Really glad I hit these estates back to back. Have tasted some good wines by both producers but I remember in May I was finally really impressed across the board with both of these estates. It was nice to have focused tastings with Markus Milz and Thomas Driesberg of Wegeler. Really sitting down with these tremendously passionate winemakers/owners and having them taking you through each wine was great. All the owners or winemakers on the whole trip each had a different style. Some would take you through each wine and explain about that wine and then move onto the next. Others would just pour and remain silent. Others would talk a bit too much. Getting the pace was just right at these tastings. Pouring for 13 people plus your importer takes alot of skill and finesse. Markus Milz perhaps had the best pace and easily was the most fascinating of all these winemakers. He also besides presiding over Milz, has a huge company that sells wine-making equipment to famous estates all over the world. The other day he was at Cos d'Estournel.
Markus is very passionate about natural winemaking and spoke in great detail about the importance of natural yeasts. He made an interesting point that sometimes people use cultured yeasts from the winery and will re-use them each year. His style is to let fermentation start with the native yeast from the current year. A la spontaneous fermentation. When it starts it starts. He said there will be some weird/funky aromas for the first few months after bottling but after this blows off the wine will ultimately be more expressive. Some very interesting stuff. Onto the wines....
One more thing that needs mentioning. After the tasting Markus took us up to a high point in Trittenheim where there was a restaurant and the most spectacular view I might have ever seen. There is a part in the Mosel (well actually two parts) where it does a 180 degree turn and the view from this restuarant on this hill you see it and it is breathtaking. Markus' new estate wine called 180 commemorates this bend in the Mosel.
'02 Neumangener Nusswingert Kabinett - Steely sugary nose with nice aromas of flowers and peach pits. Fun, ripe and easygoing wine with ncie complexity and spice.
'03 Piesporter Hofberg Kabinett - Tropical nose as expected with ripe tangerine on the nose. Pretty complex wine but with that diffuse, muddied '03 thing. The acidity is interesting. Not enough cut but still noticeable.
'04 Trittenheimer Kabinett - Mealy, mineral nose with great floral aromas. Good enough concentration and juicy acids. Simple yet classic and easy to drink.
'99 Trittenheimer Felsenkopf Spatlese - Petroly nose with ripe peaches and even some botrytis. Very slatey too with that really coming across on the palate. Tremendous concentration and explosive grapefruit flavors on the finish. Very nice.
'04 Trittenheimer Felsenkopf Spatlese - Great nose full of concentrated fruit, brown sugar, slate and wet rocks. Wonderful sugar/acid tension on the palate with pure juicy tropical fruit. A great '04 in the making. This probably can be had for a song too.
'05 180 Estate Riesling Halbtrocken - Named after the famous bend in the Mosel this wine is a great debut effort for this wine. Beautiful stony, floral nose on the obviously dry classic nose. Really this nose just screams Mosel. Palate is light and elegant with some pepper notes and a chalky yet very pure feeling on the palate. This migth have been my favorite estate Riesling of the trip. Granted I liked it more than many people I was with but I really thought it worked.
'05 Piesporter Spatlese - The '05's here are fantatsic from bottom to top and I cannot reccomend them enough. I was really surprised here. This had a great nose of floral, citrus and vibrant tropical fruit. Great inner mouth energy and pungent, ripe fruit with sappy, lively acids. Wonderful lacey texture and tremendous ripeness and supernal balance. Great wine.
'05 Trittenheimer Apotheke Spatlese - Nose of bright high-toned orange blossoms. You can smell the density. On the palate it comes through with intense citrus and incredibly vivid blue slate flavors. Spectacular wine.
'05 Trittenheimer Felsenkopf Spatlese - The most elegant wine so far. Hauntingly so. Filigreed, floral nose with some hints of tangerine. Finely detailed. Palate is light as a feather but shockingly intense in flavor with a nice powdery acid feel on the tongue and a lengthy finish.
'05 Tritteneheimer Felsenkopf Auslese - Super slatey nose with peaches and cream and loads of citric tang. Also there is an intene high-toned floral note. Rich palate with immense elegance and a mineral-tinged finish. This was great. So far Markus is killing it with his '05's.
'05 Trittenheimer Leiterchen Auslese GK - Leiterchen is the best part of Felsenkopf. I can see why. The richest nose so far with huge botytis and tangerine. Palate is exteremely ripe with an almost jelly-like texture and enormous complexity and one of those great sweet/rich/sour long finishes. Really one of the most impressive GK's I had tasted all trip.
'05 Trittenheimer Felsenkopf Berenauslese - Nose of buttered popcorn and clean burrito if that makes any sense. Touch of very clean botrytis and a hint of saffron. There is very high must weight here. Probably could have been a TBA 15 years ago. Palate is ripe and rich, dense and long with a myriad of citrus fruits. So lacey and delicate while being mondboggingly rich. No one does that better than the Germans.
'05 Trittenheimer Leiterchen Trockenberenauslese - My TBA experience before this trip I could count on two hands and maybe a foot. This trip I cannot count and can actually say I really understand TBA and could even dare to say I know good TBA from really great or profound TBA. I am very grateful that I have enough of a reference to speak intelligently on what easily is the single most compelling example of desert wine in the world. Onto the note.
This was stunning. I am so glad I don't do points anymore because it would be an impossible task to deal with on this trip...especially at this level and near it. Nose of exotic tangelo, saffron, orange oil, clean burrito again and mega-botrytis. But that really clean 2005 kind. The palate was just pure perfection. Long, delineated, rich with a texture only found in profound TBA. Flavors lurking in and out of the texture in an almost magical way. This wine was pure genius and will last I am sure forever. Long note for a really stunning wine.
'02 Trittenheimer Apotheke Eiswein - This might have been the Eiswein of the Mosel for me. Nose is screaming right now with a cakey, poundcake, powdery vibe. Very high-toned and a hugeley intense and concentrated palate with powdery-like texture. Extremely pleasurable on the palate. The finish is amazing as the delineation and detail are near-perfect. An aria of a finish. What a wine.
'00 Trittenheimer Apotheke Eiswein - Super-ripe nose of citrus. Darker citrus than the '02. Very intense and explosive palate but with incredible acidity that cuts like a knife. Echoing, resonating crescendo of a finish. Less material than '02 but has a nice way of delivering the goods.
'94 Tritteneheimer Apotheke Trockenberenauslese - Huge nose of marmalade, blood orange and a palate to boot. More mature flavors than the '05 and really just starting to drink well. Vibrant and alive on the palate with all different types of fruit and spice flavors. And a huge, neverending finish. Great end to a great tasting.
Now it was off the road to Wegeler after a view at that great vantage point from the top of Trittenheim.
Wegeler was another estate that really impressed me in May and sporadically before but the '05's have to be the best from this estate in ages. The examples of their '05's from Bernakasteler Doctor were absolutely riveting and the best I have ever tasted from this famous vineyard. The Doctor is indeed back.
'04 Estate Riesling - Cakey, sugary nose with some nice minerals in the background. Silky and ripe palate with great precision and intense citrus fruits.
'05 Wehlener Sonnenhur Kabinett - Nice citrussy nose with some slate and lime. Pretty complex palate with ripe fruit and great density. Tangy and ripe and classic Wehlen. Wonderful.
'05 Wehlener Sonnenhur Spatlee - How come everybody forgets about WS from Wegeler. The '05's are very fine. Don't overlook these. More power than the Kabinett on the nose with ripe lemons, apricots and a confectionary quality. Palate is opulent and silky with very very nice length. Great stuff.
'05 Bernaksteler Doctor Spatlese - There is something so aromatic about the Doctor from a ripe year. Wonderful harmony on the nose with pure wet stones and mesmerizing slate aromas. Candied but in such a silky perfect way. Nose of the flight for sure...but more was to come. Amazingly pure, mineral, delicate concentrated palate. Such perfect delineation. Now I see why this vineyard is perhaps the most famous in the Mosel. It has underperformed for years but the '05's from Wegeler have to be the best in a while. Dazzling and more Doctor was to come.
'05 Bernkasteler Graben Auslese - This is a small slice of Doctor that makes a leaner more austere wine. Delicious on it's own right but not quite the Doctor. The nose seems cooler with slate aromas and wet mineral. Very ripe with great concentration and tremendous tang. Almost a dry-like impression on the finish and a distinctly mineral tone to the finish. Great wine but not as flamboyant as the Doctor.
'05 Bernkasteler Doctor Auslese - Nose is full of rich fruit and the palate is a mammoth of richness but again so silky and pure with utmost elegance and a lace-like acidity. Creamy and opulent yet so restrained. This is stunning wine. Even showing a bit closed but to no detriment at all..just regret.
'05 Bernkasteler Doctor Auslese GK - Surreal nose of botrytis, intense mineral, citric opulence and spice. Constantly changing nose with great minerality and purity. Palate was pure bliss. Explosive stone fruits and stoney mineral texture and beautiful intermingled botrytis. Just an unreal bottle and gorgeous expression of site.
'05 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese GK - Very tropical and ripe nose that jumps out at ya. Dense, luscious and ripe with a touch of spritz too. Nice length. Very good but it's all about the Bernkastel wines at the Mosel outpost of Wegeler.
'05 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Berenauslese - This was really something. Pure wine that is full of fruit and a cotton candy aroma on the nose that really comes through on the palate. Almost a prickly fruit/acid interplay. Dazzling texture. Incredibly clean and all the suppleness of a great Sonnenuhr with great complementary acidity. Delicious.
'05 Bernkasteler Doctor Berenauslese - Nose of the purest liquid stoney minerals you can imagine.Just pure heaven on the nose. Opulent, citrus, creamy botryized palate with perfect silky texture and a lengthy finish. A great, silky, filigreed Berenauslese.
'05 Bernkasteler Doctor Trockenberenauslese - What can you say when you taste a wine like this? Just sit there and thank your lucky stars that you could taste it. This will be some expensive wine. Mark my words. Even being a touch closed on the nose you knew this was gonna be a life-changer. Closed nose but you can just smell, even in a limited sense, that it is all there. After some serious swirling and coaxing it starts to reveal itself. Huge citrus, mineral and botrytis but presented in such an opulent way. Really wow nose. I smelled this wine for five minutes before I taste dit. Palate was painfully intense and rich with enormous concentration and an epic mid-palate and finish. Texture just left your head shaking. I know I am not supposed to like TBA this much but these '05's all have me just leaving my head shaking.
A couple of great visits. Up next with Fritz Haag.
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