhe Riesling Petracine
Floral notes on the nose are accompanied by light spiced peach, a little lemon, a touch of stony minerality. Medium plus intensity acidity, citrus, it's dry but ripe and quite alcoholically warm. Almost a touch of spritz as well and a touch of bitterness and white pepper on the finish. This begs white fish in a butter sauce for me. Interesting.
Closing
What a lot of fun...a few winners...a couple of losers...one stunner (that donnhoff...) and a bucket load of great company...