Revisiting 2005 Mosel Rieslings

• 2005 Carl Schmitt-Wagner Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Light yellow. Spring flowers and tangerine. Rich and moutcoating with some apples too. Reasonable acidity and good length, but in sweetness and weight, this is a Spatlese, not a Kabinett. Somewhat dull.

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• 2005 Jakoby-Mathy Kinheimer Rosenberg Riesling Spätlese

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Light color. Very floral (acacia blossoms?), early petrol, and black tea. Flashy, rich, and ripe with upfront appeal (one could think of it as a "Spauslese"), mango and orange oil, but lower acid, short finish. This too needs more zip and detail.

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• 2005 Alfred Merkelbach Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Pale. Spice and citrus on the nose. Less sweet, more delicate than either of the 2 preceding wines. Earthier finish, some herbs, and clearly not as much of a fruit driven Riesling. Understated and fine if a bit lacking in flavor authority, this was a relief in that at least it was Mosel in style.

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• 2005 Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Spätlese

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  False start here as the first bottle was corked. Medium yellow. Least aromatically forthcoming but delicate, off dry, greener fruit profile and probably the best acidity of the lot. As opposed to most of the other wines, this improved, gained complexity, and impressed with some real power on the back end. Excellent balance. In the end, my dark horse favorite of the tasting, which certainly didn't seem likely when I took a whiff of the first bottle.

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• 2005 Jos. Christoffel Jr. (Christoffel-Prüm) Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese *

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Light color. Vanilla custard scent. Pure fruit, glossy, rich with moderate residual sugar, medium + weight, long finish. At the end, it is enhanced by a good dose of slate, and its richness is well balanced by rising acidity. More structure than is apparent at first and the only other wine apart from the Karthauserhof that developed in the glass.

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• 2005 Carl Schmitt-Wagner Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling Auslese

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Slighter fuller yellow. The deepest pitched fruit of the bunch with cherry (yes, cherry) tones, like smelling a red wine if you closed your eyes. Off dry (less sweet than a few of the lower Pradikat wines) with some higher inner mouth aromatics, strong core of concentrated, tangy black cherry fruit that leads into a bitter finish. This is not harmonious, and the finish is frankly poor as a result.

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• 2005 Selbach-Oster Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Medium yellow. Yellow peach and honey; the most heavily botrytized wine in the flight. Lush, almost unctuous, some smoke for interest. Delicious fruit and clings to the palate. Just a little more acidity would have elevated it to something really outstanding. This should have been the last wine of the tasting since it possessed BA level weight and richness.

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• 2005 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Hard to come back to this after the more intense Selbach Oster. Lower key stone fruit and not as much botrytis as in that wine. Much more typical Mosel Auslese size with brighter fruit that had papaya notes. Soil appears at the end. Some sweetness but good tension that is lacking in most of these wines. My second favorite.

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Granted, some of my favorite producers were not represented, but this tasting reinforced my view that this vintage is overrated in the Mosel. The wines tend to be somewhat loose, overly sweet for their level, and missing that ineffable sugar/acid balance that is so thrilling when you find it in prototypical German wines.