some rieslings with salil

Salil was back in chicago and put out the call to meet up with a few people for some rieslings at one of his favorite places to eat. Wally and I joined up with salil to partake

• 2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 93 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  nose: a bit tight at first, and then unraveled as the dinner went on and when it opened up, it really blossomed with tart red and green apples, oils, honeysuckle tones, mangoes, some whisps of perfumes, and very pretty white floral tones
  
  taste: great medium+ acidity with tart tones of red and green apples, honey tones, tart pear notes, bits of melons, some white florals all on top of a great mineral tones that provide a great base for the flavors on teh palate.
  
  overall: a real delicious wine that still has a lot of room to grow. Pale straw color with great and refreshing acidity. Wonderful mineral undercurrants give this wine a real spine to work with along with a deft light feel on the palate. Very pretty and pronounced aromatics with tart flavors giving off a zesty apple based attack and pear finish

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• 1994 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 92 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  nose: beautifully evolved nose of honey, petrol, peaches, light floral tones, and sweet tones of lemon creams. Very pretty, and almost delicate, but more along the lines of being refined
  
  taste: Wonderful elegant feel with medium acidity(I was expecting the acidity to be higher) with rounded tones of honey drops, melons, peach tones, bits of petrol along with some cream tones that really round out the flavors and provide lots of balance
  
  overall: a delicious wine. While I would've preferred the acidity to be higher, this is a very elegant and pretty wine with great aromatics and flavors. The color on this bottle showed almnost zero signs of aging as it was a nice lighter shade of yellow. Medium acidity with a nice tartness all around make this a compelling wine that will be fun to revisit in the future

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• 2005 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese 93 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  nose: very closed at first. As it opened it changed and took on many different faces, first starting with lots of sweet fruit tones of lemon curd, green apples, and grapefruits. In the second phase more minerality started to develop, but oils were added in along with spice tones, some tart citrus and white fruits. In the final part, it became extremely mineral driven adding in layers of slate, wet rocks, and various minerals taking over the fruits that were present. A beautiful nose that is so well layered and ever changing and pleasing in all phases of its evolution over the dinner
  
  taste: Great feel that is just so well layered and deep that is just jam packed with tones of slate, minerals, lemon curd, spices, granny smith apples, and some mango flavors. What gained during the evening was teh acidity and the weight and layering gained even more. This is a feel that just needs to be drank to really understand as its kind of hard to describe, but so delicious
  
  overall: my first experience with a donnhoff that wasn't the estate riesling, and this was a real treat. There is a big-ness to it without being huge and maintaining a good medium/light feel. The acidity is in perfect balance and it gains as the bottle is open and stays nice and crisp while providing a great spine for the wine. Beautifully layered and great depth this went through several different phases and was throughly enjoyable at every point

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• 2001 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 91 Points

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  nose: much different from the other rieslings. This one has a much more pronounced smokey backdrop with some vanilla beans, tart green apples, cloves, and some bits of petrol that hide underneath. Very interesting, and while not neccessarily exotic, there is intrigue to this, though it lacks the depth that the other three wines had
  
  taste: well defined and well layered with vanilla beans, green apples, smoke tones, some petrol, drops of honey, and a nice mineral undercurrent. Nice acidic spine that puts it all very nicely together
  
  overall: This wasn't as good as the other three, but one has to consider the company it was in. This seems to be really starting to drink at its peak and is much more interesting on the palate then on the nose. There is great depth and layering on the palate that wasn't really existent on the nose. Great feel with medium acidity makes this a very enjoyable riesling

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It was great checking out spoon thai finally and great meeting salil. Lots learned and you can't beat spoon thai for the price. All of the wines showed well and the company was a lot of fun. Its always great having some of the smaller off lines as we can really get into the wines and see their evolution. It made things really interesting and fully brought out the wine geek in me