Eberhard von Kunow is an unforgettable person. Incredibly jovial and personable constantly cracking jokes and letting out huge bellyfull guffaws. It was a treat to taste with him and the wines were fantastic and truly great values. The two sites Oberemeller Hutte and Scharzhofberger could not be more different. With Oberemeller Hutte being full of ripe generous fruit while Scharzhofberger being much more minerally, austere and lean. Oberemeller Hutte does get as much attention as it should because it is a monopole of the Von Hovel Estate. As many of you would have guessed I preferred the Scharzhofberger over the Hutte but both were fantastic. Onto the wines. Ooops...just remembered that Eberhard has a legendary corkscrew collection that must be seen to be believed.
'05 Oberemeller Hutte Spatlese Trocken - Chalk, lime and intense mineral on the nose. Very juicy and ripe with lemon-lime fruit and electric acidity. Ahhh...trocken wines from the Saar. Just enough acidity for me.
'05 Scharzhofberger Spatlese Feinherb - Nose of orange oil, some nuts, lime and minerals. Chalky ripe palate with excellent richness and wonderful delineation and pure minerality. Long delicate finish.
'05 Oberemeller Hutte Spatlese - Creamy nose with stone fruits and very high toned. Wonderful palate with oodles of yellow fruits and lots of richness. Lip-smackingly delicious due to the wonderful acidity. Great sweet/sour interplay on the finish.
'04 Balduin Von Hovel QBA - Just a nice delicate QBA. Lemon-lime fruits, some chalkiness and lean acidity. Great intro to what a Saar wine us.
'05 Von Hovel Estate - Beautiful creamy and rich estate wine with yellow fruits and great acidity. Excellent for the category.
'05 Scharzhofberger Spatlese - Always a favorite of mine and no different in '05. Wonderful complexity, density and that trademark chalky, sweet tart character that Scharzhofberger is so well known for. Just a delightful wine and an affordable version of this vineyard. Lean but in no means austere.
'05 Oberemeller Hutte Auslese - Lemony, herbal nose with good minerality and a hint of botrytis. The herbs smell very fresh with a dash of dried herbs thrown in for complexity. Excellent density and purity. Very long and detailed finish. Best wine tasted so far.
'05 Scharzhofberger Auslese - Wonderfully, chalky and minerally nose with tremendous complexity. Ethereal and very light-footed palate with great soft and elegant texture along with vibrant minerality and ripe piquant acids. Great length.
'05 Obermeller Hutte Auslese* GK - Nose of tea, lemon, fennel, apricot and botrytis. Nose jumps out of the glass at you. Incredible concentration and density with sweet lemon curd flavors and fat fruit. Really hedonistic and a super-wow wine.
'05 Oberemeller Hutte Auslese** GK - Imagine the wine above but just crammed into a half bottle. That is what you get here. Incredible stuff. Sorry I could not be more descriptive but I ran out of room on my notebook page.
'05 Oberemeller Hutte Auslese*** LGK - Very very botrytis on the nose with intense apricots and orange marmelade and swet lemon curd. Incredibly concentrated with slick botrytis and a very velvety almost powdery impression on the palate. Beautiful wine. Like the truckdriver in the tutu. Marries power with elegance in a magical way.
'05 Scharzhofberger Berenauslese - Now my teeth started hurting. Huge amounts of botrytis with a very intense concentrated mouthfeel. Impressive and incredible stuff.
'05 Scharzhofberger Trockenberenauslese - Here we go with more TBA. This was one of the most minerally TBA's I can remember tasting on the trip. My teeth were in so much pain at this point that I just swallowed this because it hurt too much to swish. But from what I garnered this was a pretty genius wine that will live forever.
'05 Oberemeller Hutte Trockenberenauslese - Ho..Hum....more TBA. Huge botrytis with painful intensity and almost a solid-like impression in the mouth. LONG finish....and I mean long. This hurt me too. Note to self: Get porcelain veneers before next trip to Germany.
'02 Oberemeller Hutte Kabinett - Nice delightful nose of chalk, lemon and some mineral. Crystal-clean and very nice purity. Easy-going and drinking very well now.
'04 Oberemeller Hutte Kabinett - Nice concentration and ripe fruit with fierce acids and excellent purity.
'02 Oberemeller Hutte Spatlese - Excellent crisp acidity and racy fruit. Bracing minerally palate with some fruit in the background.
'03 Oberemeller Hutte Spatlese - Muddy yet very intense fruit with some not so clear flavors but a really great soft texture. Definetly an '03.
'03 Oberemeller Hutte Auslese* GK - Very good and blind I would not know this is an '03. Great acidity, soft texture and very ripe tropical fruit. Very nice.
'99 Oberemeller Hutte Berenauslese - Nice drinking BA for today. Creamy, rich and ripe with excellent purity and texture.
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