mosel

better mixed sweets

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2016 pressong matters r139

2016 Pressing Matters Riesling R139 9.2%
Coal river valley, Tasmania

Pale colour, lime, pear, apple, ginger biscuit. The winery specialises in the unusual combination of Pinot Noir plus assortment of Rieslings at varying sweetness levels (R0, R9, R69 and r139) with many wine show successes and a wine club that offers regular museum releases. This wine is a cracker. With the crisp Tasmanian acidity, it has the magic combination of varietal definition, botrytis and purity. White peach and lime, thrilling acidity and it just lingers gracefully. Special!

Drink to 2030, 94 points

2015 ca' d'gal vv

2015 Ca d’Gal vite Vecchia Moscato d’asti 5%
Piedmont, lightly sparking (frizzante) packed with icing sugar, musk, and grapiness, spices and texture. The muscat character shines.  Around 90g/l residual sugar, and >$100.

Not as stellar as the 2008 tasted about twelve months ago, but its vitality will utterly revive jaded palates, and confound many with its delicious, bracing freshness.

Drink to 2027, 92 points

2004 jj prum zs auslese

2004 Joh Jos Prum Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese Riesling 7.5%
Mosel, and a startlingly pale colour for its age. Showing white flowers, herb, apple and pine/nettle. The palate is full of minerals and phenolic grip. More modern vintages are riper and sweeter, but even though this wine was served straight after the Ca’ d’Gal, it didn’t seem to have the level of Auslese sweetness (my guess was Kabinett) A rare, relative disappointment from this producer.

Drink to 2026, 90 points

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Another batch of rushed (mostly blind) impressions

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2007 jjchristoffel uw spatlese

2007 JJ Christoffel Erben Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling spatlese Ap#5 7.5%
Mosel.

Deep gold colour- wax, lime, lanolin, assorted sweet spices. Texture. A dash more acidity would have been welcome, but no mistaking its origin or variety, and merrily consumed over several days. But drink up!
90 points, drink to 2025

2011 Zilliken Saarburger Rieling Kabinett 8% AP#6
Mosel, from two half-bottles, one better than the other, but not by much.

59.9 g/l residual sugar (no wonder I assumed spatlese). Great colour for age; minerals, limes, texture and rampant tropical fruits.

91 points, drink to 2027

1995 Ch Coutet
Barsac. Deep gold colour; orange blossom, dusty botrytis notes, icing sugar and patisserie. Apricot and cumquat flavours. Altogether lovely, and absolutely ready to drink

93 points, drink to 2027

NV Campbells Merchant Prince Muscat
Rutherglen. An old bottling, suspected late 1970s.

Deep dense khaki colour with an olive rim. Rum ‘n raisins and the pungency of age. Very viscous, very ripe, and very sweet. Muscat certainly, Rutherglen probably. Maker??? There is no doubt the material was old, but I kept thinking that a tweak of freshening would have raised enjoyment to another level. But that’s what happens when the wine has been busy resting in bottle for forty years,

Drink now, 92 points

2004 grahams malvedos vp

2004 Graham’s quinta dos malvedos 20%
Cork very hard to extract (I broke it) – and plentiful sediment – decanting recommended. Malvedos provides the core when Graham’s declares a vintage port, so hopes were high. This wine has a ridiculously youthful dense crimson/black colour; blueberry, blackberry, minerals, spices and pepper. Palate is dark cherry and other dark fruits; good intensity but ultimately less complex than the initial promise. But a good advertisement for the quality of single quinta styles,

92 points; wait three years, then drink to 2030

1951 hardy's show port

1951 Hardy’s reserve bin show port bin M127
McLaren Vale, Shiraz.

Rancio, vanilla, superior brandy spirit. Tawny style, no doubt. 20yo? Mellow, lingering, satisfying. Label states aged in oak for over twenty years. Curiously bottled under screwcap, likely in the mid-late 1970s, so this is another curio that has been resting in bottle for nearly fifty years.

Drink now, 92 points.

Two lovely sweet Rieslings

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2016 pressong matters r139

2016 Pressing Matters R139 Riesling 9.4%
Tasmania- Coal River valley, screwcap (half bottle, a recent auction purchase)

Pressing Matters are known for their Rieslings (R0, R9, R69, R139), and Pinot Noir, with amazing records in Australian wine shows. Limited distribution, so I’m absolutely, shamefully behind tasting across their range. The current release 2019 R139 is $37 for a half-bottle.

Bright gold colour, ripe red Apple and beurre bosc pear, with a frame of spices. Hooray, there’s enough acidity to balance the high residual sugar level, and this is pretty hard to resist. There’s varietal lime and citrus, and a long, and truly satisfying fresh textural finish. Exceptional value here too. The usual caveats with food matches- fresh fruits work; fruit pies will work if gentle on the sugar side, some cheeses will succeed, and some won’t; but the bottle contents will seemingly evaporate regardless. A find!

Drink to 2028, and 93 points.

2007 schloss bjs spat

2007 Schloss Lieser Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese AP#8, 9%
Mosel, 94 g/l residual sugar

Light lemon colour, and then the marvels come. Cinnamon, icing sugar, pear, nectarine. Crunchy apple, flint, creamed honey and beautiful balance between fruit depth, acidity and sweetness. (I wrote about this wine in April 2020, with similar descriptors, scores etc).

This is an absolutely delightful spatlese (from a distinguished site), and my patience has been truly rewarded.
Drink to 2030, 94 points

Two 2007 spatlese from Schloss Lieser

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2007 schloss lieser spatlese pair

Schloss Lieser is one of my favourite Mosel producers, with a track record of providing excellence at a modest price. I have fond memories and notes from a dinner when winemaker Thomas Haag visited Australia in March 2010 – (with a mere 15! wines presented). Neville Yates‘ Eurocentric store has many Schloss Lieser wines available).

Neiderberg Helden wines are typically on the more earthy, minerally end than Brauneberg. These sweet wines of Schloss Lieser were fermented in stainless steel with wild yeasts.

2007 Schloss Lieser Neiderberg Helden Riesling Spatlese AP#7 8.5%
Mosel, 78 g/l residual sugar.

The first bottle was oxidised; so another was located and opened. Pale gold colour, Light spices, fresh red apple and some herbs. User-friendly now, with its lemon/citrus fruited sweetness melded with acidity and good concentration. But there’s no real upside in waiting.

Drink to 2027, 90 points

2007 Schloss Lieser Braunberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese AP#8 8%
Mosel, and a high-for-style 94g/l residual sugar.

Lemon colour, exuberantly bursts out with sweet cinnamon, spices, ripe apple and honey, a dash of lime and brown sugar. Balanced, fresh, and so easy to revel in. The palate is creamy, with white peach notes, oranges and underlying flintiness.

Crisp and persistent. Precise.  Sweet and cuddly, but that natural acidity cleans up beautifully. Ripping quality and value.

Drink to 2032, 93 points

2006 Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese AP#41 7.5%

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From the Mosel, and a famous site. Adequate cork, and the wine is a bright deep lemon colour.

2006 loosen spatlese

There are delightful wafts of honey, spices, tropical fruits – particularly passionfruit- citrus and apple and raisin. The palate, as expected is sweet, clean and there is the magic interplay between acidity, alcohol, and sweetness. However, there is more grippiness than desirable- possibly some slight oxidation?

There may be better bottles, so…
Drink to 2023 and 90 points

2008 Reinhold Haart Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Spatlese AP#12, 8%

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2008 haart spatlese

Mosel. Bright deep lemon colour; spices and exotic tropical notes, particularly guava, plus red apples and citrus – oranges and lemon, some petroleum too. The palate is rich and at the sweeter end for a spatlese; honeyed, spice-filled, with the red apple dominant, and supported by racy acidity and stoniness. Its drinking vibrantly, but I feel it won’t improve further.

Drink to 2025, and 91 points

Belated odds and ends

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2007 (Forstmeister Geltz) Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Kabinett AP #8 8%
Mosel. Very good cork. Pale lemon colour, Tropical fruits, petroleum, lime, mint and plentiful spices. Brisk, round, yellow-flesh stonefruits on palate, with a touch of oily smoke and wax. This is light bodied, but the flavours linger strongly.

Drink to 2025 (easily) and 91 points

1981 and 1990 Chateau Rieussec
Sauternes, and predominantly (>90%) Semillon. From a generous friend, steady conversation over a terrific meal made note-taking problematical. However, the 1981 was paler and presented classic barley sugar, citrus peel and marmalade flavours, lighter flavours (as the year was not strongly botrytised); the 1990 was richer, with an almost-burnt almond, orange, honey and spices – altogether in ripping form. Depending on cork representativeness, the 1981 has seen better days, while the “younger” wine was terrific, and if you have any, get stuck in for a hedonistic ride.

No scores, but what a fantastic experience!

2002 morris vp

2002 Morris Vintage (Fortified) 19%
Acceptable cork. Readers know my esteem for the Morris fortifieds – Topaque and Muscats, plus fascination for the Rutherglen reds (especially Durif), but occasionally Shiraz and the odd Sparkling red. 

I’m baffled that the “current” release of the Morris VF at cellar-door is the 2008 – its price a derisory $25. Later releases (some with Durif, Touriga, etc) have looked very swish at wine shows – as has the continued excellent form of the Pfeiffer “Christopher’s Vintage Fortified”.

100% Shiraz, this wine’s label boasts assorted trophies and gold medals. Density, dark cherry, blueberry, camphor, chalk. Fresh and a good meld of fruit sweetness and spirit. Small berry flavours abound and the finish is appropriately quite dry. Sampled over three days, my score varied between 92 and 94 points so…

Drink to 2035, 93 points.

Two inexpensive mature wines

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richter s&k

2006 MF Richter Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett AP #35 9.5%
Mosel, and this bottle was found in a mini-stocktake. Few Kabinetts should be kept this long, so I was nervous. Cork was fine, and the colour was developed but not alarming.

Deep gold, but bright. Apple pie, sultana and raisin, citrus peel, sweet spices and mango. It’s full-on for a Kabinett, with 83 g/l residual sugar. On the palate, the mixed sweet spices are prominent, with redcurrant fruits, honeyed peach, mineral and citrus. The wine is surprisingly fresh, with excellent depth of flavour. Fully mature, it’s honest and a welcome surprise. My previous impression was posted on 15 July 2020 – and a relatively consistent note.

Drink up (it may have been better in the past) and 90 points.

1990 Stanton and Killeen Jack’s block (vintage) Port 18.5%
Rutherglen, Victoria 100% Shiraz. A recent – bargain – $33 auction purchase; rated 9.5/10 by the producer, it has assorted trophies and gold medals while the back label modestly proclaims, “optimum drinking around the year 2010”. A note on its sibling – the 1990  Moodemere –  was posted on 19 November 2018 with a similar note; this wine is slightly better!

Cork broke. The colour is developed ruby with bricking on the meniscus, mocha, camphor, floral, blackberry and sweet well-integrated spirit. Dark and dense, blackberry and red liquorice, mixed nuts, lavender, fine chalky tannins and light coffee. Lots of different aromas and intermittent flavours = complexity, and explain the score, I have many bottles from this producer, but can’t resist purchase when reasonable opportunities arise. Mature, but still vibrant and utterly delicious.

Drink to 2030, 94 points

Spatlese – one Mosel, one Nahe

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2005 MF Richer Brauneberger Juffer-Sonneuhr Riesling Spatlese AP#22 8.5
Regarded as an excellent “all-round” vintage, this is a super-ripe spatlese (106 g/l residual sugar). Cork was quite wet.

Golden in colour, there’s a cascade of ripe pear, yellow peach, cumquat, and spicy dried fruits, with a suggestion of leafiness. The palate is rich, honeyed, spiced but beginning to show some drying characters.

Drink soon, and 91 points, although other bottles may be better given the state of the cork.

2007 Schafer-frohlich Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spatlese AP#26 7.5%
From the Nahe – a small area to the south of Mosel, but very similar in style, albeit Riesling is a smaller part of production and there is more focus on drier styles. Donnhoff and Emrich-schonleber are also quality winemakers.

Light straw colour, there’s some flytox, which dissipates, and then there are tropicals – pineapple, nettle, and abundant spices. Palate is red apple and cream, drizzled with honey; lingering, great depth. Hugely enjoyable

Drink to 2025, and 93 points