NobleRottersSydney - German night

Lucio's, Paddington
Tasted Monday, March 3, 2003 by graemeg with 467 views

Introduction

The Noble Rotters gather for the bi-annual German Wine night. Unusually, on this occasion, none of the wines are from Alsace! Providence supplied us with many similar pairs of wine, enabling useful comparisons to be made, although twice we had cause to suspect either the 2000 vintage, or the corks used in that year… Lighting was a bit dim, so no real notes on colour. Anyhow, on to the wines (in tasting order):

Flight 1 (10 Notes)

  • 2000 Georg Breuer Riesling Montosa

    Germany, Rheingau

    (cork, 12%, AP 2 01) An explosive nose of lemons and sweet stewed apple fruit. Rich and fruity on the palate, wirth a hint of spritzig. Some mineral qualities, but not lean in any way. Delicious wine with no signs of unripeness Wonderful!

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  • 2001 Egon Müller Riesling QbA Scharzhof

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    {cork, 10.5%, AP 15 02) The 2001 reveals a restrained slatey nose. It blossoms on the palate, with tones of honey & mead. Offers a rich viscous texture which blooms on the palate, then fades to a medium length finish. Very attractive.

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  • 2000 Egon Müller Riesling QbA Scharzhof

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    (cork, 9%, AP 1 01) The 2000, by contrast is a much darker shade of yellow. The nose follows, with a strongly honeyed, yet faintly musty, even oxidised quality. It’s difficult to attribute this to simply a further year’s bottle age. The finish is shorter than the 01 as well. Still a good wine, but perhaps a bit suspect in the light of the 01’s qualities.

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  • 2000 Weingut Heymann-Löwenstein Riesling Schieferterrassen Flawed

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    (cork, 12%, 04 01)
    And it gets worse. This wine is a very strong yellow indeed. All fruit flavour seems suppressed on the nose, and the palate is short, flat and lacking in fruit. I suspect either random oxidation or heat damage. Not TCA, though!

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  • 2001 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    (cork, 8.5%, AP 3 02) Another pair of Müller wines separated by a single vintage. The 01 has a rich nose of minerals and green apple. The style is not dissimilar to the Scharzhof rieslings, but the intensity is greater and the finish much longer. Despite the sweet fruit aromas, the palate is bone dry. There’s an evenness of flavour across all the tongue which is quite surprising (something I don’t find in many Clare Valley rieslings, for example).

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  • 2000 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    (cork, 8%, AP 3 01) Again, the 2000 is significantly darker, with a pronounced candied, almost caramelised apple nose. This has lost a lot of primary fruit, but is carried by acid and body. Similar to the 2001 wine, although I wouldn’t have expected it to taste so relatively advanced. Also finished shorter than the 2001.

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  • 1998 Weingut Hirschhof Riesling Spätlese trocken

    Germany, Rheinhessen

    (cork, 9.5%, AP 27 99) A rich, warm lemon, lanolin and lime nose – a lot nearer to a new world riesling style. On the palate its very aldehydic and turpentine – a bit oily and thick. Shortish finish, but still a pleasant wine. Only really disappointing in the context of the two previous [Muller] wines.

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  • 1999 Balthasar Ress Hattenheimer Schützenhaus Riesling Kabinett

    Germany, Rheingau

    (cork, 9.5%, AP 5 00) Clear as water! A very light floral nose, wityh a wisp of spritz on the palate. Light and fruity (not cloying at all) with fresh acid carying it nicely. Medium length finish. Probably needs a bit more time to show its best.

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  • 1988 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    (cork, 9.5%, AP 7 89) The Kabinett was mid yellow, with a nose hinting at (browned) apple, but mostly toffee & caramel. Acid still carrying the wine nicely – it’s an odd mix of freshness of texture combined with aged flavours. Wonderful length – the flavours persist beautifully.

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  • 1988 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    (cork, 8.5%, AP 6 89)
    The Auslese is another step up [from Kabinett] – a slightly deeper yellow, the nose also showing a hint of vanilla (?). It’s remarkably similar to the Kabinett – at this age the changed balance of sweetness/alcohol is not really noticeable. Perhaps the Auslese simply has an extra degree of intensity beside it’s humbler brother. A very attractive wine indeed, although my enthusiasm was tempered a little by discovering that it cost the extortionate sum of A$65 in 1989. That’s serious money!

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