Our Sweet Wine of the Year - Martin Müllen's Krover Letterlay Auslese - 96 Points (Wine Advocate)

 2019 Martin Müllen Krover Letterlay Auslese

 - 96 Points, Stephan Reinhardt (Wine Advocate)

 - Absolute Magic

 - Nose: So Complex

 - Saffron, Pink Peppercorns

 - Insane Minerality

 - Carmel, Vanilla and Deep Peach

 - Very Ripe and Rich

 - So Rich and Unctuous

 - Honey. Honeydew Melon

 - Sick Inner Mouth Aromas

 - Szechuan Peppercorns

 - "rich, dense, piquant, very fresh, beautifully bitter, complex and sustainable" (SR)

The Most Underpriced Wine Category on Earth

It’s everyone’s favorite time of year. With pumpkin spice this and pumpkin spice that, thanksgiving pies, Christmas cookies and chocolate Chanukah coins. Wait, what do all these things have in common? They are holiday food and drinks that revolve around sweetness. Yet we never ever include actual sweet wines. We like our carb loaded foods to be sweet and our wines to be dry and bold. And sometimes oaky. Which actually can be sweet, but we still say it’s dry. It makes no sense. But as Uncle Phil slurps a coke while he tells you he loves big bold Napa reds, but hates sweet wines, you reflect back in puzzlement. How does contradiction work? I’m the wine guy at the holiday gathering as much as you all are your respective wine guys/wine women at the holiday gatherings. This contradiction is everywhere and it makes no sense. How can Coke be the #1 drink in the world yet nobody likes sweet wine? I mean people like sweet wine and they are a minority but also many people like sweet things yet deny they like sweet things. Stick a glass of Auslese in their face and they will recoil in horror with the dreaded “oh, I don’t like sweet wines, please pass the chocolate chip cookies.” 

Me, I’m a rebel. I love sweet wine and every year for a while now, we have a sweet wine of the year. It’s a marketing exercise of course but German Auslese to this day remains the greatest value in the wine world less Egon Muller. They are like sweet Grand Cru Montrachet for under $40. The sweetness makes the price fall like a penny thrown out of an airplane. It plummets. It’s too bad as these wines, Auslese in particular, are a vinous gift to the world and not only are great values, they also improve in bottle for 40+ years and stay delicious and wide open in the fridge for months after. Also truly elite sweet wines all have a savory element to them and finish with a self-indulgent combo of savory and sweet. They are so good and so special yet they always lag behind more traditional dry wines. For that will always remain a mystery to me but at the end of the day it benefits me in that prices are always cheap and benefits you in that prices are cheap. And I will always have a sweet wine of the year as it’s the greatest value in wine. 

The Wine

Without further ado the sweet wine of the year is the 2019 Martin Müllen Krover Letterlay Auslese for $37.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This is firmly in the Fass 4-3-1 plan which means drink one young. I adore drinking young Auslese. It’s invigorating like jumping in a cold lake for a swim in winter and you can have a sip in the middle of your “work from home day” and not be the slightest bit buzzed as it’s usually 8% alcohol. 

I knew as soon as I smelled and sipped this wine it was the sweet wine of the year. It is absolutely magic. The sun shined on all of Krov in 2019 and in particular Letterlay. 

Saffron on the nose from botrytis. So complex. Pink peppercorns as well. Smells almost dry. Insane minerality. Wow. After air it just goes to the next level. Carmel, vanilla and deep peach. Very ripe and rich. Botrytis comes more into focus. Birthday Cake. Icing.

We are in BA territory. So rich and unctuous. Fruit density without the viscosity of a BA. Honey. Honeydew melon. Sick inner mouth aromas. Very sweet now and will come Into better balance with age and air. Huge acids. Decadence defined. Szechuan peppercorns run throughout. Unreal. Awesome richness and ripeness. Textured and juicy. God’s fruit juice. Decadent and so ripe. Just incredible. Ideally drink from 2027-2060.

Below is the 96 points Stephan Reinhardt review .

"The 2019 Kröver Letterlay Riesling Auslese is clear and precise as well as flinty and spicy and reminds me of Gewürztraminer with its lychee and tropical fruit aromas. Fresh and concentrated on the first attack, this is a rich, dense, piquant, very fresh, beautifully bitter, complex and sustainable Letterlay with bitter orange and mandarine aromas and a very long, piquant and salty finish. Absolutely fabulous. This—alarm bells on—is the most Riesling-like Traminer I have aver had (alarm bells off). Tasted at the domain in September 2020."- 96 Points, Stephan Reinhardt

2019 Martin Muellen Krover Letterlay Auslese - $39.99

($151.96 4-Pack) (VERY LIMITED)