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Deutschland, The 2007s
Wine Exchange - Orange, CA
Tasted October 25, 2008 by Badfish with 603 views
Introduction
I have to admit I do not have a lot of experience with Riesling but I had heard good things about the 2007 vintage in Germany so I thought why not check out this tasting. I am glad I did because these wines are brilliant with gorgeous fruit and mineral purity combined with laser like focus and balance. The better wines have tremendous density and complexity while maintaining the elegance and approachability that makes Riesling so attractive.
Flight 1 - Der Trockens und Halbtrockens (4 notes)
White
2007 Gerhard Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen Riesling Spätlese trocken
92 points
Pale gold with honeyed aromas of lemon oil and minerals in the glass. The palate gives an impression of sweet ripeness but it is certainly dry and concentrated with flavors of citrus and heady minerals. The finish is quite intriguing with a slightly bitter floral tone and great persistence. This wine is a gorgeous expression of ripe fruit in a dry style.
White - Off-dry
2007 Gerhard Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen Riesling Spätlese halbtrocken
91 points
Pale yellow in the glass with a reticent expression on the nose which shows subtle floral and mineral notes. The palate has a nice off dry tone with flavors of honey and orange marmalade. This wine has great balance and elegance with interesting stony and nutty notes on the finish.
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Comment
White - Off-dry
2007 Gerhard Hattenheimer Hassel Riesling Spätlese feinherb
93 points
This has a more platinum tone to the pale yellow color seen in most of these wines. The bouquet is just a stupendous expression of terroir with aromas of petrol, crushed stones, stone fruits, and floral undertones. Perhaps the sweetest wine in this flight but wonderfully braced by the acidity. The flavors on the palate consist of honeyed fruits and minerals that lead into a long lemon infused finish. The great balance of sweetness and tautness in this wine make in irresistible.
White - Off-dry
2007 Weingut Pfeffingen Riesling "Pfeffo" Halbtrocken
90 points
Very pale gold with sweet but reticent aromas of stones in the glass. This has loads of mineral presence on the palate with sweet citrus flavor and more of the stony notes on the attractive finish. This wine is quite bracing but it seems to have adequate fruit and structure to counterbalance that.
Flight 2 - Preis-Weine im Wert (2 notes)
White
2007 Loosen Bros. Riesling Dr. L
86 points
Pale platinum color in the glass with soft aromas of stone fruit and citrus in a very straightforward style. The palate is quite monotonous and it seems to showcase sweetness rather than fruit character although there is admirable mineral tone. The best thing about it is the refreshing quality.
White
2007 Schloss Lieser Riesling
88 points
Very pale gold color with a more interesting nose of petrol and stone fruits in the glass. This shows more fruit concentration on the palate than the Loosen with flavors of peach and other stone fruits. The sweetness is also quite apparent but it seems to be supported by more fruit density and gives this wine admirable character.
Flight 3 - Kabinett (6 notes)
White
2007 Dr. Loosen Riesling Blue Slate Kabinett
89 points
Pale platinum color with some spritz in the glass. The nose is sweet and attractive with notes of stone fruits and minerals. The palate opens up with nice sweetness and leads into flavors of honey and crushed stones. This wine has good character and while it is more refreshing than profound, the concentration is there.
White
2007 Dr. Loosen Bernkasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett
92 points
Right off the bat the nose on this wine is quite powerful and complex with aromas of tangerine, minerals, petrol, and sweet flowers. Also quite powerful on the palate with sweet honeyed fruit and bracing minerality in a gorgeously refreshing style. I find the interplay between the fruit and mineral tones to be quite intriguing, especially on the finish.
White
2007 Nik Weis / St. Urbans-Hof Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett
90 points
Pale yellow color with quite pungent aromas of honeysuckle, petrol, and slate in the glass. The palate is more elegant with initial sweetness that is braced well by the acidity. Not a lot of fruit density or character but very refreshing minerality.
White
2007 Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch (Müller-Burggraef) Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett
91 points
In the glass this is pale yellow and shows powerful aromas of sweet lemon and crushed stones. The palate has more than ample sweetness with flavors of apple and preserved lemons leading to wonderful mineral infusion on the finish.
White
2007 Gerhard Hattenheimer Hassel Riesling Kabinett
92 points
Pale gold color in the glass with nice honeyed aromas of stone fruits such as pear. The palate has an almost Sauternes like entry leading to powerful sweetness and fruit weight. The flavors are similar to the nose with more minerals showing on the sweet finish. I find this to be surprisingly dense and ripe for a Kabinett level wine.
White
2007 Emrich-Schönleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Kabinett
93 points
The gorgeous terroir is quite apparent on the nose with aromas of crushed stone, slate, peach, and orange. The sweet entry has superb lift and leads into powerful fresh fruit flavors of citrus, notably tangerine. This wine has wonderful concentration and persistence offering much more depth than a typical Kabinett.
Flight 4 - Spätlese (7 notes)
White - Off-dry
2007 Dr. F. Weins-Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
88 points
This comes across as quite reticent on the nose but it does show some honey and floral tones. The sweet entry is attractive but there is not a lot of fruit character on the palate although I did pick up some marmalade toward the finish. I find this to be somewhat monotonous for a Spätlese.
White - Off-dry
2007 Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese
91 points
The nose shows nice sweetness with notes of honeysuckle and petrol but it seems closed. The palate is powerfully sweet but the fruit is concentrated with plenty of stone fruit flavor through the long finish. This wine has ample acidity but the texture comes across and thick and oily. Seems closed but impressive nonetheless because of the obvious stuffing and balance. 91+
White - Off-dry
2007 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
92 points
Pure platinum gold color in the glass with aromas of fresh citrus and pineapple in a sweet powerful style. The entry is sweet with pear, coconut, and citrus flavors on the palate leading into a long sweet finish. This wine comes across as lighter than air because of the great balance.
White - Off-dry
2007 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Spätlese
94 points
Pale gold and somewhat spritzy in the glass with aromas of stone fruit, pineapple, and other tropical goodness. Quite an exotic elixir showing gorgeous sweetness on the palate with flavors of pineapple and guava. This wine is effortless showing great acid-sugar balance and tremendous persistence. The tropical tone would seem to point to a thicker and heavier wine but I did not find that to be the case at all; the refreshing quality is not lost.
White - Off-dry
2007 Freiherr Langwerth von Simmern Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Spätlese
93 points
This opens with complex and slightly pungent aromas of botrytis, honey, pear, and tropical fruits. The zesty botrytis character continues on the palate along with flavors of persimmon and pineapple. The fruit is quite concentrated which combines with solid acidity for a bracing finish. I find the interplay between tropical and spicy elements in this wine to be quite engaging.
White - Off-dry
2007 Emrich-Schönleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese
95 points
Pale greenish gold in the glass with some spritz. The heady bouquet on this one is quite tropical and honeyed with specific notes of citrus, minerals, and even some leafiness. On the palate this is thick and sweet but it has powerful mineral infusion melding with the tropical and stone fruit flavors. This comes across as sweet and dense but the balance is just superb because of the fresh bracing acidity. The aromas and flavors in this wine are so expansive, the complexity is quite moving. Wow.
White - Off-dry
2007 Gerhard Hattenheimer Schützenhaus Riesling Spätlese Alte Reben Goldkapsel
96 points
Very radiant, looking almost smoky in the glass with a pale platinum gold tone. This bouquet is amazing showing by far the most terroir of all the wines. Slate, citrus, peach, petrol, stalky elements, the aromas just keep wafting out. Ultra dense on the palate with the essence of crushed stones, minerals, and lemon oil. Like throwing a handful of stones and fresh lemons into a blender and drinking the resulting concoction. Holy shit. This wine seems almost dry and tannic because of the brutal acid-mineral structure; quite amazing and perplexing for a white. The long sweet finish continues the pure stone infused theme that is present. I have never seen such structure in a white wine so I have a feeling this beast has a very long life ahead of it. I think this is the most unique white wine I have ever experienced. 96+
Flight 5 - Auslese (1 note)
White - Off-dry
2007 Gerhard Hattenheimer Hassel Riesling Auslese
92 points
Quite ripe and sweet on the nose with notes of honey, botrytis, pineapple, and other tropical fruits. Also honeyed on the palate which shows ample sweetness including flavors of pear and coconut. The acidity seems adequate and there is good overall balance but not a lot of excitement. Overall a solid wine but this producer’s drier styled wines seem to be more profound.
Closing
As usual at a Wine Exchange tasting none of the wines were duds and they all delivered in spades when you consider their respective price points. Although this is a relatively small amount of wines, the 2007 vintage in Germany looks very promising. Most of the major regions were represented in this tasting and all offered solid wines. One specific thing I did find was that most wines seemed to have the ripeness and stuffing of what you would typically see from wines one Prädikat higher. I think this is another sign that 2007 is a special vintage.
For me the most profound wines represented in this tasting were from Gerhard, Emrich-Schönleber, and Schäfer-Fröhlich. The dry and nearly dry offerings from Gerhard were particularly moving and this is definitely a producer that is now on my radar. The semi sweet offerings from the latter two producers were also quite special in a different style showing more exotic tropical character.
I think the simplest way to describe these wines is to talk about their balance. In less than ideal vintages you tend to get too much or too little of one or more components. Some examples could be ripe fruit with low acidity or lean fruit with high acidity. I found most of these wines to have perfect complimentary levels of ripe fruit and fresh acidity. This effortless balance combined with the mineral essence and fruit complexity really make these wines quite special and definitely made for an engaging tasting.