Jim & Michelene's 40th Anniversary Dinner (Jim and Michelene's Place, St. Paul, MN): Well, what Ben just noted....so harmonious - yes, yes it is. This was awfully damn good, shocking, I know. Lively, ripe fruits, a mix of tropical and orchard fruits, pineapple, mango, apple, peach, brightly floral, wax on the gorgeous nose. The palate brims with excitement; orange, tangerine, pineapple, red apple, peach; just so complex and intense. This has fabulous lift, along with that great powdery sweet tart brightness and minerality. Wow, splendid. 95+ to 96pts.
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Pearl Dinner by Don Saunders (Doc's Hall, St. Louis Park, MN): Vivid medium gold plus color. Drank a glass over an hour. Beautifully tropical with apricot, apple, pineapple, light fusil notes, wet stone, rich and layered, so vibrant and long. This was in a sweet spot. 93+ to 94pts.
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Assorted riesling at D Cuisine (Chicago, IL): A good, not great showing of this wine. Ripe and quite minerally, with good 2001 acidity overall. Slightly creamy with a lemon curd quality on the palate as well. I do like the stony minerality here.
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My last bottle and - at last - this has reached its happy drinking spot. Residual sweetness is beginning to be concealed by mature flavours. It comes across with the weight and stone fruit character of a fleshy Chardonnay but the sweetness and lime juice acids snap it back firmly into Riesling Land. A simply superb spätlese that was the star of our Christmas day drinks.
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Still delicious but might have been better some years ago. Bottles vary, of course, but the acidity I expected was somewhat diminished. Mellow, honeyed, and complex nonetheless.
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#10-02, 9% abv. Slightly herbal nose with plenty of minerality and a moderate bit of sponti. On the palate, this is refined and not too sweet, just balanced brilliantly between the sugar, acidity, and chewy minerality. Pretty consistent with my last experience with this wine. A fantastic beverage.
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#10-02, 9% abv. (My previous bottles, of different provenance, have AP #9. This one is AP #10.) Like a previous note, this comes in a little creamier and richer than I would have expected for a 2001 (though I suppose I have Mosel on the mind). Slightly candied fruit on the nose, alluding to a generous sweetness on the palate, but supplemented by some green herbal notes as well. The palate is indeed quite sweet, but the minerality is sufficiently incisive and plentiful to prevent any sensation of flabbiness. Ample acidity; it's just hidden by the fruit and sweetness, but shows up on the back end. For my palate, this is at an excellent spot right now.
brilliant 18k gold; peach & apricot delight, ginger; superb stone fruits, med sweetness, invigorating acidity w/just a faint bitter pip note on the end.
1.5 years since last one, even better. so, so good. no sign of fading.
korean pork & cabbage stir fry w/tofu & gochujang
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Medium- gold color with white peach flavors and a zing of acidity on the finish. Drinking quite well right now - if I had more I would start in on these!
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Delicious ripe fruit, sufficient acid, mellow structure, sweetness nicely balanced, ok length. Tasty but missing an extra gear. This bottle was fully mature, I think, holding up fine but not likely to improve.
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color youthful; just super-balanced & on point tonight, with pure peach sugars & nectarine's ringing acidity; may finish these before their suggested 'optimal' window, because drinking fabulously now.
applewood-smoked pork bo ssäm w/condiments & complements
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A's note nails this. Outstanding Spätlese showing brilliantly on a plateau of development, where the yellow fruit's still quite fleshy and vibrant, but now augmented by a lot of savoury and smoky development. The acidity and sweetness are in perfect balance here, and this is drinking wonderfully.
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#09-02, 9% abv. Popped this open to drink while I finished up the notes for tonight -- the colour was a little darker than I would have expected, but tasting this allayed any fears of advancement. Probably as good as it gets: this is an incredibly fresh bottle. The nose has a lovely herbal and mineral element, alongside some tart yellow fruits, and the palate has those same things, but the minerality here is so intense it comes off with that coarse, tannic structure. The fruit is delicate and lifted, and the acidity gives this vibrant life. This is an absolutely awesome bottle -- one of the best Spätlese I've had in a while.
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Very good, but a bit muted compared to recent bottles of Donnhoff I've drunk. Moderate sweetness and acidity. Notes of honey, petrol, nectarine, and river rocks. Drink now.
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#09-02, 9% abv. These days, everything seems corked to me, and honestly I can't tell if this is corked or not. There does seem to be a slight bit of mustiness on the nose, but there are also elements on both the nose and palate that lead me to think this bottle is sound. The thing that stands out the most here is the intense minerality on the palate -- to the point where there's genuine grip on the wine. The fruit profile on the palate is fairly clean and not stripped, but there's a bit of weirdness on the nose that I can't get past.
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Lonny Might Be Turning Sixty (Tilia, Mpls): Medium gold color. Drank a 1.75 oz pour over 30 minutes. Drank next to an '02. This is more tropical and fuller bodied, pineapple, orange, peach and wet stones, less acid compared to the '02.
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Served blind to my tasting group in a flit with the 2000, 2005 and 2007, this split votes with the 2005 for wine of the night. It was my third bottle in the last nine months. Based on those three showings I might drink the rest soon, despite there being time in hand. The wine is spectacular now. It still has bright nectarine/peach fruit, but also shows the benefits of 16 years in bottle. The sweetness is dialed back. The base minerals are clear and on an equal footing with the fruit. There's a hint of smokiness, but just a hint. It's perfectly balanced, and continues to show the explosive mid-palate depth that captured my mind, senses and wallet in 2002!
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Fantastic spatlese. Not too sweet and while honeyed, it has superb energy from the lively acidity. Fabulous length and drive. Complex depth from the aromatic development, but so fresh and balanced that it still seems youthful.
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Solid gold & green. A bit syrupy, really getting towards Auslese territory. Plenty of sweet lime, stone fruits, touch of pineapple. Definitely honey, maybe acacia. Modest acidity. Good length. Lovely drink but a bit confused as to what it should be.
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Merry Christmas and how do you like that! Showing incredibly well, as the peachy, honeyed fruit is backed up by solid, integrated acidity. The fruit turns towards spice on the finish, and lingers for a long time after each sip. Precise, balanced and intense, this epitomizes the power and grace of Donnhoff. Drink now and for a long time to come.
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(Mostly) 90s Burgs in Indy (Vida): An incredible showing, one of the best I can remember for this wine. I cannot imagine it getting much better. There's intense red fruit, peach, red apple, and tarter citrus fruit flavours accented with lemon cream, smoke, and an intense stony minerality beneath. It comes across just off dry, with the now moderate sweetness buffered by the powerful '01 acidity, and there's amazing length to the finish.
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Light gold. A bit syrupy, really getting towards auslese territory. Plenty of sweet lime, stone fruits, touch of pineapple. Definitely honey. Modest acidity. Good length. Maybe at an awkward phase. Simpler than I expected.
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Well into early maturity, this is showing plenty of youthful fruit, but also a honeyed, spicy edge. On entry it's rich, and has layers of flavors, showing close to auslese in character. Then through the mid-palate things change, and a burst of acidity comes in enlivening the wine, and lingering long after it is swallowed. I would put this "at peak" with a long and delicious future. Drink some if you have it, but no hurry.
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Light yellow, very healthy for its age. This is all citrus on the nose and in the mouth. Medium weight, off dry, orange oil flavors, acidity not that prominent. Still very good but just not that complex beyond the attractive fruit.
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Light hay in color, light nose, just slight petrol and flowered fruit; Lovely, elegant flavor, moderate sweetness, fairly light on its feet, with a slight apple juice note, moderate acidity, a touch of saline on the finish. Very pretty wine, drink it fairly quickly out of the bottle, at cooler temperature to retain some acidity. I enjoyed this, but was also a little disappointed given the vintage and producer.
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The most glorious colour - all flourescent lime-gold and green, it almost looks like olive oil.. Takes a while to wake up but gives a brilliant bouquet; part floral, part stone fruit, part honey. Fat textured in the mouth this has copious richness but the focus and precision to carry it off. Reverberating and very good in the finish. A little more delineation and may come with time.
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Cellared since release; cork was in much better shape than my other Donnhoffs from this era. Floral, lemony nose. Burnished, secondary fruit on the palate with honeyed pineapple and lychee. Lots of extract creates a very long and slatey finish. Terrific interplay of RS and acid. One of the very best spatlesen I have had the pleasure of tasting. In a very good spot.
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Much more intense, powerful, and sweeter than the '99 Hermannshohle that preceded it. Packed with red fruit and peach with the start of developing honeyed and smoky accents. This is a big wine but very well balanced, with lots of sweetness buttressed by acidity. Long. Fantastic, but a wine for the future, whereas the Hermannshohle's about being enjoyable now.
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Medium yellow. A little peach, but mostly bright, ripe tangerine and later, just the barest hint of petrol. It has lost some of the greener notes which were so prominent early in its life. Substantial and glossy, moderately sweet. Great, building volume of the citrus fruit with verbena, soil tones and some tartness toward the finish. Not the most precise or tension filled Riesling, but it just tastes so good at this point. I've been blasting my way through my small remaining stock over the past few years, and why not?
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Grilling with random wines (Coventry): Green apple, tangerine, lime. Nice richness to the palate, and lots of material, but nothing much to excite. Rich, dense, chalky, mostly fruity, and quite sweet. The acidity is fairly high, but creamy rather than zippy. Finish is an oily sweetness.
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Another really good showing. Youthful ripe orchard fruits and minerality tinged by maturing smoky, creamy and slightly honeyed notes. There's wonderful depth and power here; it's a big wine that's still showing a fair bit of sweetness, but there's tremendous acidity beneath that keeps it perfectly balanced, long and precise. Wonderful wine.
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Has only broadened, deepened and become more delicious over the past year. Still pale. A touch of honey balanced by great acidity and papaya fruit. Creamy old vines intensity. Moderate residual sugar. Wonderful and with plenty of time in hand.
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Another very good showing with bright, youthful fruit and minerality that's just starting to develop a patina of maturing creamy and savoury characteristics. There's plenty of acidity here, more life and energy than a recent bottle of '01 Hermannshöhle Spätlese had, good precision and length.
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A really good showing. This is in a great place right now with a core of bright peachy and red fruited flavours framed by stony minerality, floral elements and developing smoky and creamy notes, lifted by an acid spine that keeps it very fresh and vibrant.
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TN: Another Tuesday Supper Club dinner at Christine's. (Christine's): This has really developed markedly in the past few years. The youthful green profile has departed and it's taken on a much more mature character with nice secondary development. The color has gotten more golden and the wine is more stone fruited with that aged quality. Citrus lurks in the background and there's some minerality, but I actually think it showed a stronger mineral vein when it was younger. Sweet, but drier than it was even a couple of years ago. Lovely, but depending how you like your wines, I'd start to drink up as I don't think it's getting better and I want what freshness remains. Solid A-.
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Light yellow with a glint of green. Pungent lime notes follow through on the palate. Beginning to exhibit some early secondary high toned perfume as well. Off dry, excellent acidity and minerality, medium weight with a certain creaminess, superb intensity and expansion. Delicious, outstanding now but surely will improve over the next 3 to 5 years.
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More enjoyable than the '01 Hermannshöhle poured alongside, though not living up to the last two bottles I opened late last year. There's a ton of stuffing here - it's packed with raspberries and peachy fruit, spice and floral elements, but doesn't have the precision or clarity other recent bottles have shown.
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The flavour profile here is remarkably red-fruited compared to the other '01 Dönnhoff Spätlese - full of raspberries, cherries and nectarines with talc and floral accents, and underneath the fruit is a skeleton of pure stone. There's a sense of real purity and clarity to the fruit, with tremendous power, balance and persistence. Fantastic.
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Spectacular doesn't even begin to do this justice. Intense raspberry, cherry and peachy fruit flavours over a bed of stone and mineral salts and starting to show the start of developing petrol and smoky flavours. Phenomenal power and precision, there's incredible intensity and yet it seems to just float over the tongue with that classic Dönnhoff sense of lightness, amazing balance and length. Wow!
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No advancement at all to the fruit flavors; this could have been the current vintage, especially given how pronounced the sweetness still is. The minerality isn't so much stony as salty, with just a bit of that tequilla flavor. A big contrast to the Hermannshohle which, at least the last time I had it, was much more solid and defined.
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Classic Brücke; bright white fruited flavours over layers of rocks, salts and minerals, although still very primary and sweet. Very tasty now but needs time.
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Incredibly perfumed, flamboyant nose shows aromas of spring flowers, spices, red berries and pears and softer notes of petrol. A delight to just sit and smell, and it's just as great in the mouth with seamlessly woven layers of white fruits, petrol and smoke and a saline mineral character underneath. Amazing balance and lightness with a long finish.
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Beautifull look. Clear quite intense yellow with green reflections. Mature mineral driven Riesling nose, abricots, sweetness. The taste mirrors the nose, abricots/peach, minerals, some sweetness, fine acidity, and overall great balance. Drink now - 2014
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The green side of Riesling. Light with a glint of green color, Granny Smith apple, guava, and green papaya with a dash of quinine and bitters. A true Spatlese, not pumped up, but not as high in acidity as I expected, with a slightly chalky feel.
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Roy Hersh comes to town- Raveneau, Donnhoff, Pegau, Beaucastel & more ensue. (Il Corso): I opened a bottle of this some months ago and found it pretty tight. I decided to decant this one 2 1/12 hours before the dinner and it really made a big difference. Explosive out of the glass with tropical and yellow and green citrus fruit and mineral aromas. Great depth and balance with its medium sweetness tempered by vivacious acidity. The fruit still has youthful intensity, though the wine is just starting to pick up some petrol notes. Will try to lose my remaining bottles in my Eurocave a while longer, but this is a wine that's tough to keep one's hands off of. A.
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10/12/2023 - rocknroller wrote: 96 Points
Jim & Michelene's 40th Anniversary Dinner (Jim and Michelene's Place, St. Paul, MN): Well, what Ben just noted....so harmonious - yes, yes it is. This was awfully damn good, shocking, I know. Lively, ripe fruits, a mix of tropical and orchard fruits, pineapple, mango, apple, peach, brightly floral, wax on the gorgeous nose. The palate brims with excitement; orange, tangerine, pineapple, red apple, peach; just so complex and intense. This has fabulous lift, along with that great powdery sweet tart brightness and minerality. Wow, splendid. 95+ to 96pts.
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9/22/2023 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Has the aged Riesling thing to the nose. Dynamic and wonderful on the nose and palate. So harmonious.
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4/22/2023 - rocknroller wrote: 94 Points
Pearl Dinner by Don Saunders (Doc's Hall, St. Louis Park, MN): Vivid medium gold plus color. Drank a glass over an hour. Beautifully tropical with apricot, apple, pineapple, light fusil notes, wet stone, rich and layered, so vibrant and long. This was in a sweet spot. 93+ to 94pts.
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4/12/2023 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Assorted riesling at D Cuisine (Chicago, IL): A good, not great showing of this wine. Ripe and quite minerally, with good 2001 acidity overall. Slightly creamy with a lemon curd quality on the palate as well. I do like the stony minerality here.
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12/25/2022 - VinoVeloVinyl wrote: 95 Points
My last bottle and - at last - this has reached its happy drinking spot. Residual sweetness is beginning to be concealed by mature flavours. It comes across with the weight and stone fruit character of a fleshy Chardonnay but the sweetness and lime juice acids snap it back firmly into Riesling Land.
A simply superb spätlese that was the star of our Christmas day drinks.
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11/24/2022 - Fiorano wrote: 90 Points
Still delicious but might have been better some years ago. Bottles vary, of course, but the acidity I expected was somewhat diminished. Mellow, honeyed, and complex nonetheless.
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9/10/2022 - beatles wrote: 94 Points
Golden colour. No petrol really. Citrus, lime, honey, nuts, peach so fresh and vibrant, intense wine; great length.
#SaturdayNight
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6/19/2022 - decaturwinedude wrote: 95 Points
A Lost Weekend In NH; 6/16/2022-6/20/2022 (Lake Wentworth): Beautiful vibrant color. Balanced. Fresh Acidity. Unctuous and sweet and tangy and citrus notes. Apricot. A complete wine. Killer day 2 breakfast.
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5/10/2022 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
#10-02, 9% abv. Slightly herbal nose with plenty of minerality and a moderate bit of sponti. On the palate, this is refined and not too sweet, just balanced brilliantly between the sugar, acidity, and chewy minerality. Pretty consistent with my last experience with this wine. A fantastic beverage.
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3/16/2022 - rcb25 wrote: flawed
Noticed the bottle has leaked quite a bit, so decided to open it, only to discover it was corked
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12/31/2021 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very nice wine. Honeyed liquid with soft caressing finish.
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12/19/2020 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
#10-02, 9% abv. (My previous bottles, of different provenance, have AP #9. This one is AP #10.) Like a previous note, this comes in a little creamier and richer than I would have expected for a 2001 (though I suppose I have Mosel on the mind). Slightly candied fruit on the nose, alluding to a generous sweetness on the palate, but supplemented by some green herbal notes as well. The palate is indeed quite sweet, but the minerality is sufficiently incisive and plentiful to prevent any sensation of flabbiness. Ample acidity; it's just hidden by the fruit and sweetness, but shows up on the back end. For my palate, this is at an excellent spot right now.
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11/13/2020 - pigdaddy wrote: 94 Points
brilliant 18k gold; peach & apricot delight, ginger; superb stone fruits, med sweetness, invigorating acidity w/just a faint bitter pip note on the end.
1.5 years since last one, even better. so, so good. no sign of fading.
korean pork & cabbage stir fry w/tofu & gochujang
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8/9/2020 - Winetex Likes this wine: 92 Points
Medium- gold color with white peach flavors and a zing of acidity on the finish. Drinking quite well right now - if I had more I would start in on these!
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7/28/2020 - kenv Likes this wine: 91 Points
This bottle had leaked at some point, so it was more mature than expected, but still quite tasty.
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5/25/2020 - MartyL wrote: 92 Points
Still glad I bought a lot of 2001 Donnhoff and still sad I didn’t buy more.
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5/22/2020 - coremill wrote: 90 Points
Delicious ripe fruit, sufficient acid, mellow structure, sweetness nicely balanced, ok length. Tasty but missing an extra gear. This bottle was fully mature, I think, holding up fine but not likely to improve.
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7/15/2019 - pigdaddy wrote: 93 Points
color youthful; just super-balanced & on point tonight, with pure peach sugars & nectarine's ringing acidity; may finish these before their suggested 'optimal' window, because drinking fabulously now.
applewood-smoked pork bo ssäm w/condiments & complements
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4/24/2019 - salil wrote: 94 Points
A's note nails this. Outstanding Spätlese showing brilliantly on a plateau of development, where the yellow fruit's still quite fleshy and vibrant, but now augmented by a lot of savoury and smoky development. The acidity and sweetness are in perfect balance here, and this is drinking wonderfully.
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4/24/2019 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
#09-02, 9% abv. Popped this open to drink while I finished up the notes for tonight -- the colour was a little darker than I would have expected, but tasting this allayed any fears of advancement. Probably as good as it gets: this is an incredibly fresh bottle. The nose has a lovely herbal and mineral element, alongside some tart yellow fruits, and the palate has those same things, but the minerality here is so intense it comes off with that coarse, tannic structure. The fruit is delicate and lifted, and the acidity gives this vibrant life. This is an absolutely awesome bottle -- one of the best Spätlese I've had in a while.
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1/30/2019 - LW31 wrote:
Nice showing. Quite complete, full, exotic fruits. Acidity is starting to soften. Would drink these now + over next few years.
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11/14/2018 - rmalloy Likes this wine: 90 Points
Very good, but a bit muted compared to recent bottles of Donnhoff I've drunk. Moderate sweetness and acidity. Notes of honey, petrol, nectarine, and river rocks. Drink now.
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9/12/2018 - acyso wrote:
#09-02, 9% abv. These days, everything seems corked to me, and honestly I can't tell if this is corked or not. There does seem to be a slight bit of mustiness on the nose, but there are also elements on both the nose and palate that lead me to think this bottle is sound. The thing that stands out the most here is the intense minerality on the palate -- to the point where there's genuine grip on the wine. The fruit profile on the palate is fairly clean and not stripped, but there's a bit of weirdness on the nose that I can't get past.
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10/9/2017 - MartyL wrote: 93 Points
Yowzers. Not much to add to Rieslingfan's latest note. Pfoohey to those who say Donnhoff doesn't age well!
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10/2/2017 - rocknroller wrote: 91 Points
Lonny Might Be Turning Sixty (Tilia, Mpls): Medium gold color. Drank a 1.75 oz pour over 30 minutes. Drank next to an '02. This is more tropical and fuller bodied, pineapple, orange, peach and wet stones, less acid compared to the '02.
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9/7/2017 - Rieslingfan wrote:
Served blind to my tasting group in a flit with the 2000, 2005 and 2007, this split votes with the 2005 for wine of the night. It was my third bottle in the last nine months. Based on those three showings I might drink the rest soon, despite there being time in hand. The wine is spectacular now. It still has bright nectarine/peach fruit, but also shows the benefits of 16 years in bottle. The sweetness is dialed back. The base minerals are clear and on an equal footing with the fruit. There's a hint of smokiness, but just a hint. It's perfectly balanced, and continues to show the explosive mid-palate depth that captured my mind, senses and wallet in 2002!
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4/29/2017 - EirikM wrote: 95 Points
Fantastic spatlese. Not too sweet and while honeyed, it has superb energy from the lively acidity. Fabulous length and drive. Complex depth from the aromatic development, but so fresh and balanced that it still seems youthful.
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4/15/2017 - cannym Likes this wine: 90 Points
Solid gold & green. A bit syrupy, really getting towards Auslese territory. Plenty of sweet lime, stone fruits, touch of pineapple. Definitely honey, maybe acacia. Modest acidity. Good length. Lovely drink but a bit confused as to what it should be.
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3/13/2017 - Rieslingfan wrote:
Crystalline fruit and electric acidity are accented by honey and spice notes. This is completely in the zone now.
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12/25/2016 - Rieslingfan wrote:
Merry Christmas and how do you like that! Showing incredibly well, as the peachy, honeyed fruit is backed up by solid, integrated acidity. The fruit turns towards spice on the finish, and lingers for a long time after each sip. Precise, balanced and intense, this epitomizes the power and grace of Donnhoff. Drink now and for a long time to come.
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12/8/2016 - salil wrote: 95 Points
(Mostly) 90s Burgs in Indy (Vida): An incredible showing, one of the best I can remember for this wine. I cannot imagine it getting much better. There's intense red fruit, peach, red apple, and tarter citrus fruit flavours accented with lemon cream, smoke, and an intense stony minerality beneath. It comes across just off dry, with the now moderate sweetness buffered by the powerful '01 acidity, and there's amazing length to the finish.
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6/6/2016 - cannym Likes this wine: 90 Points
Poor cork, almost leaking. Wine pretty good. Definition of greeny gold. Honey, white flowers, fine balance, citrus, great drive. Good length. Lovely.
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2/19/2016 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Well that is something incredibly densely woven and incredible.
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11/14/2015 - cannym Likes this wine: 90 Points
Light gold. A bit syrupy, really getting towards auslese territory. Plenty of sweet lime, stone fruits, touch of pineapple. Definitely honey. Modest acidity. Good length. Maybe at an awkward phase. Simpler than I expected.
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9/28/2015 - Rieslingfan wrote:
Well into early maturity, this is showing plenty of youthful fruit, but also a honeyed, spicy edge. On entry it's rich, and has layers of flavors, showing close to auslese in character. Then through the mid-palate things change, and a burst of acidity comes in enlivening the wine, and lingering long after it is swallowed. I would put this "at peak" with a long and delicious future. Drink some if you have it, but no hurry.
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12/19/2014 - drwine2001 wrote:
Light yellow, very healthy for its age. This is all citrus on the nose and in the mouth. Medium weight, off dry, orange oil flavors, acidity not that prominent. Still very good but just not that complex beyond the attractive fruit.
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12/17/2014 - alanr wrote: 89 Points
Light hay in color, light nose, just slight petrol and flowered fruit; Lovely, elegant flavor, moderate sweetness, fairly light on its feet, with a slight apple juice note, moderate acidity, a touch of saline on the finish. Very pretty wine, drink it fairly quickly out of the bottle, at cooler temperature to retain some acidity. I enjoyed this, but was also a little disappointed given the vintage and producer.
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8/3/2014 - VinoVeloVinyl Likes this wine: 93 Points
The most glorious colour - all flourescent lime-gold and green, it almost looks like olive oil.. Takes a while to wake up but gives a brilliant bouquet; part floral, part stone fruit, part honey. Fat textured in the mouth this has copious richness but the focus and precision to carry it off. Reverberating and very good in the finish. A little more delineation and may come with time.
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4/20/2014 - S Spade Likes this wine: 95 Points
Cellared since release; cork was in much better shape than my other Donnhoffs from this era.
Floral, lemony nose. Burnished, secondary fruit on the palate with honeyed pineapple and lychee. Lots of extract creates a very long and slatey finish. Terrific interplay of RS and acid. One of the very best spatlesen I have had the pleasure of tasting. In a very good spot.
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3/4/2014 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Much more intense, powerful, and sweeter than the '99 Hermannshohle that preceded it. Packed with red fruit and peach with the start of developing honeyed and smoky accents. This is a big wine but very well balanced, with lots of sweetness buttressed by acidity. Long. Fantastic, but a wine for the future, whereas the Hermannshohle's about being enjoyable now.
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1/29/2013 - drwine2001 wrote:
Medium yellow. A little peach, but mostly bright, ripe tangerine and later, just the barest hint of petrol. It has lost some of the greener notes which were so prominent early in its life. Substantial and glossy, moderately sweet. Great, building volume of the citrus fruit with verbena, soil tones and some tartness toward the finish. Not the most precise or tension filled Riesling, but it just tastes so good at this point. I've been blasting my way through my small remaining stock over the past few years, and why not?
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11/18/2012 - indiscriminate palate wrote: 86 Points
Grilling with random wines (Coventry): Green apple, tangerine, lime. Nice richness to the palate, and lots of material, but nothing much to excite. Rich, dense, chalky, mostly fruity, and quite sweet. The acidity is fairly high, but creamy rather than zippy. Finish is an oily sweetness.
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11/18/2012 - salil wrote: 93 Points
Another really good showing. Youthful ripe orchard fruits and minerality tinged by maturing smoky, creamy and slightly honeyed notes. There's wonderful depth and power here; it's a big wine that's still showing a fair bit of sweetness, but there's tremendous acidity beneath that keeps it perfectly balanced, long and precise. Wonderful wine.
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6/8/2012 - drwine2001 wrote:
Has only broadened, deepened and become more delicious over the past year. Still pale. A touch of honey balanced by great acidity and papaya fruit. Creamy old vines intensity. Moderate residual sugar. Wonderful and with plenty of time in hand.
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5/23/2012 - salil wrote: 92 Points
Another very good showing with bright, youthful fruit and minerality that's just starting to develop a patina of maturing creamy and savoury characteristics. There's plenty of acidity here, more life and energy than a recent bottle of '01 Hermannshöhle Spätlese had, good precision and length.
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12/11/2011 - salil wrote: 93 Points
A really good showing. This is in a great place right now with a core of bright peachy and red fruited flavours framed by stony minerality, floral elements and developing smoky and creamy notes, lifted by an acid spine that keeps it very fresh and vibrant.
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8/23/2011 - BradKNYC wrote:
TN: Another Tuesday Supper Club dinner at Christine's. (Christine's): This has really developed markedly in the past few years. The youthful green profile has departed and it's taken on a much more mature character with nice secondary development. The color has gotten more golden and the wine is more stone fruited with that aged quality. Citrus lurks in the background and there's some minerality, but I actually think it showed a stronger mineral vein when it was younger. Sweet, but drier than it was even a couple of years ago. Lovely, but depending how you like your wines, I'd start to drink up as I don't think it's getting better and I want what freshness remains. Solid A-.
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6/10/2011 - drwine2001 wrote:
Light yellow with a glint of green. Pungent lime notes follow through on the palate. Beginning to exhibit some early secondary high toned perfume as well. Off dry, excellent acidity and minerality, medium weight with a certain creaminess, superb intensity and expansion. Delicious, outstanding now but surely will improve over the next 3 to 5 years.
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5/5/2011 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 80 Points
Dull and flabby.
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5/4/2011 - salil wrote: 87 Points
More enjoyable than the '01 Hermannshöhle poured alongside, though not living up to the last two bottles I opened late last year. There's a ton of stuffing here - it's packed with raspberries and peachy fruit, spice and floral elements, but doesn't have the precision or clarity other recent bottles have shown.
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12/14/2010 - salil wrote: 95 Points
The flavour profile here is remarkably red-fruited compared to the other '01 Dönnhoff Spätlese - full of raspberries, cherries and nectarines with talc and floral accents, and underneath the fruit is a skeleton of pure stone. There's a sense of real purity and clarity to the fruit, with tremendous power, balance and persistence. Fantastic.
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10/10/2010 - salil wrote: 96 Points
Spectacular doesn't even begin to do this justice. Intense raspberry, cherry and peachy fruit flavours over a bed of stone and mineral salts and starting to show the start of developing petrol and smoky flavours. Phenomenal power and precision, there's incredible intensity and yet it seems to just float over the tongue with that classic Dönnhoff sense of lightness, amazing balance and length. Wow!
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10/8/2009 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 87 Points
No advancement at all to the fruit flavors; this could have been the current vintage, especially given how pronounced the sweetness still is. The minerality isn't so much stony as salty, with just a bit of that tequilla flavor. A big contrast to the Hermannshohle which, at least the last time I had it, was much more solid and defined.
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10/7/2009 - salil wrote: 91 Points
Classic Brücke; bright white fruited flavours over layers of rocks, salts and minerals, although still very primary and sweet. Very tasty now but needs time.
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1/22/2009 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Incredibly perfumed, flamboyant nose shows aromas of spring flowers, spices, red berries and pears and softer notes of petrol. A delight to just sit and smell, and it's just as great in the mouth with seamlessly woven layers of white fruits, petrol and smoke and a saline mineral character underneath. Amazing balance and lightness with a long finish.
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1/7/2009 - asgerG wrote: 91 Points
Beautifull look. Clear quite intense yellow with green reflections. Mature mineral driven Riesling nose, abricots, sweetness. The taste mirrors the nose, abricots/peach, minerals, some sweetness, fine acidity, and overall great balance. Drink now - 2014
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2/17/2008 - drwine2001 wrote:
The green side of Riesling. Light with a glint of green color, Granny Smith apple, guava, and green papaya with a dash of quinine and bitters. A true Spatlese, not pumped up, but not as high in acidity as I expected, with a slightly chalky feel.
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11/20/2006 - BradKNYC wrote:
Roy Hersh comes to town- Raveneau, Donnhoff, Pegau, Beaucastel & more ensue. (Il Corso): I opened a bottle of this some months ago and found it pretty tight. I decided to decant this one 2 1/12 hours before the dinner and it really made a big difference. Explosive out of the glass with tropical and yellow and green citrus fruit and mineral aromas. Great depth and balance with its medium sweetness tempered by vivacious acidity. The fruit still has youthful intensity, though the wine is just starting to pick up some petrol notes. Will try to lose my remaining bottles in my Eurocave a while longer, but this is a wine that's tough to keep one's hands off of. A.
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