Thai Cottage, SF
Tasted Monday, June 30, 2014 by aagrawal with 611 views
Another wonderful event with the SF wine group. We tried a riesling tasting, and all the wines were showing superbly well.
Some standouts:
#Donnhoff GG- My first GG, and it was completely different from my usual off-dry riesling experience. This was almost like a rich sauvignon blanc blend, and I compared it to a cross between sauv blanc and viognier. A great experience, but not necessarily something I would buy for myself to cellar... I kind of like the slight sugar in German riesling.
#01 Prum- My WOTN. It just had fabulous balance, great depth, and complexity of flavor. Drinking well now but with a long life ahead.
#The Zind-Humbrecht pair- a surprisingly wonderful pair of dry rieslings. Great complexity on the nose, but perhaps not quite enough fruit on the palate anymore (or maybe they were always more about minerality and balance than fruit). The 1996 had such a candied nose that I was almost expecting it to be sweet, even though I knew it wouldn't be!
#Christoffel pair: Maybe the weakest pairing of the tasting, and that's saying a lot since they were still excellent! They were well balanced and refreshing (especially for an Auslese), though I thought they had just slightly less depth and complexity compared to most of the other wines on the table.
#I brought the 08 Prum. Unfortunately, I think it was one of the weakest wines of the night. Initially had a bit of sulfur that blew off later in the night, but it always seemed a bit thinner and shallower than the other riesling at the table.
There was a Sekt brut that I could not find in Cellartracker:
Mumm & co trocken dry sparkling Sekt
Yellow golden color; sweet peachy fruit; palate is balanced, but short fruit, short flavor, not much depth, slightly watery, no yeasty notes. Nice, but nothing special. 84
2012 Dönnhoff Hermannshöhle Riesling Großes Gewächs 92 Points
Germany, Nahe
Medium yellow color; minerals, lime, slate, papaya, some tropical fruit; dry palate, fresh acidity throughout, minerally, lime through the midpalate, medium persistence; medium length finish. Good replacement for young well balanced Sauvignon blanc-viognier blend. 91-92.
Read 1 Comment / Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
2007 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese 91 Points
Germany, Nahe
Deeper golden yellow; peachy on the nose but also with slight lime; palate is balanced sweetness without over the top acidity, good density; medium finish. Elegant throughout, balanced, youthful. 91
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1996 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain 92 Points
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
From a 375. Golden orange, great color; wonderfully aromatic, orange marmalade, powerful, candied, smells sweet; palate is completely dry, slight oxidation, balance, less fruit; medium finish. Very interesting contrast on the nose and palate. 93 nose, 90 palate. 91-92 overall. The '97 Zind Humbrect had the slight edge tonight.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1997 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Clos Windsbuhl 92 Points
France, Alsace
From a 375. Golden-yellow color; wonderfully complex with spices, white fruit, layers; balanced, completely dry, orange fruit, minerality on the midpalate, very nice balanced Alsatian. Medium-long finish. 92-93.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2008 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese 89 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Surprisingly pale yellow color; nose has petrol, wonderfully aromatic, some sulfur, white fruits; palate is light-medium bodied, petrol, peach that transitions to some tart lime; surprisingly short finish. Youthful, perhaps too young, and solid but somewhat disappointing showing given the producer and vineyard. 89-90
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 93 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Nice medium golden color; intense complexity, petrol, spice, white fruits; wonderful tingly acidity in a fuller body, nice sweetness, fabulous depth throughout the palate; medium length finish. Superb wine. 93
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2003 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese *** 90 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
A bit light on the nose, white peachy fruit; tingly acidity, peach, nectarine, lime towards the midpalate; finish is medium length. Balanced, seems like sweetness of a spatlese. 90-91
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2003 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese ** 91 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Not much of a nose; palate has great balance, tingly acidity, slate, lime, mouthwatering and long finish. 90-91
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No