17 Mosel Riesling Kabinett feinherb
@MM
Tasted November 3, 2013 by octopussy with 646 views
Introduction
A while ago, my friend Markus had invited us to a tasting of his favorite Riesling category: Kabinett feinherb, from Mosel, Saar and Ruwer to be exact. We had 3 flights of 5 to 6 wines each. We tasted them blind, but uncovered at the end of each flight. For the first two flights, it was announaced that we would have a "pirate" wine and that of three categories (producer, site, vintage), two would be the same and one would vary.
Flight 1 - Max Ferd. Richter - 2007 Kabinett feinherb (5 notes)
In this flight we had five wines of which three tasted vaguely similar and two tasted quite differently. The two that tasted differently tasted younger, fresher, more vibrant, less sweet and with more gooseberry, white currant and white blossom as well as citrus aromas as the other wines that were more on the ripe apple and pear side. All wines were similar in that they were fairly low in acidity.
We guessed the vintage right (2007) and we guessed right that wine no. 5 (one of the more vibrant ones) was the "pirate" wine. There was some discussion at the table whether the variable was producer or site. In the end, it was a question of whether you believe in "producer" or in "terroir".
White - Off-dry
2007 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett feinherb
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Light pale yellow. In the nose apple, raisins, baked apple, oily-slatey notes. A bit diffuse and wishy-washy. On the palate, it's quite rich, slightly alcoholic, biting. Pear, raisins, bitter notes. Some minerality there, it does have tension. A bit flat in the finish. Rich Spätlese style (12.5 % Vol.).
White - Off-dry
2007 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Mülheimer Sonnenlay Riesling Kabinett feinherb
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Very light yellow. In the nose mushrooms (champignons de Paris, fresh), slightly sulphuric, slatey, it "smells". There's white currant and herbal notes, too. This has tension. On the palate, it's fresh, juicy, light, white currant, lime, herbs. It's complete. Nicely spicy and "feinherb" in the sense of the word. Medium acidity, medium long finish. Very good.
White - Off-dry
2007 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett feinherb Mosel Saar Ruwer
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Light, pale golden yellow. In the nose diffuse and not precise at all, not very clean either. There's glue, red currant, malt, very ripe banana. Difficult. On the palate, it's quite fresh, a bit flat, it's got medium to low acidity, apple and citrus notes. Fairly short.
White - Off-dry
2007 Thanisch & Son Lieserer Niederberg Helden Riesling Kabinett feinherb
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Light, greenish yellow. In the nose, this fairly austere, stony, slatey-oily. Some lemon, kaffir lime leaves, herbs, white blossoms. Great. On the palate, austere again, slatey notes, mild acidity, gooseberry. "Rock hard" Kabinett style. Very well made.
Flight 2 - Ludwig Thanish & Sohn - Lieserer Niederberg Helden Kabinett feinherb Mini-Vertical (6 notes)
We got the commonalities in this flight pretty quickly. It was a mini-vertical of Ludwig Thanisch & Sohns Lieserer Niederberg Helden Kabinett feinherb from 2008 to 2012 with the only exception that the 2009 was a Spätlese feinherb.
None of the wines was as good as the 2007, only the 2010 and the 2008 came close, both with more acidity than the 2007. 2011 was really disappointing and 2012 - while balanced - was just a bit boring for my taste. While I think Thanisch's Niederberg Helden wines are excellent value (the Kabinetts are around 7 Euros/bt), I don't find them nearly as good as Thomas Haag's (Schloss Lieser). These wines are clear and pure, but they lack that extra dimension that other Rieslings from the region have, IMHO.
As a "pirate", we had Markus Molitor's 2011 Zeltinger Himmelreich Kabinett feinherb.
White - Off-dry
2008 Thanisch & Son Lieserer Niederberg Helden Riesling Kabinett feinherb
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Light yellow. In the nose, fairly closed down, shimmering, some vanilla, citrus fruits, detergent. Not very giving. On the palate, there's some CO2, it's fresh, compact, good extract, medium to strong acidity, lemony. Slightly soapy in the finish. So, so, but on the + side.
White - Off-dry
2010 Thanisch & Son Lieserer Niederberg Helden Riesling Kabinett feinherb
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Medium greenish yellow. In the nose, this is animating, creamy, lemony with biscuit notes. Very pleasing. On the palate, it's compact, minerally, lemony with nice, balanced, but zesty acidity. Not very sweet, finely woven. Kabinett style. Well done.
White - Off-dry
2011 Thanisch & Son Lieserer Niederberg Helden Riesling Kabinett feinherb
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Pale yellow. In the nose, this is very creamy, there are notes of woodruff, tangerine, white peach, Jasmin. Very fragrant, but not in a good way. On the palate, there's some CO2, the acidity is almost not detectable, there are bitter notes of tangerine and orange zest. Rather unappealing peary sweetness. Not very balanced, don't like it.
White - Off-dry
2011 Markus Molitor Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett (Green Capsule)
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Very light yellow. In the nose, fresh, red-fruited (red currant, raspberry), white flowers, pear. On the palate, it's got (typical for Molitor in my view) fairly mild acidity, it's fresh nonetheless, finely woven. It's got finesse. A "soft" wine that needs to be listened to. Not spectacular, but very good.
White - Off-dry
2012 Thanisch & Son Lieserer Niederberg Helden Riesling Kabinett feinherb
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Very light yellow. In the nose, there's creamy lemon tart, woodruff, some yeast. Seems very young. Fresh, also. On the palate, lots of CO2, woodruff again, some bitter notes, not very sweet. Medium acidity. Very balanced, but also a bit boring.
Flight 3 - 2012 Kabinett feinherb from various producers (6 notes)
In the last flight, the theme was interpreted more loosely as we had six different Kabinett feinherbs from 2012. Everyone was already a bit tired after so many fairly similar wines, but we tried hard to stay focused. Still, the differences between the single wines blurred more and more despite lots of spitting (I swallowed maybe one small glass of wine that evening). I think this is also due to Kabinett feinherb being a niche category that has sort of a focused flavour profile and that has to be manipulated even a little more than off-dry Kabinetts or maybe also dry Kabinetts. Only one wine in this flight really stood out and was particular. The rest was not great and not off-putting.
White
2012 Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier Riesling Erdener Kabinett feinherb
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Light yellow. In the nose, lemony, slightly slatey, notes of Caipirinha (lime, brown sugar). On the palate, it's tart, it's got medium acidity, lemon again, only mildly sweet. Kabinett style. However, it lacks tension and complexity. There's nothing to hold on to. It's really, really boring.
White - Off-dry
2012 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Riesling Kabinett feinherb
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Very light and clear yellow. In the nose, there's slate, some sulphur, herbal ethereal notes (tarragon, Vermouth, Aloe Vera). It's almost like medicine. Very interesting and full of tension. On the palate, it's wild, embryonic, tart and bitter, not very sweet. Great finish in which the bitter not goes away. Spicy in the back end. This could become really, really good.
White
2012 Ludwig Breiling Riesling Mertesdorfer Herrenberg Kabinett feinherb
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Very light yellow. In the nose, there are grassy notes, there's some lime leaf, silvery notes as well as vegetal nuances. On the palate, it's lean, Kabinett-style, only mildly sweet, fairly mild acidity, too. Breaks down in the finish, but it's quite delicious nonetheless.
Closing
All in all I was a little disappointed of these wines as they showed in the tasting. It got unexciting after a while. Surely, 17 wines were too many. Also, the theme was pretty narrow and the flavour profile of the wines was also quite narrow. I was missing some controversial wines, maybe even wines that simply taste off-putting and of course hopefully wines that taste great. We had some really good tasting wines, but none of which I'd say "Now, THIS is my reference point for Kabinett feinherb". Last, but not least, I'd say these are drinking wines and not tasting wines. So maybe I'd become a bigger fan of this category of Riesling when I drank it more at the dinner table (I usually have feinherb without a Prädikat, dry or clearly off-dry Kabinett at home).
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