Leo's Blind Tasting Group - June '16 edition

Back Forty West, NYC
Tasted Monday, June 20, 2016 by salil with 455 views

Flight 1 (1 Note)

  • NV Marguet Champagne Grand Cru Elements 91 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    Elements 10 bottling once more, and as usual this is lovely. Lots of bright fruit, citrus and riper peachy notes accented with yeast and biscuit elements, a very faint oxidative aspect on the nose, and a lively spine of acidity beneath that keeps it very light and easy to drink.

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Flight 2 (3 Notes)

  • 2010 Nikolaihof Neuburger 92 Points

    Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

    Last of my bottles from a six pack I bought on release. Every one of these bottles has been fantastic, and this was no different. Still very youthful and fresh - several people had guessed this as the youngest wine of the flight. The citrus and pear fruit flavours here still seem amazingly youthful, and there's a faint chalky minerality beneath, as well as a higher toned herbal note that adds a fresh, high-toned aspect to the aromatics.

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  • 2014 Alzinger Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Steinertal 90 Points

    Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

    On its own, it's hard to guess this is from such a weak vintage, even though it didn't show quite the depth and palate presence of the other wines in the flight. A bright green-toned fragrance full of herbs, flowers, and more savoury bean and tart citrus flavours, though this bottle didn't show the vivid minerality I usually expect from Steinertal. Still a lovely wine, and a really impressive 2014.

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  • 2013 Schloss Gobelsburg Riesling 1ÖTW Reserve Ried Gaisberg 92 Points

    Austria, Niederösterreich, Kamptal

    Another great bottle. Powerful, intense, long, layered with ripe citrus fruit and pear flavours over a vivid stony mineral base, with all sorts of herbal and floral elements emerging with more air. The richness and acidity balance each other perfectly, and I imagine this is going to be stunning with more cellar time.

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Flight 3 (3 Notes)

  • 2012 von Winning Deidesheimer Kalkofen Riesling Großes Gewächs 92 Points

    Germany, Pfalz

    An impressive showing. The oak's fully integrated here, and it shows all those classic Pfalz grapefruit and pear flavours with a chalky and stony mineral base beneath. It's a big wine with lots of richness and remarkably well balanced thanks to a powerful acid spine. I'm not the biggest GG fan, but Von Winning's are really impressive.

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  • 2008 Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz Siebeldinger Im Sonnenschein Ganz Horn Riesling Großes Gewächs 92 Points

    Germany, Pfalz

    This hasn't really aged or changed much in the 5-6 years since I last had it. The flavours are still very much the same - tart citrus and riper grapefruit flavours, with some more tropical (guava?) elements, and bright floral and stony scents augmenting the fruit. It's the lightest of the 3 GGs on the palate with less concentration/ripeness, but similar intensity of flavour and great balance.

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  • 2009 Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz Siebeldinger Im Sonnenschein Ganz Horn Riesling Großes Gewächs 88 Points

    Germany, Pfalz

    I liked this a lot more a few years ago soon after release - this was a good showing but also had some of the shortcomings that have made me stop buying GGs lately. There's lots of ripe fruit here - it's more tropical and flamboyant on the nose than the other two GGs in the flight - and lots of bright floral and mineral elements that emerge with air, but it also seems a bit oversized on the palate and shows a tinge of alcohol on the finish as it warms up a little.

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Flight 4 (3 Notes)

  • 2009 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett 94 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    Spectacular Kabinett. Amazingly complex with an array of fruit ranging from tart green apples and citrus to riper guava flavours, and layers of herbs, florality, and stony mineral notes adding to the fruit. It's still very youthful but the depth is incredible and the balance is stunning. This has amazing intensity of flavour with remarkable persistence and cut, yet feels so incredibly light on the palate. Again goes to show why Müller's in his own class.

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  • 2010 Von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese 92 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    Takes a bit of time for the sulfur to blow off here, but when it does there's a lot of fresh apple, citrus, and pear fruit here, surrounded by brighter floral and faintly honeyed notes that make me wonder if there's a tinge of botrytis here. Lots of sweetness here, but it's very well balanced by the powerful 2010 acids.

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  • 2004 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #9 90 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    A good showing, though I thought this was somewhat overwhelmed by the Müller Kabinett and von Schubert in the same flight. This is certainly more understated on the nose and palate, though the flavours here are remarkably fresh and lively, all youthful citrus and apples tinged with slate and just the faintest hints of maturing savouriness. This still has a lot of time ahead of it.

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Flight 5 (4 Notes)

  • 2004 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese Flawed

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    Corked. Dammit!

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  • 1997 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett 93 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    Opened as a replacement for the corked '04 Spätlese, and this was a great showing. A bit rounder on the palate than my last bottle, but showing great complexity with florality, maturing smokiness, and lemon cream flavours augmenting the fresh Mosel fruit and minerality here, and just moderately sweet on the palate with bright acids balancing it perfectly. Excellent, though still on the young side.

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  • 1998 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 92 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    Another great showing. Pretty much everything I want from a Prüm Spätlese at this age - the fruit's still very bright and youthful, and it's surrounded by all sorts of savoury smoky, fusel, lemon cream, and lightly honeyed flavours. Moderately sweet and very light on its feet with bright acidity balancing it well, and finishing with impressive length.

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  • 1989 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 89 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    Not a great showing compared to other bottles I've had in the last few years, though I still found this very good - just not at the level I typically expect from mature Prüm. This is very developed and mature (and seemed more like a Spätlese from the 70s/early 80s) with the burnished, smoky, and brassy flavours dominating the fruit heavily. There's also a faint whiff of acetone here though that blows off with some air, and with time it freshens up as the ripe orchard fruit and floral notes get more intense. Nice, but a touch underwhelming for the producer.

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Flight 6 (2 Notes)

  • 1991 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Heimbourg Sélection de Grains Nobles 93 Points

    France, Alsace

    Really liked this - packed with ripe apricot, quince, orange marmalade, and intense honey and other botrytis notes on a medium weight frame that never comes across heavy or cloying, despite the intense sweetness here. There's a lovely polished, almost glossy aspect to the texture, though it finishes just a touch short compared to the Rangen.

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  • 1991 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain Sélection de Grains Nobles 95 Points

    France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru

    Score another one for the Rangen terroir - even though this is an SGN with lots of botrytis and ripeness, the smokiness and earthy savouriness still comes through and sets this apart from the Heimbourg. It still has those ripe honeyed, apricot, and orange marmalade flavours but there's an extra gear of complexity and depth here with a touch more acidity to give it an even fresher, lighter mouthfeel. Fantastic wine.

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