December 8, 2005 - Joanne

The Age of Riesling 11th Year Celebration Tasting

Tasting at Subterraneum - Oakland, CA
Saturday, December 3rd, 2005

Bill Mayer, proprietor of The Age of Riesling, sells, I believe, more Riesling than any retailer in the US. He has no store front, just a warehouse in Richmond, CA (a bit North of Berkeley). But his mailing list consists of German and Austrian wine fans who rely on him to sell them the right wines. He visits Germany and Austria every year, often accompanying Terry Theise (Importer), whose wines he specializes in. Be sure to sign up for his great newsletter.

We tasted all 72 wines. Of note were the 2004 German Rieslings of the Kabinett level. I thought they were particularly strong, indicating to me an overall excellent year for Germany. - Jack

Austria

2004	Alzinger	Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Mühlpoint	$29	Okay. Benign drinker.	1+
2004	Alzinger	Riesling Smaragd Loibenberg	$58	Slightly overripe fruit center which extends to finish. Really long finish.	2-3+
2004	Bründlmayer	Riesling Kamptaler Terrassen	$22	Almost colorless. Citrus notes. Slightly sweet center. Very clean.	2?
2004	Bründlmayer	Riesling Steinmassel	$30	Slightly sweet first notes. A little too much ripeness in center but a clean finish.	2+
2003	Glatzer	Zweigelt Riedencuvée	$17	Oak and wood fire on nose. Tight center. Interesting.	1?
2004	Glatzer	Blaufränkisch Reserve	$23	Berries and wood on nose. Too much oak, like chewing wood chips or eating BBQ charred meat.
2004	Gobelsburg	Grüner Veltliner Steinsetz	$23	Wild flowers on nose.	2-3+
2004	Gobelsburg	Riesling Gaisberg	$32	Really sweet first notes. Still clean with a tart finish.	3
1997	Gobelsburg	Riesling Gaisberg	$15	Richer. Rounder center. Almost soft. Slightly bitter finish.	0
2000	Hirtzberger	Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Rotes Tor	$20	Although not oaked, it tastes like oaked sauvignon blanc.	1-2
2004	Jamek	Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Stein am Rain	$25	Clean tart slightly acidic center	0-1
2004	Jamek	Riesling Federspiel Pichl	$34	Sweet citrus powdery center like sweet-tart candy.	3?
1998	Jamek	Riesling Federspiel Pichl	$15	Caramelized Lemons on nose and finish. Sour and tart in center.	0-1
2003	Lehrner	St. Laurent	$32	Oak on nose. Vanilla!
2004	Mantler	Grüner Veltliner Lößterrassen	$21	Awful. Rotten fermenting fruit flavors.	0
1997	Mantler	Riesling Wieland	$15	Thin and bitter center. Bitter finish.	1?
2004	Nigl	Grüner Veltliner Privat	$45	Sweet tart and slightly bitter. Good!	2-3
2004	Nikolaihof	Riesling Federspiel vom Stein	$36	Dry and clean with slight ripeness in center. Clean finish.	3+
1997	Nikolaihof	Riesling Smaragd vom Stein	$25	Soft first notes. Slight sweetness and lemons on center. Bitter finish.	0
2004	Prieler	Pinot Blanc Seeberg	$24	Clean nose. Over-ripe yellow fruit center.	2
2004	Salomon	Grüner Veltliner Wieden	$17	Slight greenness and tart center.	0
2004	Salomon	Riesling Noble Botrytis	$31	Over-ripe apricots on finish.	?
2003	Sattler	St Laurent Reserve	$34	Sugar and berries on nose. Vanilla and berries in center. Wood on finish.
1999	Schröck	BA (375ml)	$40	Intense peach/apricot nose. Essence of toated raisins. Bitter caramel with herbs. Long finish. Cooked apricots/apricot puree on finish.
2004	Setzer	Grüner Veltliner Eichholz	$26	Sweetness and bitterness with over-ripe peach/apricot finish. Rustic.	0-1
1997	Thiel	Rotgipfler Spätlese	$15	Interesting. Slight sweetness.	1+

Germany

2004	Christoffel	Estate Riesling	$20	Sweet again.	1-2+
2004	Christoffel	Erdener Treppchen Kabinett	$25	Honey. Good acids. Balanced.	1?
2004	Christoffel	Erdener Treppchen Spätlese	$28	Not that balanced. Soft center. Over-ripe yellow fruit with a baking bread finish.
2004	Christoffel	Ürziger Würzgarten Auslese 1 Star	$38	Wow, that’s great! Yum, Really good acids. Not as intense as the Selbach Oster Auslese. Balanced	3+
2004	Christoffel	Ürziger Würzgarten Auslese 2 Stars	$48	Granny smith/green apple nose. Tastes like a perfect green apple. Slight tart but sweet. Green apple finish.	4+
2004	Darting	Dürkheimer Michelsberg Kabinett	$17	Honey nose. Floral first notes. Slightly over-ripe fruit center. Some acids on finish.	2-3
2004	Deinhard	Scheurebe Kabinett	$19	Looks like water. Interesting. Slightly spicy. More pleasant than some. Good finish.	2
2004	Dönnhoff	Estate Riesling	$21	Sweetness but good acids. Balanced.	1-2
2004	Dönnhoff	Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Auslese	$71	Cloves with green apples on nose. Slight over-ripe on center. Long finish but not enough acids.	3
2004	Dönnhoff	Nierhäuser Herrmannshöhle Auslese (375ml.)	$58	Very very sweet center. Great acids on finish. Very very balanced.	3+
2004	Eugen Müller	Forster Mariengarten Kabinett	$17	Good. Sweet. Good Value.	3?
2004	Geil	Rieslaner Spätlese Feinherb	$19	Ugh. Bitter. Over-ripe fruit.	0
1999	Grünhaus	Abtsberg Auslese	$25	*Drink soon. Sauteed/Cooked Peaches/Peach Puree. Rosemary. Exciting.	3+*
2002	Haart	Piesporter Goldtröpchen Spätlese	$21	Over-ripe fruit or vegetable finish.	1-3
2002	Haart	Piesporter Goldtröpchen Auslese	$28	Rich. Good acids. But short finish. Piesporter that is drinkable and even good!	3?
1999	Heger	Ihr. Winklerberg Spätlese trocken	$15	Plastic nose (like a plastic beach ball). Horrible. Chemical.	0
2004	Hexamer	Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Kabinett	$22	Still effervescing. Not too balanced. Ja: Best food wine.
2002	Heyl	Niersteiner Brudersberg Spätlese	$19	*Drink soon. Doesn’t have great acids. Sweet first notes. Greeness in center. Honey on finish.	2-3*
2004	Jakoby Mathy	Kinheimer Rosenberg Kabinett	$16	Very sweet first notes. Almost honey with herbs. Some acids on finish. Tasty.	3
2004	Kruger-Rumpf	Münsterer Pittersberg Spätlese	$26	Balanced – sweet and acids. Less sweet than some of the Kabinetts.	1+
2004	Kruger-Rumpf	Scheurebe Kabinett	$19	Bright. Good acids. Slight sweetness and bitterness on finish.	1+
2004	Leitz	Rüdesheimer Magdalenenkreuz Spätlese	$22	Yum! Balanced. Jack: Tastes good! Simple.	1-2
2004	Lingenfelder	Freinsheimer Scheurebe Spätlese Alte Reben	$30	Minerally. Slightly sweet center.	3
2004	Meßmer	Scheurebe (Liter)	$14	House wine choice? Slight bitter finish. Good acids.	2?
2004	Meulenhof	Erdener Treppchen Spätlese	$22	Quaffer. Sweet. Ok. Decent acids. Tiny finish and then completely dead.	1+
2004	Minges	Riesling HT (Liter)	$17	Very sweet nose. Bland slightly sweet center. Okay.	0
2004	Minges	Gleisweiler Hölle Scheurebe Spätlese	$24	No No No! Get this out of my mouth! Ick. Jack: I liked! For those that like Gewurtz this is the one.	2-3
2004	Müller-Catoir	Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Kabinett	$35	Honey notes. Over-ripe peach/apricot on finish.	2
2004	Willi Schaefer	Graacher Domprobst Spätlese #10	$42	Slightly effervescent – like tart flat lime-lemon soda. Jack: Best wine of the day. Finish goes on forever.	4+
2004	Willi Schaefer	Estate Riesling	$19	Happy to drink a bottle. Great nose. Sweet center. Slight acids in center. Good! A good house wine.	2?
1999	Schloß (Schloss) Saarstein	Auslese	$20	Sweet. Coffee Grounds. Unique. Turkish Coffee. Decent finish.	3?
2004	Selbach-Oster	Zeltinger Schloßberg Kabinett	$23	Flat lemon-lime soda with less sugar.	2+
2004	Selbach-Oster	Zeltinger Schloßberg Auslese	$34	Balanced. Really good. Where’s the lobster?!	3-4
2004	Spreitzer	Oestricher Lenchen Kabinett	$23	Cool aquamarine bottle. Balanced!	3+
2004	Strub	Niersteiner Kabinett (liter)	$15	Crowd pleaser. Very sweet style. Very soft almost like a brioche crust finish. A good house drinker.	1
2004	Strub	Niersteiner Brückchen Kabinett	$18	Really great acids but not so balanced. Jack: Not excited.
1997	von Buhl	Forster Ungeheuer Auslese Classic	$25	Very, very sweet. Almost dessert. Sweet caramelized burnt sugar – creme brulee.	3?
2002	Von Kesselstatt	Josephshöfer Spätlese	$19	*Drink now. Good balanced. Decent balance.	3*
2004	Weegmüller	Haardter Bürgergarten Kabinett	$19	Great value. Very sweet Kabinett. Light balanced – good. Slightly caraway.	3+

Champagne

John Kwitkor Valley View’s Champagne Selections

NV	Claude Carré et Fils	Brut	$30	Medium bubbles. Yeasty center. Bread finish. A bit of tartness. Jack: Kinda like.	2
1997	Claude Carré et Fils	Brut	$50	Good acids. A bit tart. Balanced. Slight sourness on finish.	1-2
NV	Paul Dethune	Blanc de Noir Brut	$40	Sweet bread. Interesting flavors. Almost Beef Wellington.	3+
NV	Paul Dethune	Princesse Des Thunes	$50	Frothy mousse. A lot of bubbles. Thin center. Clean finish. More subtle.	2-3
NV	Pehu-Simonet	Brut	$40	Not too frothy. Sour lemons on finish.	2-3
NV	Pehu-Simonet	Brut Rosé	$45	Very light pink. Tiny bit of acidic strawberry on finish.	1-2?
2000	Pierre Jamain	Brut	$45	Liquid Pixie Stix.	1?