2013 Bollig-Lehnert Trittenheimer Altärchen Riesling Flagfish

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 90 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View RajivAyyangar's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/16/2015 - RajivAyyangar Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Monday night Blinds at Nopa (Nopa SF): (First blind)
  
  Visual:
  This is a white wine. It was served very cold (some RS perhaps? - I warmed it a bit before tasting).
  In the glass it is clear, day-bright, pale straw with reflections of green.
  No gas or sediment. Viscosity is moderate minus.
  
  [tasted before nose to check for RS - there was.]
  Off-dry. I got a hint of the moscato-like fruity detergent but I think that may just have been a “whoa! wake up, palate” aroma. I didn’t get it after.
  
  Nose:
  The nose is clean/sound, and youthful. Very light greenness - maybe a light-green dull herbaceousness (pyrazine???) sits on top of low-intensity fruit aromas: underripe melon/melon rind, green apple, pear, grapefruit bitterness. Underneath I got notes of musty furniture, bitter aromas with faint mushroomy earthy reduction. No evidence of oak aging (or large, neutral barrels).
  
  Palate:
  This wine is off-dry (moderate RS) [I need to calibrate - I have no idea where this lies on the sweetness scale.]. Medium body, moderate- alcohol, high acid! Primarily tart green-apple-malic acidity.
  On the palate return flavors of green apple skin, lemon, lemon rind, slight herbaceousness (pyrazines?! I’m not sure!). The finish goes on and on - a three-part perfect harmony of ripe Meyer lemon, tart round green-apple skin acid, and light but insistent sweetness. They last for nearly a minute then diminuendo as one.
  
  Initial conclusions:
  I’m puzzled. The lemon, the RS and the high acid suggest German or Austrian Riesling (RS rules out Alsace, alcohol isn’t high enough for Savennieres, I’m not getting any aromatic descriptors of Chenin from Vouvray). Then again, do I decide to call the “green tone” pyrazines? [here’s where I went wrong. If they are pyrazines, they are super-faint. How likely is it that there’s an off-dry Sauvignon blanc with moderate minus alcohol, ripping acidity, (i.e. a beautiful structure) and diminished-to-no pyrazines? It doesn’t exist. ] Anyhow I just said I was confused, but I thought German Riesling or Sauv Blanc from some weird region. I should have assumed typicity (it is Nopa, after all) and dismissed my “sweet sauv blanc” notion.
  
  LM’s notes:
  1) It’s just off-dry. Not moderate sweet or sweet.
  2) It’s not pyrazine. It’s more of a slight mintiness, dried herbs, herbaciousness.
  3) The reduction I’m smelling - she called it beach ball or shower curtain - is “petrol”.
  The structure and aromatics should get you to Germany or Austria.
  Slight mintiness and more green apple fruit should get you to Mosel. Other regions in Germany are more yellow fruit / stone fruit.
  4) There’s minerality here: Minerality can be lots of things - chalkiness, more of a sensation - tartness, slate/stoniness, or even maybe an iron bloody clay type thing.
  
  Bollig-Lehnert
  2013 Flagfish Riesling - Mosel
  9% Alcohol (Did I notice any alcohol? Why did I go med- vs. low?)
  $16 (steal!)
  
  In summary:
  Underripe melon, slight herbal tinge, reductive/petrol note. off-dry with ripping malic. Finish is drawn-out, pulled by ripe Meyer lemon, green apple acid, and light sweetness. I really liked this wine - the balanced finish and acidity level were super enjoyable.
  
  Score: around 9.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.