Super complex and balanced - really showed colours after 2-3 hours - wine needs time. Suttle flavours of peach, honey and velvet mouthfeel. Long finish and not overly fruity either! Aged Riesling Complexity at its best - 2nd day even more amazing, honey, oily, complex, caramel, hints of herbal notes of jasmin and tea - super long finish
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Just stellar. Insane cut with a never-ending finish. All depth, chiseled fruit macerated with crushed shells. Bone dry with hints of traditional Riesling notes. Fresh, Mineral and ethereal with plenty of life ahead.
NB. They're one of the only estates in the Pfalz to not jump on the GG (Grosses Gewächs) bandwagon, and they still use prädikat language on their labels. As Dominik Sona, one of the main forces behind K-R’s energetic, youthful team tells it, terms like Spätlese and Auslese don't have much to do with sugar levels here. Especially since all the wines we’re discussing are dry, the familiar prädikats are used as terms to describe the character of the wine. The selection process is a bit complicated, but the short version is that they harvest in multiple passes, then select what's going to be Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese based on tasting the barrels in the July following the harvest; the lightest and most refreshing wines become Kabinett, the most mineral are deemed Spätlese and the most deep and complex are declared Auslese. Additionally, two passes in the vineyard are dedicated to collecting berries of particular phenolic character: tiny, perfect, golden berries are selected for a Spätlese ‘R’ barrel and even smaller, amber-colored berries with no pips are selected for Auslese ‘R.’ If these barrels don’t live up to expectations, they are blended down into the lower cuvèes. and if they are better than expected, an ‘RR’ is born. Prior to release, the various reserve wines are held back in the cellar for late release: Spätlese ‘R’ for 4 years, Spätlese ‘RR’ for 5, Auslese ‘R’ for 6, and Auslese ‘RR’ for 7 years.
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Koehler-Ruprecht The best Dries and some add-ons; 6/23/2019-6/27/2019 (Neuhof am See): Semiblind. All wines decanted for a few hours. Gabriel Standard glas. Flights of three, All KS dry wines of Spätlese, Auslese, Auslese R und RR. Exotic fruits as mango, precise, cracking acidity. The warm vintage gives a nice sexieness. Not too austere. For me at his first Peak. For me the strongest of the 2009's. 95
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“Ten Years After” 2009 Dry Riesling Tasting (Private Location): I think this is the very first example of the Auslese R which was produced totally without Bernd Philippi. KR is always a special wine because to me often it isn’t a typical German Riesling. A very cool, balanced nose with aromas of lilac, balm, citrus peel, aniseed and herbal flavors. A complex but quite open nose for such a "young" Auslese R. On the palate balanced, quite complex with a lot of depth, length and precision. Still years ahead but like Dirk mentioned, one of the most pleasurable surprises of the evening. 94+
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10 years after Riesling tasting - 2009 (@Private location, Esslingen): Glass: Zalto Universal *** just some brief notes, no full details, rating in context of the vertical tasting *** Opened about 10h before, double decanted. Tasted blind. Clean, medium golden color. Clear, medium+ intense nose with lots of herbs and anise. Very deep and special. Still very (maybe too young), but it benefited greatly from the double decant. Most open Auslese R I had after 10 years’ time. Lean, precise, focused, driven by herbs and anise. Great depth and balance. Will even get better over the next 5-10 years! One of the most pleasurable surprises of the evening! 94++
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Looked dumb at first but after only 15 minutes it had blossomed considerably. I decanted it and it helped. It just kept getting better - more lilacs and elderflower on the nose and more length and sustain on the palate. Reminds me of Alsace riesling in that it has this oily texture to it - but it's still a wine of fineness and subtlety, with a very chalky, phenolic texture and a crisp, dry finish. The main thing that changes with time in the glass is the aromatics, which start like stale cupboards and dusty potpourri and evolve into tropical and vibrant orchard fruits and lavender fields. A pleasure to drink. Really delicious
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Short note - very unusal, lack of acidity, rose petals and bitterness in finish makes this look more like a gewurztraminer, not impressed, but could be a bad bottle, so nr, but if i would rate not over 90p
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Tastings in Italy and Germany - November/December 2017; 11/23/2017-12/1/2017 (Rome/Bernkastel/Cochem/Herborn): This was my first experience with Koehler-Ruprecht wines, and hopefully not my last. This 'R' (reserve) bottling could never be a GG, since I suppose that its residual sugar is way above what is allowed by the VDP for dry wines in this category. But it works wonderfully in this bottle - you get in what tastes like a dry wine aromas that are common in sweet ones, like honey, candy, caramel, and also some stonefruit. I could smell this the whole day!
On the palate it is not so great. Again, it tasted a bit sweet initially, but after some air it kind of goes away (this was particularly evident 48 hours after opening). It must be allowed to reach almost room temperature though - it does not show much while cold. And a lot of the aromas described on the nose appear again here, with good intensiveness but not much acidity and a medium finish. However, it is extremely pleasant to drink - I could drink bottles and bottles of this, something I don't think I'd manage to do when drinking GGs in general. And I am sure it will develop further, since it did after being open for two days. 93-94+pts.
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Riesling SWAG 2017 (Restaurant Vlet, Hamburg / Speicherstadt): From Magnum, straight from the vintners cellar. This wine had the bad luck to be served after 09 Kirchspiel and 11 Wittmann La Borne. It is certainly a very good, still youthful dry Riesling. But it was light years behind those two regarding tension, power, vibrancy and raciness. Much broader, more fat. Certainly not yet fully developed, but I heavily doubt, that it will gain this vibrant pressure and tension of Kellers 09 GG e.g. It will certainly loose fat and gain some more flavors, but that’s all.
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Wines of the Saumagen (Weingut Koehler-Ruprecht): Very difficult to form an opinion about this wine. For me it is shut down. Don´t get much on the nose. Very dark & unapproachable. Needs time but good potential. NR.
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8/17/2023 - JHSP Likes this wine: 95 Points
Super complex and balanced - really showed colours after 2-3 hours - wine needs time. Suttle flavours of peach, honey and velvet mouthfeel. Long finish and not overly fruity either! Aged Riesling Complexity at its best - 2nd day even more amazing, honey, oily, complex, caramel, hints of herbal notes of jasmin and tea - super long finish
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5/22/2022 - GArpaia Likes this wine:
Stellar Riesling.
Pale lemon. Pronounced. Mandarin, orange, lemon, ripe. wet stones, chalk. Gentle oaky texture.Dried apple, dried pineapple, gasoline. High acidity. Med body. Long and complex. Outstanding.
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5/25/2020 - GArpaia Likes this wine: 96 Points
Just stellar. Insane cut with a never-ending finish. All depth, chiseled fruit macerated with crushed shells. Bone dry with hints of traditional Riesling notes. Fresh, Mineral and ethereal with plenty of life ahead.
NB. They're one of the only estates in the Pfalz to not jump on the GG (Grosses Gewächs) bandwagon, and they still use prädikat language on their labels. As Dominik Sona, one of the main forces behind K-R’s energetic, youthful team tells it, terms like Spätlese and Auslese don't have much to do with sugar levels here. Especially since all the wines we’re discussing are dry, the familiar prädikats are used as terms to describe the character of the wine. The selection process is a bit complicated, but the short version is that they harvest in multiple passes, then select what's going to be Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese based on tasting the barrels in the July following the harvest; the lightest and most refreshing wines become Kabinett, the most mineral are deemed Spätlese and the most deep and complex are declared Auslese. Additionally, two passes in the vineyard are dedicated to collecting berries of particular phenolic character: tiny, perfect, golden berries are selected for a Spätlese ‘R’ barrel and even smaller, amber-colored berries with no pips are selected for Auslese ‘R.’ If these barrels don’t live up to expectations, they are blended down into the lower cuvèes. and if they are better than expected, an ‘RR’ is born. Prior to release, the various reserve wines are held back in the cellar for late release: Spätlese ‘R’ for 4 years, Spätlese ‘RR’ for 5, Auslese ‘R’ for 6, and Auslese ‘RR’ for 7 years.
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9/26/2019 - aquacongas Does not like this wine: 88 Points
Horizontal tasting of the27 best 2009 German Dry Rieslings; 9/16/2019-9/26/2019 (Concept Resling 14.09.2019): Semiblind
I guessed right because unfortunately this bottle was not perfect and I know the bottle variation of Koehler-Ruprecht, some oxidation, red apple, some hints of glue, missing length. 88
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6/26/2019 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 95 Points
Koehler-Ruprecht The best Dries and some add-ons; 6/23/2019-6/27/2019 (Neuhof am See): Semiblind. All wines decanted for a few hours. Gabriel Standard glas. Flights of three, All KS dry wines of Spätlese, Auslese, Auslese R und RR.
Exotic fruits as mango, precise, cracking acidity. The warm vintage gives a nice sexieness. Not too austere. For me at his first Peak. For me the strongest of the 2009's. 95
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6/22/2019 - NoTrollingerPlease Likes this wine: 93 Points
Koehler-Ruprecht: Complete Saumagen vertical of all Spätlese and Auslese R and RR plus X (Neuhof am See, Dillingen, Germany): *** please understand this note in the context of the whole vertical tasting ***
Glass: Gabriel Standard
Tasted blind.
Muted nose, some ripe yellow and white fruit.
Mellow apple, beautiful ripe acidity, some herbs, anise, wonderful depth and tension. Good extract. Nice length. Young. Needs time. 92-94+
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5/11/2019 - m_arcon Likes this wine: 94 Points
“Ten Years After” 2009 Dry Riesling Tasting (Private Location): I think this is the very first example of the Auslese R which was produced totally without Bernd Philippi. KR is always a special wine because to me often it isn’t a typical German Riesling.
A very cool, balanced nose with aromas of lilac, balm, citrus peel, aniseed and herbal flavors. A complex but quite open nose for such a "young" Auslese R. On the palate balanced, quite complex with a lot of depth, length and precision. Still years ahead but like Dirk mentioned, one of the most pleasurable surprises of the evening.
94+
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5/11/2019 - NoTrollingerPlease Likes this wine: 94 Points
10 years after Riesling tasting - 2009 (@Private location, Esslingen): Glass: Zalto Universal
*** just some brief notes, no full details, rating in context of the vertical tasting ***
Opened about 10h before, double decanted. Tasted blind.
Clean, medium golden color. Clear, medium+ intense nose with lots of herbs and anise. Very deep and special.
Still very (maybe too young), but it benefited greatly from the double decant. Most open Auslese R I had after 10 years’ time. Lean, precise, focused, driven by herbs and anise. Great depth and balance. Will even get better over the next 5-10 years! One of the most pleasurable surprises of the evening! 94++
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2/12/2019 - chatters wrote:
Cellarhand 20th Anniversary Tour 2019 V2 (Prince Sydney, 40 Hansard Street): Medium minus intensity earthy aromas, savoury notes, very slight kerosene. Softly juicy; wonderful acid line, really lovely mouthfeel persists long. More bout structure than fruit but lovely.
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9/30/2018 - gpritsch Likes this wine: 96 Points
very smooth, creamy. very good stuff.
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7/22/2018 - Milliontown wrote: 95 Points
Looked dumb at first but after only 15 minutes it had blossomed considerably. I decanted it and it helped. It just kept getting better - more lilacs and elderflower on the nose and more length and sustain on the palate. Reminds me of Alsace riesling in that it has this oily texture to it - but it's still a wine of fineness and subtlety, with a very chalky, phenolic texture and a crisp, dry finish. The main thing that changes with time in the glass is the aromatics, which start like stale cupboards and dusty potpourri and evolve into tropical and vibrant orchard fruits and lavender fields. A pleasure to drink. Really delicious
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11/29/2017 - Ebrim Likes this wine:
Short note - very unusal, lack of acidity, rose petals and bitterness in finish makes this look more like a gewurztraminer, not impressed, but could be a bad bottle, so nr, but if i would rate not over 90p
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11/27/2017 - br_winelover Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tastings in Italy and Germany - November/December 2017; 11/23/2017-12/1/2017 (Rome/Bernkastel/Cochem/Herborn): This was my first experience with Koehler-Ruprecht wines, and hopefully not my last. This 'R' (reserve) bottling could never be a GG, since I suppose that its residual sugar is way above what is allowed by the VDP for dry wines in this category. But it works wonderfully in this bottle - you get in what tastes like a dry wine aromas that are common in sweet ones, like honey, candy, caramel, and also some stonefruit. I could smell this the whole day!
On the palate it is not so great. Again, it tasted a bit sweet initially, but after some air it kind of goes away (this was particularly evident 48 hours after opening). It must be allowed to reach almost room temperature though - it does not show much while cold. And a lot of the aromas described on the nose appear again here, with good intensiveness but not much acidity and a medium finish. However, it is extremely pleasant to drink - I could drink bottles and bottles of this, something I don't think I'd manage to do when drinking GGs in general. And I am sure it will develop further, since it did after being open for two days. 93-94+pts.
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4/1/2017 - NoTrollingerPlease wrote: 91 Points
Riesling SWAG 2017 (Restaurant Vlet, Hamburg / Speicherstadt): From Magnum, straight from the vintners cellar. This wine had the bad luck to be served after 09 Kirchspiel and 11 Wittmann La Borne. It is certainly a very good, still youthful dry Riesling. But it was light years behind those two regarding tension, power, vibrancy and raciness. Much broader, more fat. Certainly not yet fully developed, but I heavily doubt, that it will gain this vibrant pressure and tension of Kellers 09 GG e.g. It will certainly loose fat and gain some more flavors, but that’s all.
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8/3/2016 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 95 Points
All dry Koehler-Ruprechts (Dado Restaurant Düsseldorf): Drinking all Auslese trocken R and RR, some Sptätlese trocken und Kabinett trocken from Koehler-Ruprecht.
It was an amazing evening. Very special wines. For many the best dry German Rieslings.
I rated this time generally lower than most of the other 12 participants. For some wines just ratings or short DN.
A great potential, a lot of refreshing aciidty, passionfruit, exotic fruits, yuzu and mountain peaches, 95-98
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11/27/2014 - m_arcon wrote:
Wines of the Saumagen (Weingut Koehler-Ruprecht): Very difficult to form an opinion about this wine. For me it is shut down. Don´t get much on the nose. Very dark & unapproachable. Needs time but good potential. NR.
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