2001 and 2002 Dry Rieslings from Rheingau, Nahe & Pfalz
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Tasted Friday, September 6, 2013 by octopussy with 573 views
Introduction
For Friday night, two friends and I put together a little impromptu tasting for a smallish group with dry Rieslings from 2001 and 2002 that we were eager to look into. Each brought some bottles, but we didn't tell each other what would be put on the table. We tasted all wines blind, but uncovered after each flight. All wines were served in Zalto Universal glasses. For food, we started with baguette and olive oil. Then we had pasta with porcini mushrooms, then some farmhouse Cheddar, Chaource and Taleggio and for dessert a reineclaude tarte.
Flight 1 - Intro: 1947 Hessische Staatsweingüter Steinberger Kabinettwein Naturrein (1 Note)
The introductory wine came into the glass with a cloudy amber colour. I guessed that it was from the 1950s and someone else guessed that it was from the Rheingau. You had to get used to the oxidative notes, but then it revealed very interesting aromas. In Germany, 1947 wasn't as great a vintage as it was in other parts of Europe. But the Hessische Staatsweingüter were well known for their quality back then. I once had a 1946 Rauenthaler Steinhaufen Spätlese Naturrein from them, which was quite similar in character. The Steinberg, a 30 ha "Clos" monopole vineyard of the Staatsweingüter since 1239, may today not make as great wines as it did back then, but back then it was one of the most well known in the Rheingau. The designation "Kabinettwein" back then didn't mean Kabinett as in today's Prädikat system, but rather that it's a wine to age which often was stored in the wineries' cellars until it was released. "Naturrein" meant that it wasn't chaptalized.
This wine was actually pretty much over the hill, but on the palate you could sense that it was still alive as there was even a bit of fruit left and very lively acidity. I really love drinking wines like that.
Flight 2 - 2001 Rheingau: Breuer Nonnenberg vs. J.B. Becker Walkenberg (2 Notes)
The next two wines were dedicated to the Rheingau again. We started (blind) with a 2001 Georg Breuer Rauenthaler Nonnenberg a 5 ha monopole vineyard of the Breuer family. It was produced when Bernhard Breuer was still alive, although his daughter Theresa is keeping his high standard up in an admirable way. After some guessing, I guessed Breuer, but guessed Schlossberg. It had the lemon-infused, stony austerity that the Breuer wines often have.
After we uncovered the Nonnenberg, I decided to continue in the Rheingau with a 2001 J.B. Becker Wallufer Walkenberg Riesling Spätlese trocken, but it was corked. Well, bad luck.
Flight 3 - 2002 Emrich Schönleber - Monzinger Halenberg vs. Monzinger Frühlingsplätzchen (2 Notes)
The next wine was a stunner. Funnily enough, someone in the round instantly recognized it as Emrich Schönleber's Monzinger Halenberg (back then Spätlese Trocken, not Großes Gewächs yet). I think this is remarkable because pretty much every time we have a Schönleber Halenberg in a blind tasting, someone recognizes it blind, even vintages the person guessing it right had not had before. This is a truly individualist wine and a wine of real greatness, too. This was razor-sharp and precise like a view through the microscope. It was unfruity, very stony and herbal, but it had so much drinking flow. We saved some to taste later, but it was really difficult not to lap up every drop of this divine juice all at once.
We had difficulties guessing the second wine (not knowing that it was Emrich-Schönleber, too) as it was quite different. But in the end, we guessed the wine right. It was much softer, more friendly, a little less complex than the Halenberg. A very good Riesling, no doubt, but in this pair the better was the enemy of the good.
Flight 4 - 2001 and 2002 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf (5 Notes)
Then I served a row of five G.C. Rieslings from Bürklin-Wolf from 2001 and 2002, both very successful years for Bürklin-Wolf. For the pasta with porcini, we had the 2001 Ruppertsberger Gaisböhl G.C., an 8 ha monopole vineyard of Bürklin-Wolf. This is usually among the biggest (but not the finest) wines of Bürklin-Wolf, but it went really well with the pasta as it had very slight notes of age with a mushroomy edge itself. The wine afterwards (2002 Deidesheimer Hohenmorgen G.C.) was a true stunner with bright ripe fruit and so much expressivity squeezed in. It seemed a bit loud at first, but gained a lot of complexity with time. This wine is not that easy to find as the Hohenmorgen is quite small with just 5 ha, of which Bürklin-Wolf owns only 0.5 ha (the rest is owned by Bassermann-Jordan). But it's well worth a search.
The 2002 Forster Jesuitengarten G.C. served afterwards was a stunner as well, but it was still so young, it seemed like bottled yesterday with some youthful yeasty notes to it. This was also true for the last pair afterwards - 2002 and 2001 Forster Kirchenstück G.C. Both wines needed a lot of time and air. I had opened all Bürklin-Wolfs in the morning and left them open in the fridge, took them out well over an hour before we drank them. But they needed even more air and temperature and lots of swirling in the glass to open up. But they were marvellous, so complex, so individual with their yellow spice notes, mostly of safran. This was my only bottle of 2002 Kirchenstück (voted the best dry 2002 Riesling by Gault Millau), but I still have one of the 2001 that I'll give two or three more years in the cellar.
Anyhow this row of 2001 and 2002 Bürklin-Wolfs was absolutely stunning and showed once again that these wines need lots of time in the cellar to get balanced. In their youth and especially in between, they sometimes seem a bit too broad and baroque. But given sufficient time in the cellar, I'd say they are among the very best in all of Germany.
Flight 5 - Outro (with dessert): Schloss Eltz 1976 Rauenthaler Rothenberg Riesling Auslese (1 Note)
Schloss Eltz doesn't exist anymore as a Rheingau winery, but their reputation is legendary. I never had any of their wines, this was the first. I liked it a lot. The Rauenthaler Rothenberg is not a prime site in the Rheingau, but 1976 is a very good vintage and so this wine didn't disappoint. It was more BA than Auslese in character and its sweetness had gone in the background. It went very well with the Reineclaude tarte. A very good combination to end a marvellous night of Riesling.
Closing
This tasting showed once again how much more complexity the dry Rieslings from the good estates and vintages gain with some age on their back. While some wines seemed ready to drink and at their peak (B-W 2001 Gaisböhl and 2002 Hohenmorgen, E-S 2002 Frühlingsplätzchen), many wines rather seemed to be still very young and with more potential for further greatness. In any case, I'll be hoovering up any 2001 and 2002 dry Rieslings from good producers I can get my hands on. They're worth it.
1947 Verwaltung der Staatsweingüter Steinberger Riesling Kabinett naturrein
Germany, Rheingau
Cloudy brown colour. In the nose, quite oxidative at first, but you get used to it. Then, there's toffee and caramel, Earl Grey tea, very ripe quince. It's over the hill, actually, still fascinating though. On the palate, much more lively with bright acidity and even a bit of fruit left, but mostly lots of autumn leaves, apple and tea notes. Not a really big pleasure to drink, but a great document of time.
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