2016 Martin Müllen Trarbacher Hühnerberg Riesling Kabinett * Trocken

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 89.3 points

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  9/2/2023 - forceberry wrote: 89 Points

  11,5% alcohol. Bottle no. 1552.
  
  Luminous, pale lemon-yellow color. The nose feels expressive with intense Riesling aromas of lemon marmalade, some honeydew melon, a little bit of apple jam, light steely mineral tones, a hint of tangerine and a floral touch of apple blossom. The wine feels dry, crisp and pretty high-strung on the palate with a medium body and intense flavors of ripe lemony citrus fruits and tart key lime and Granny Smith apple tones, a little bit of steely minerality, light floral notes of apple blossom, a hint of apple peel bitterness and a touch of tangy salinity. The overall feel is somewhat austere, due to the combination of very high acidity, somewhat pronounced bitter notes and rather pronounced mineral profile. The finish is dry, rather bitter and quite lean with a long aftertaste of lemony citrus fruits and apple peel bitterness, some saline mineral tones, a little bit of tart key lime, light incisive steely nuances, a hint of chalk dust and a touch of honeydew melon.
  
  A wonderfully crisp and mineral bit also still very tightly-wound single-vineyard Kabinett that feels rather bitter and austere. Knowing how Müllen makes very lean, ageworthy and acid-driven Rieslings, it seems this wine is just way too young to be appreciated fully now. I know how these wines relax and resolve with enough time, but at the moment most of the fruit seems to be held hostage by the mineral tones and bitter flavors, letting only the leanest flavors of lemon, key lime and Granny Smith apple peek through. I'd let the wine age for another 10 years more - this is really built for the long haul. Expect the score to go up as the wine ages.

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  1/24/2018 - fhayek Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Oh, what a great wine.
  
  The Trarbacher Hühnerberg vineyard always has a very distinct characteristic, difficult to describe, very mineralic with a spicy component which reminds me of southern France for some reason (lavender?). Very exotic anyway.
  
  But I also have to say, when I tasted a phenomal range of Muellen's wines in 2013 with friends who are not at all into wine, I was the only one who fancied the Hühnerberg wines.
  
  Now to this wine: this is textbook Mosel to the extent that it is light on its foot and still very, very rich. Unmistakebly Hühnerberg; oriental spices and grapefruit, pear and quince, and some very nice minerality. Mango and blood orange.
  
  Perfect balance, great length, consistency throughout the entire mouth.
  
  I would recommend this wine only for experienced drinkers though, especially as it's almost bone dry. But they should find a whole lot of joy in this wine.
  
  A wine like that from a difficult vintage that was 2016 - chapeau!

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  10/14/2017 - Mlermontov wrote: 89 Points

  The German Crush Tour; 10/8/2017-10/16/2017: spicy wine, with ginger and pepper in the mid, very bright, mid has ripe sweaty riesling flavor, lots of lemon zest on the big dry finish. serious wine.

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