Riesling ’07 and a recommendation for ‘great buy’

I was given the task to choose german riesling from a specific distributor in CPH, and due to the constraints of sortiment, it left me with only one option within the budget frame. Since German producers have declared 2007 for a super year, almost unlike any other years. We tried a Mosel wine, and our verdict of this wine is that it is a genuinely pleasant glass of wine. In particular for it’s purpose - a reception.

And now to something completely different. I failed to buy Renato Ratti Barolo 05 last year at a favourable price. Ever since the price has gone up, at intervals of 3 months. Last weekend, their Langhe Nebbiolo from 07 was on sale, and although not a Barolo, I did not want to repeat the mistake.

The best purpose of selecting wines is to find wine gems, either undiscovered, underrated, a simply good value for money. And here is one. Ratti’s Langhe for 83kr.

Schloss Marienlay 2007

Clear with wheat yellow colour tones. Bouquet of mango, passionfruit and acacia-flower. The taste is well balanced; at first fresh, midpalate somewhat sweet, and again, a fresh finish. 89P Vinoble 99kr

Renato Ratti Langhe 2007

Bouquet of raspberries, rose, viol and herbs. Taste of soft tannins. The bottle reminds me of why i like Piemonte wines, for their cool style, perfect acidity, yet powerful body. 91-92P, Phillipsonwine 10+2 (83kr/bottle), Great buy

Wild ferment and German pinot

Saturday night offered two good wines. A Chilean white and German red. Errazuriz have already established themselves as one of Chiles most ambitious producers. A series of their mid-range price tagged products (btw 12-20€) are, to my taste, quite good. The wild ferment is special as it is produced using natural yeasts which increase the complexity of the flavours in the wine. We had the wine to a nice starter of cold smoked salmon sashimi.

Thereafter we tried a Spätbugunder from Nahe. The wine maker, Tim Frolich has recently established himself among the best producers in Nahe. His Spätburgunder are particularly good due to the effort in selecting the right barriques. The wine was accompanied to roasted chicken in bacon with garniture.

Errazuriz Chardonnay 2007 Wild Ferment

Color bright yellow with olive green glaze. Bouquet of exotic fruits, mango, hazel, and butter.

Taste is balanced with a bitter sweet passion fruit note followed by an enjoyable sweet aftertaste of nuts/almonds. Mad & vin, 139kr 91P

Schäfer-Frolich Spätburgunder 2005

Overtone of raspberries, earth, liquorice, flowers (viols and rose), on a base of red cherries. The taste is very balanced with a delightful dry aftertaste. It’s a straight and very aromatic Spätburgunder; girlfriends loved it too. Atomwine 99kr/bottle (norm price 139kr). 91P

Tasted by Laurent & Anders Drud

German Riesling,again!!

Some time ago we tasted a few different German Rieslings which left us (or at least me) wondering whether German Riesling is just not for us. The only way to find out is to try out more of the German stuff. This time I chose the basic Riesling from one of the most renowned producers who is highly praised for his intense and well-structured wines.

Keller Riesling Trocken 2008

The wine was opened and poured. In the nose it seems a little reluctant to reveal its secrets, yet a few swirls uncovers notes of grapefruit, white flowers and something in the line of wet rocks. In the mouth you instantly feel the acidity. Very stringent with lots of minerals yet to me it lacks a bit of body to cope with the acidity. The wine is highly extracted (maybe a bit too much for me), which gives you a sort of dry sensation in the mouth. The word is that this only gets even more intense in his other wines. The wine was tasted again on day 2 and 4 without much happening. A little more open in the nose but still young and very fresh.

The overall verdict of this wine is that you get an amazing wine for just 69 DKR at atomwine. Yet, due to the acidity and high extract, this wine is actually not that easy to drink in large quantities. I find that one glass of this is enough and would then like to move on to something else. But what a glass.

89P

/Mads

Die Erwartung war die Größte: German rieslings at the test

….The expectations were the best as this weekend offered a serious line of german Riesling, which were to be evaluated by the panel. However, the selection tasted, did unfortunately not convience us nor did it promise well for every german riesling presently.

Worldwide, wine critics presently praise the positive development within german wines, which finally now come out of the shadows of the über-sweet ‘Liebfraumilch’ and into the light of delicate and complex modern wines.

The first two wines offered no taste surprise to divert the attention away from the ”Hartzen-look” green ”christmas plate” bottles. Most wines were labelled pass - which may be a hard verdict! However, we give this score based on the criteria whether we would buy the wine again.  

·      Johannishof Riesling Kabinett Trocken Berg Roseneck 2007, Rheingau. Promising nose of raipe fruits. Quite contrary the taste is acidic and “young”. Generally is wellproduced but without any personal touch, hints or notes. 85P - pass

·      Johannishof Riesling Kabinett Johannisberg 'V' 2007 Rheingau. Little nose, but completely without any acidity. The wine almost appear as sweet fruit juice. Again well produced but too sweet. 85P -pass.

Hereafter the experience only got only more and more sweet.

·      Hermann Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Spätlese 2005 (Nahe). Vaguely sparkling and with a slight taste of gooseberry jam. Again more sweetness and little acid which erases (or flattens) the structure of the wine. Its well produced but a sweet experience. Points were 87 (one at 90P). Borderline 

·      Karlsmühle Riesling Auslese Lorenzhöfer 1999 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. Barley yellow in the glass and viscous and a funny nose of diesel! Sweet taste and again no acid. 84-85P pass

·      Karlsmühle Riesling Auslese Lorenzhöfer 2007 0,5 L, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. 84P pass

Deutschlands Neue Riesling's

Theme for next tasting (to be held the 4th of July) on the blog will be German Rieslings (Riesling and Noble Riesling). Our scope is focused on following:

• 1 Johannishof Riesling Kabinett Trocken Berg Roseneck 2007, Rheingau
  
• 1 Johannishof Riesling Kabinett Johannisberg 'V' 2007 Rheingau
  
• 1 Karlsmühle Riesling Auslese Lorenzhöfer 1999 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
  
• 1 Karlsmühle Riesling Auslese Lorenzhöfer 2007 0,5 L, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
  
• 1 Hermann Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Spätlese 2005 (Nahe)
  

• 1 Helmuth Mathern Niederhäuser Klamm Riesling Eiswein 2004, 0,5 liter (Nahe)

Visit our blog to see how they perform in the danish summer. / Drud

Pinot's for all likings

Pankraz 2007

Our first taste of Switzerland (Zurich) with a pure taste of PN. Little bouquet upon opening (stronger after 30min+) of pure raspberries. Taste is light, fruitful, mineral with a slender structure. A high level of acidity give the wine a long finish.

Local bought (24 Eur).

Drink now

89p

L. Jadot Pommard Clos de la Commanraine 2001

Medium transperant wine with brown curtains in the glass. A fine complex bouquet with dense nuances from red berries, animal earthy tones, commin, young cherries and mint. Medium bodied wine (choppy lady) with a beautiful balance btw acid and tanin levels.

Local bought (27 Eur).

Drink now or keep 5-10y

91p

Roar 2006

Highly unusual, this wine presents itself with a somewhat milky/unclear at first in the glass. The bouquet is rather expressive with tones raspberries, rotten cabage, yet also creamy and leathery. The wine is quite sweet at first sip with little acid which give the wine a certain volumnity. We had a little debate to rank this wine. Truly Roar is one of the top producers in North America, yet the wine also bear sweet traits which may be aimed to the american market, rather than a rustique character.

Gift, around 50 usd

Drink now

92p

Baileyana 2005

Medium transperancy to dark red. Bouquet of strawberry, milk chocolate. The taste is rich and a bit jammy which does not persist for long. We discussed whether the wine is "over done" or also commented as being "pretty but boring". Perhaps a bit surprising for a very well renown producer in North America.

Gift 38 usd

Drink now

88p

Knipser 2003

Nice bouquet of citrus, fresh leather and the characteristic animal tones of PN. The wine has a high level of acid which make the wine hang in you teeth for long. It reminded us of a well done Cote de Beaune - Germany is certainly an area to explore.

Gift around 200dkk

Drink now

92p

LandGraf Riesling (Irma) strongly recommended

Again the New German surprise. This time with a riesling from Rheinhessen.
At sale for 2 bottles for 100kr at Irma, at this price its a complete bargain. Try it. / AD

The Faboulus Four!

The best quartet so far. Well played guys!

1. der zyn Wagner Stempel (2005), Germany

2. Daugaard Chateau Lynch-Bages; Paulliac, Bordeaux, France

3. Eggert La Giola (2003), wine by Allegrini, Italy

4. Drud Ferrerinha Colheita (1998), Douro, Portugal