April 21, 2024 - Ye Olde Riesling Dinner (SDK - Castro): There is this lovely, honeyed note on the nose (with some petrol) while it has an elegant lightness on the palate. It tastes more like a Spatlese with a gentle (but sufficient) acidity balanced with an orange-honeyed sweetness. I did not get any hint of botrytis. I was told that AP #9 was the “clean” auslese and that Zilliken produces other Auslese APs that have a heavier botrytis influence.
August 16, 2019 - Evening with friends (Weindorf Kirchheim, Waldhorn Laube): *** brief notes from and for my memory, no rating ***
Glass: Gabriel Standard
Popped and poured, AP#9. Very youthful bottle without the classic Zilliken notes of Petrol and peat. Pure Mango fruit juice. Very delicious, but also a bit one-dimensional. Lacks tension, complexity and length. But again: Extremly delicious! 90-92
April 26, 2018 - Leaking bottle, but shouldn't have worried - outstanding as ever, with its usual array of ripe fruit, green herbs, honey, minerality, and smoke, and fantastic acidity beneath to balance the sweetness and keep it very focused and bright.
February 6, 2018 - Nose is super deep with tropical fruits like passion fruit. Intense. Great fruit. Fresh mango and figs. Milk and honey finish. Lovely wine with big hips and a lot of grace. Blind, I thought it was ~2007.
April 30, 2015 - Very brief notes from TTTG (blind) (Vernon, CT): The nose is just eh, for some reason, but the palate is WOW. Very fresh, young lemon and sweet orange, peach and apricot, and a huge attack of zippy, citrus acid. Yum!!
April 30, 2015 - Third Thursday tasting group (Vernon, CT): Another great bottle of this, and I'm kicking myself for not buying more when I could. A blast of petrol and smoky funk on the nose, but the palate is an array of very fresh orchard fruits, honey, floral notes, and crystalline minerality. There's moderate sweetness balanced by a spine of powerful acidity that keeps this incredibly fresh and precise, and remarkable length. Fantastic.
April 30, 2015 - TTTG (Salil's): The nose gives a distinct new rubber tire note that doesn’t seem to show up on the palate. On entry there is a burst of bright lemon that carries into the finish where the initial charge from the fruit drops off and is replaced by less concentrated honey and orchard fruit flavors that linger on and on. The contrast from the nose to palate is terrific. For all of its depth this is incredibly light and lively.
Excellent – Drink or Hold
February 19, 2015 - #09-98, 7.5% abv. Pale straw in colour. Very tropical nose, with some floral aromas as well as kiwifruit, pineapple, and white peach. No signs of petrol on the nose. This has a slight bit of funk (a la Wehlener Sonnenuhr) on the palate, but is showing remarkable fruit and acidity, counterbalanced by some chalky mineral quality as well. Much more fruit-forward than the 1990 I had a few days ago (and the acidity is a lot less loud). I imagine this still has quite some ways to go on its way to developing even more pronounced secondary characteristics. If I had to guess this is sitting at the very beginning of its mature phase, but if the 1990 is any indication, that phase is going to be very, very long. No signs of decline at all on the second day, though the tart fruit seems slightly more prominent than the day before, with juicy pineapple being the dominant tone. If this weren't so damn good, I'd be able to save some for investigation tomorrow, but alas, I drained the rest of the bottle in no time.
December 14, 2014 - Never could stand that fork ... (Mikhailgrad (Rego Park, Queens)): Sweet and soft with some pine, honey, nectar, banana. Great spice, creamy, white flowers. Sweet on the palate with honey, vanilla cream, creamy fruit. Very light and clear finish - tart lime, flowers, minerals. This is airy and nearly floats away. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1/2 = 16/20.
December 14, 2014 - In which Seth lost his fork. (Count's place, NY): Doesn't show the strong smoky/petrol notes of previous bottles; the orchard fruit flavours are more intense and youthful here with gentle herbal and mineral accents, and there's a bright acid spine beneath with a vivid mineral undercurrent. Great balance and focus. Love it.