This is a time capsule. 100+ year old un-grafted vines, and winemaking that makes "old school" seem modern. That said, the wines is still bright, fresh, and full of fruit. Seeing it as a 2011 or a 2015 would not have shocked me. The development is textural, with a creamy edge that suits the apple and pear fruit. Just the slightest hint of a smoky note emerges after it's been open for an hour, but who knows after that as the bottle evaporates before the eyes. The vines remain, but the winery is no more. Each remaining bottle is a reminder of the relentless passage of time, and the moments of joy along the journey.
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#13-02, 8% abv. Not quite as bullish on this as Salil was. Kind of sedate, not showing too much of anything, with a bit of creaminess and softness that I'm too keen on. Just doesn't really do it for me.
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Just like my last bottle. A fantastic showing; just a classic expression of Mosel Spätlese with appropriately ripe fruit, minerality, florality, and mature smokiness all coming together seamlessly.
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Christmas Lunch and Dinner Wines: Small glass, brief note. Broad array of apple with lemon tart. Very good depth and moderated sweetness that worked great with the post Peking duck fried rice.
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A brilliant showing. Just as I remember it being from a few years ago with little further development; the fruit here is still very fresh and vibrant with gentle mineral, herbal, and lightly smoky accents around it. There's moderate sweetness - much less than many modern Spatlese, as this feels true to its pradikat in terms of weight and richness, and it's matched by those bright '01 acids, finishing long and just barely off-dry. Glad I have one more bottle of this, though I'm not rushing on that (or any of my Auslese).
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Hitting perfectly right now. Great balance of fresh acidity, non-sweet apple, and purity. First riesling in a while that I have slowly enjoyed. Killer buy.
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Burgs and Rieslings at Amali (Amali, NYC): Another outstanding bottle of this. This is up there among my favorite Spätlese of the vintage. It's drinking so well right now, the fruit's still very fresh, youthful and vibrant, and tinged with the start of developing smoky and creamy elements. Beneath the fruit is a base of pure stone with a remarkably vivid mineral presence on the back end, and amazing cut and focus to the flavours.
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This comes across younger and fresher than other bottles (though this was from David's glacial cellar), and it's easy to go through a couple of glasses before even beginning to realize just how complex, understated and layered this is. The sense of sheer refreshment and lightness here is incredible with fresh, pure Mosel fruit, slate and gentle herbal and floral accents around a bright acid spine, and the balance and length here are amazing. Absolutely stunning, classical Mosel Riesling that's still very youthful but thrilling to drink now.
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Absolutely classic Mosel Riesling. This is all about lightness and elegance; it's not a showy or overly sweet wine trying to wow, but rather a combination of elegant pear and apple fruit combining seamlessly with herbal, slate and developing smoky notes in a very harmonious, understated whole. Those old Schmitt-Wagners never seem to disappoint.
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Beautiful golden color; fairly reserved nose. Nice round, medium weight palate with a tingling spine of acidity. The secondary flavors are starting to emerge, and lots of nice minerality and fruit as well. Flabbier and less enjoyable on day two.
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Pretty much everything I'd want in a Mosel Riesling. Classical Mosel fruit - apple, pear and lemon - combined with fresh herbs, touches of earth and slate and gentle smoky and petrol notes that are just starting to emerge. It's one of those wines that needs some time and patience, unravelling its flavours with time rather than hitting you with everything in one shot, but the whole package is stunning with fantastic balance, precision, depth and length and I am glad I at least have two more bottles of this.
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Fabulous wine showing incredibly pure flavours of slate, flowers, apple and lime, with some red fruited notes emerging with more air. This isn't an intense or forward wine - it's light bodied with the weight and clarity of spring water, and the flavours unravel with time and build up with each sip, finishing long with just a slight suggestion of sweetness. This is why I love Mosel Riesling.
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A light golden color with a beautiful nose of kaffir limes, seashells, quince, and minerals. Mid weighted and refreshing on the palate with just enough maturity to add complexity while still holding enough acidity to keep it exciting. More lime and minerals on the palate with a great balance of sugar and acid. Drinking great now but will hold. It paired beautifully with Ethiopian food. Wines like this bring me great joy: inexpensive, refreshing, and entirely complimentary to food. You won't catch me shunning wines with more cache, but when you drink a wine like this showing this well, it is a beautiful day. 90 pts. Bravo!
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This was very good with richness, very nice acidity, some sweetness, and mineral backbone. It has a funky smell that I would liken to earth, botrytis, or manure. Lovely wine, with many years of life ahead of it.
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Saturday night at Raj's (Raj's house): Nose of apricots, lemon rind, and slate. A really nice riesling. The acids have mellowed into a lovely, harmonious wine. Notes of lemon tart, a touch of sweet nuts, and a bit of slate minerality.
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What a great bottle of wine for Mom and I to enjoy. I had no idea when I popped this open what the price tag was. It drank like a $35 bottle of wine instead of the $16 that I had paid for it. It was slate, fruit. Clean and crisp- a perfect textbook example of a Riesling. Just a tremendous bottle of wine!
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This wine displays a light nose of orange peel, apple, bread dough, and toasted nuts, reminiscent of a decent Blanc de Blancs. The dense concentrated finish is full of orange, honeysuckle, minerals and vivid tangy lemon drop. The finish improves immensely with more time, yet is never truly profound. It’s very different from the other few Merkelbach and Darting Spatlese I’ve tasted. The crystal ball sees a very tasty future for this Spatlese after 2006. Priced at $15.99. 89-91
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1/25/2024 - Rieslingfan wrote:
This is a time capsule. 100+ year old un-grafted vines, and winemaking that makes "old school" seem modern. That said, the wines is still bright, fresh, and full of fruit. Seeing it as a 2011 or a 2015 would not have shocked me. The development is textural, with a creamy edge that suits the apple and pear fruit. Just the slightest hint of a smoky note emerges after it's been open for an hour, but who knows after that as the bottle evaporates before the eyes. The vines remain, but the winery is no more. Each remaining bottle is a reminder of the relentless passage of time, and the moments of joy along the journey.
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5/11/2023 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
#13-02, 8% abv. Not quite as bullish on this as Salil was. Kind of sedate, not showing too much of anything, with a bit of creaminess and softness that I'm too keen on. Just doesn't really do it for me.
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1/13/2020 - christyler wrote:
Slightly tired and advanced. Purchased on the secondary market, so who knows.
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5/25/2019 - salil wrote: 93 Points
Just like my last bottle. A fantastic showing; just a classic expression of Mosel Spätlese with appropriately ripe fruit, minerality, florality, and mature smokiness all coming together seamlessly.
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12/25/2018 - Burgundy Al wrote: 90 Points
Christmas Lunch and Dinner Wines: Small glass, brief note. Broad array of apple with lemon tart. Very good depth and moderated sweetness that worked great with the post Peking duck fried rice.
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10/28/2018 - salil wrote: 93 Points
A brilliant showing. Just as I remember it being from a few years ago with little further development; the fruit here is still very fresh and vibrant with gentle mineral, herbal, and lightly smoky accents around it. There's moderate sweetness - much less than many modern Spatlese, as this feels true to its pradikat in terms of weight and richness, and it's matched by those bright '01 acids, finishing long and just barely off-dry. Glad I have one more bottle of this, though I'm not rushing on that (or any of my Auslese).
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10/5/2015 - Baylorwine wrote: 92 Points
Hitting perfectly right now. Great balance of fresh acidity, non-sweet apple, and purity. First riesling in a while that I have slowly enjoyed. Killer buy.
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1/3/2015 - Baylorwine wrote: 88 Points
Clean and pure apple. High delicious factor.
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5/18/2014 - christyler Likes this wine: 91 Points
My favorite of my three bottles. Brilliant acidity and still oh so young. Also held up wonderfully over three days. Great bottle.
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3/4/2014 - Baylorwine wrote:
Drank this a while back and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Still fresh and vibrant. No notes taken..
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1/25/2014 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Burgs and Rieslings at Amali (Amali, NYC): Another outstanding bottle of this. This is up there among my favorite Spätlese of the vintage. It's drinking so well right now, the fruit's still very fresh, youthful and vibrant, and tinged with the start of developing smoky and creamy elements. Beneath the fruit is a base of pure stone with a remarkably vivid mineral presence on the back end, and amazing cut and focus to the flavours.
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7/6/2013 - salil wrote: 94 Points
This comes across younger and fresher than other bottles (though this was from David's glacial cellar), and it's easy to go through a couple of glasses before even beginning to realize just how complex, understated and layered this is. The sense of sheer refreshment and lightness here is incredible with fresh, pure Mosel fruit, slate and gentle herbal and floral accents around a bright acid spine, and the balance and length here are amazing. Absolutely stunning, classical Mosel Riesling that's still very youthful but thrilling to drink now.
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4/13/2013 - salil wrote: 92 Points
Absolutely classic Mosel Riesling. This is all about lightness and elegance; it's not a showy or overly sweet wine trying to wow, but rather a combination of elegant pear and apple fruit combining seamlessly with herbal, slate and developing smoky notes in a very harmonious, understated whole. Those old Schmitt-Wagners never seem to disappoint.
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11/28/2012 - christyler Likes this wine: 90 Points
Again very nice - showing its age but still lots of fruit. Great acidity.
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4/8/2012 - TashNYC wrote:
Riesling cellar clean-up. Went to Da's Thai restaurant, when it was in Princeton.
Delicious wine. Went well with the food,.
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2/3/2012 - christyler wrote: 90 Points
Beautiful golden color; fairly reserved nose. Nice round, medium weight palate with a tingling spine of acidity. The secondary flavors are starting to emerge, and lots of nice minerality and fruit as well. Flabbier and less enjoyable on day two.
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7/23/2011 - Charlie Carnes wrote:
This is quite rich and sweet, but the word acid doesn't come to mind as it is kind of flabby. It is drinkable, but I wonder if it is off a little.
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1/1/2011 - bg2167 wrote: 85 Points
Paired perfectly with spicy Chinese food but wasn't showing particularly complex characteristics. A touch flabby and maybe two-dimensional.
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12/10/2010 - herberto wrote: 90 Points
V nice classic apple fruit. Perhaps a little on the soft side but I'm not complaining.
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11/22/2010 - cweiss wrote:
Lovely. Poster child for Mosel. Fruity, light on its feet, balanced.
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10/2/2010 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Pretty much everything I'd want in a Mosel Riesling. Classical Mosel fruit - apple, pear and lemon - combined with fresh herbs, touches of earth and slate and gentle smoky and petrol notes that are just starting to emerge. It's one of those wines that needs some time and patience, unravelling its flavours with time rather than hitting you with everything in one shot, but the whole package is stunning with fantastic balance, precision, depth and length and I am glad I at least have two more bottles of this.
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1/22/2009 - salil wrote: 92 Points
Fabulous wine showing incredibly pure flavours of slate, flowers, apple and lime, with some red fruited notes emerging with more air. This isn't an intense or forward wine - it's light bodied with the weight and clarity of spring water, and the flavours unravel with time and build up with each sip, finishing long with just a slight suggestion of sweetness. This is why I love Mosel Riesling.
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12/26/2008 - DesMarteau wrote: 88 Points
Sweet pear juice...a bit watery...a little bit of mold/funk. I don't think it will age forever. I have one more that I plan to drink up.
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1/5/2008 - cct wrote: 90 Points
A light golden color with a beautiful nose of kaffir limes, seashells, quince, and minerals. Mid weighted and refreshing on the palate with just enough maturity to add complexity while still holding enough acidity to keep it exciting. More lime and minerals on the palate with a great balance of sugar and acid. Drinking great now but will hold. It paired beautifully with Ethiopian food. Wines like this bring me great joy: inexpensive, refreshing, and entirely complimentary to food. You won't catch me shunning wines with more cache, but when you drink a wine like this showing this well, it is a beautiful day. 90 pts. Bravo!
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11/10/2007 - mebydef wrote: 91 Points
This was very good with richness, very nice acidity, some sweetness, and mineral backbone. It has a funky smell that I would liken to earth, botrytis, or manure. Lovely wine, with many years of life ahead of it.
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10/14/2006 - trankin wrote: 92 Points
Saturday night at Raj's (Raj's house): Nose of apricots, lemon rind, and slate. A really nice riesling. The acids have mellowed into a lovely, harmonious wine. Notes of lemon tart, a touch of sweet nuts, and a bit of slate minerality.
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10/14/2006 - Prego wrote: 92 Points
Saturday dinner extravaganza in Tucson (Tucson - home of RM): Rich aroma of grapefruit, peach and apricots balanced out by mineraly notes of flint.
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11/9/2005 - air guitar & pinot noir wrote: 94 Points
What a great bottle of wine for Mom and I to enjoy. I had no idea when I popped this open what the price tag was. It drank like a $35 bottle of wine instead of the $16 that I had paid for it. It was slate, fruit. Clean and crisp- a perfect textbook example of a Riesling. Just a tremendous bottle of wine!
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3/31/2003 - R2-D2 wrote: 91 Points
This wine displays a light nose of orange peel, apple, bread dough, and toasted nuts, reminiscent of a decent Blanc de Blancs. The dense concentrated finish is full of orange, honeysuckle, minerals and vivid tangy lemon drop. The finish improves immensely with more time, yet is never truly profound. It’s very different from the other few Merkelbach and Darting Spatlese I’ve tasted. The crystal ball sees a very tasty future for this Spatlese after 2006. Priced at $15.99. 89-91
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