#34-17, 12.5% abv. Herbal. Tons of green and plenty of linear and racy acids. Obviously taut, but a decant helped in that respect. Surprisingly, despite the more structured sense you get from this wine, it's not quite as mineral and intense as the 2015 (which was clearly better). A slight tinge of bitterness on the back end, but it seems to add a bit of complexity more than anything. Overall a little lean and thin, and as I noted earlier this year, I hope that a bit of age will round this wine out. In any case, great stuff that I'm amply pleased with owning, though the nod certainly belongs to the 2015.
#46-16, 13% abv. I think this was probably the turning-point for me with Keller, where after tasting this a year ago truly convinced me that the wines were great. This is still an incredibly dense and taut wine, with stuffing and concentration out the wazoo. For a moment, there was this really intense and hyperconcentrated minerality, which was so well balanced by the tinge of sweetness and the ripe fruit that makes this expansive on the palate. Plenty of green herbs as well to lend some spicy complexity to this wine. Surprisingly, it's not shut down as hard as I expected it to be. A tour de force.
#42-07, 13% abv. Far better than the last bottle I tried (from the same lot) earlier this year. Again, this definitely has botrytis inflections, along with plenty of tropical fruit -- pineapple, mangos, that sort of delicious stuff. It's quite exotic, and far fatter than the racy 2015 and 2016. This bottle is cleaner than the last bottle I had, and there's a lovely purity of fruit here that I don't remember. It's a heady wine, to be sure, but I found the acidity here to help balance it. End of the day, I think others liked this more than I did -- I personally do not enjoy botrytis in dry riesling.
#22-17, 8.5% abv. Yeah, this is the stuff. Scintillating, electric stuff. White hot acidity with tons of tension, counterbalanced by just the right amount of sweetness, and enough mineral extract on the palate that makes this feel dry (even though it's sweet and tastes sweet). A bit of green herbs also adds a nice touch to it, the way a bit of mint amps up a fruit salad. Complex, if you want to expend the effort, or just mindlessly delicious.
#22-18, 8% abv. A fair bit of sponti on the nose, that gives this a slight banana candy note. Ordinarily, that would seem off-putting, but it's not that bad here. Honeyed, rich, and tropical, this clearly has a high amount of acid that peeks out from all the sweet fruit. The palate has a lovely honeyed tone, with the fruit showing fairly tart, which helps with the sugar as well. It's a delicious wine, but not as scintillating at that brilliant 2016 Spätlese.
#42-11, 12.5% abv. The vintage, or the lesser pedigree shows a bit in this wine. Of course, it had a lot of stiff company -- it was the lone Hubacker in a lineup of Abtserdes. The nose had some reduction to it, more so than any of the other wines tonight. It had good white fruit and acidity, but the tension, and more importantly, the expansive fruit and complexity just weren't quite there.
#41-09, 14% abv. (Note that the label doesn't denote the 'S' -- this is the basic, QbA Spätburgunder, which doesn't seem to have a listing on CT.) Served double blind, though the bottle shape and the VDP eagle on the capsule made it clear this was Germany. Touch of reduction, as well as some weird natural wine smells on the nose. Perhaps a touch dirty, and a bit of oak here as well. The palate is surprisingly lean, mean, and green, with plenty of bitter and astringent tannins. Somehow it occurred to no one to guess Keller on this.
#05-16, 12% abv. Nice herbal tones on the nose, with some hints of fruit as well. This is still a little high-toned and probably needs a little more time to settle down. The palate is quite lean -- surprisingly so for the ripe vintage, and this doesn't have the ripe fruits and rounded texture that I would expect from the vintage. A bit austere and lean, but air did fill this out a little bit more. Plenty of citric acidity on the finish. Not hot, but you can definitely feel the alcohol on this. All in all, a fine wine, but a bit more austere than I'd like in my dry German rieslings. As well, I seem to pick up some oaky notes on the finish.
2016 Weingut Keller Abts E® Riesling Großes Gewächs 93 Points
Germany, Rheinhessen
#34-17, 12.5% abv. Herbal. Tons of green and plenty of linear and racy acids. Obviously taut, but a decant helped in that respect. Surprisingly, despite the more structured sense you get from this wine, it's not quite as mineral and intense as the 2015 (which was clearly better). A slight tinge of bitterness on the back end, but it seems to add a bit of complexity more than anything. Overall a little lean and thin, and as I noted earlier this year, I hope that a bit of age will round this wine out. In any case, great stuff that I'm amply pleased with owning, though the nod certainly belongs to the 2015.
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2015 Weingut Keller Abts E® Riesling Großes Gewächs 95 Points
Germany, Rheinhessen
#46-16, 13% abv. I think this was probably the turning-point for me with Keller, where after tasting this a year ago truly convinced me that the wines were great. This is still an incredibly dense and taut wine, with stuffing and concentration out the wazoo. For a moment, there was this really intense and hyperconcentrated minerality, which was so well balanced by the tinge of sweetness and the ripe fruit that makes this expansive on the palate. Plenty of green herbs as well to lend some spicy complexity to this wine. Surprisingly, it's not shut down as hard as I expected it to be. A tour de force.
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2006 Weingut Keller Abts E®.de Riesling Großes Gewächs 93 Points
Germany, Rheinhessen
#42-07, 13% abv. Far better than the last bottle I tried (from the same lot) earlier this year. Again, this definitely has botrytis inflections, along with plenty of tropical fruit -- pineapple, mangos, that sort of delicious stuff. It's quite exotic, and far fatter than the racy 2015 and 2016. This bottle is cleaner than the last bottle I had, and there's a lovely purity of fruit here that I don't remember. It's a heady wine, to be sure, but I found the acidity here to help balance it. End of the day, I think others liked this more than I did -- I personally do not enjoy botrytis in dry riesling.
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2016 Weingut Keller Abts E® Riesling Spätlese 95 Points
Germany, Rheinhessen
#22-17, 8.5% abv. Yeah, this is the stuff. Scintillating, electric stuff. White hot acidity with tons of tension, counterbalanced by just the right amount of sweetness, and enough mineral extract on the palate that makes this feel dry (even though it's sweet and tastes sweet). A bit of green herbs also adds a nice touch to it, the way a bit of mint amps up a fruit salad. Complex, if you want to expend the effort, or just mindlessly delicious.
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2017 Weingut Keller Abts E® Riesling Auslese 93 Points
Germany, Rheinhessen
#22-18, 8% abv. A fair bit of sponti on the nose, that gives this a slight banana candy note. Ordinarily, that would seem off-putting, but it's not that bad here. Honeyed, rich, and tropical, this clearly has a high amount of acid that peeks out from all the sweet fruit. The palate has a lovely honeyed tone, with the fruit showing fairly tart, which helps with the sugar as well. It's a delicious wine, but not as scintillating at that brilliant 2016 Spätlese.
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2010 Weingut Keller Hubacker Riesling Großes Gewächs 90 Points
Germany, Rheinhessen
#42-11, 12.5% abv. The vintage, or the lesser pedigree shows a bit in this wine. Of course, it had a lot of stiff company -- it was the lone Hubacker in a lineup of Abtserdes. The nose had some reduction to it, more so than any of the other wines tonight. It had good white fruit and acidity, but the tension, and more importantly, the expansive fruit and complexity just weren't quite there.
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2007 Weingut Keller Spätburgunder Trocken 'S' 80 Points
Germany, Rheinhessen
#41-09, 14% abv. (Note that the label doesn't denote the 'S' -- this is the basic, QbA Spätburgunder, which doesn't seem to have a listing on CT.) Served double blind, though the bottle shape and the VDP eagle on the capsule made it clear this was Germany. Touch of reduction, as well as some weird natural wine smells on the nose. Perhaps a touch dirty, and a bit of oak here as well. The palate is surprisingly lean, mean, and green, with plenty of bitter and astringent tannins. Somehow it occurred to no one to guess Keller on this.
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2015 Peter Jakob Kühn Hallgartener Hendelberg Riesling Trocken 88 Points
Germany, Rheingau
#05-16, 12% abv. Nice herbal tones on the nose, with some hints of fruit as well. This is still a little high-toned and probably needs a little more time to settle down. The palate is quite lean -- surprisingly so for the ripe vintage, and this doesn't have the ripe fruits and rounded texture that I would expect from the vintage. A bit austere and lean, but air did fill this out a little bit more. Plenty of citric acidity on the finish. Not hot, but you can definitely feel the alcohol on this. All in all, a fine wine, but a bit more austere than I'd like in my dry German rieslings. As well, I seem to pick up some oaky notes on the finish.
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