Thomas Haag is a soft-spoken but very passionate man. I was very tired for this tasting after not much sleep the night before and being at Haag, Wegeler and Milz earlier in the day. But these wines were so liveley, funky and just crazy that I was woken up and then Wilhelm Haag came and sit with us at the back of the table halfway through and and he was cracking jokes with Rudi like they always do. Wilhelm Haag, for the record is friggin' hilarious and a walking encyclopeadia of German wine and history. These wines are truly singular expressions of the Mosel and their respective sites. Just like his father's wines there really are no others like them in the Mosel. Opulent and loaded with earth, mineral and exuberant fruit. Not at the high level of finesse and filigree like his father's but no less exciting. The '05's are easily the best set of wines I have ever tasted from Lieser.
Also of note the "Schloss" is pretty unbelievable and there are numerous pics of it.
'03 Kabinett - Not a great start as this wine had a whole lot of fruit and then kind of diffused out with no acid. Kind of a mess.
'04 Niederberg Helden Spatlese - Opulent nose of white peaches in their juice and caramelized brown sugar. Rich, concentrated palate with tons of ripe peach flesh backed up by crisp acidity. Long.
'04 Niederberg Helden Auslese - Ripe and dense wine that is again full of sweet, ripe peaches, wonderful cleansing acidity. Incredibly opulent wine with loads to like. Slurpable Auslese. Just classic.
'05 Schloss Lieser QBA - Nose of dried peaches, marzipan and potpourri. Fat palate with great acids. Great estate wine. Complete wine.
'05 Kabinett - Mineral and steely nose with peaches and apricots. Tanngy yellow citrus fruits on the palate and loads of ripeness.
'05 Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett - First nose to show some serious slate. Elegant and stoney nose with some slight citrus hints. Palate is explosive with juicy concentrated yellow fruits. Lots of flesh. Super-ripe but has great acid and dense minerality running throughout.
'05 Niederberg Helden Spatlese - Fat, ripe, opulent and minerally. Classic yeasty, peachy, perfumey aromas. Almost like a damp forest. Really distinct aromas to this site. That along with the wild yeast add so much to the aromas of these wines.
'05 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenhur Spatlese - Some sulfur on the nose here. But under that some serious dense minerality. A very ripe palate with pear, peach and melon flavors. Very vivid and defined fruit. Great concentration. Huge finish. A great Spatlese.
'05 Niederberg Helden Auslese GK - The wines go to another level when the Auslesen hit. A great collection of Auslese here in '05. Ripe, leesy nose with resin aromas and that Helden perfume. Very dense and ripe palate but with wonderfulk silken-like texture. Great contrast. Some clean botrytis here add complexity to this beauty of a young Auslese.
'05 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Auslese GK - Filigreed and elegant nose. With some dense fruit behind it. The youngest showing of the wines so far. Dense and minerally with great length but ultimately hard to taste because it is so backwards.
'05 Niederberg Helden Auslese LGK - Incredible nose of botrytis, mineral, ripe peaches and some perfume. Intense in the mouth with layers of intense fruit, mineral and great acid. Dripping with baby fat and an incredibly hedonistic experience now but this will be a wonder in thirty years.
'05 Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Auslese LGK - Salty, humid nose with the biggest botrytis so far..but it is such clean botrytis. Truly unbelieavable. Rich on the palate but glides like a feather with haunting elegance and just stains your palate. Just out of this world. Wine of the tasting!
'05 Niederberg Helden Berenauslese - This was amazing and is almost a forgotten category in German wine and easily one of the sweet spots of this vintage is BA and most of them won't kill you in the wallet like TBA would and don't hurt to drink young like TBA does! Layers of botrytis, peaches, nectarines and apricots. So dense but still clean and lithe on the palate. Finish is endless. Gorgeous.
A great tasting for the last stop in the Mosel. Next stop was Shafer-Frohlich in the Nahe.
I bought a few bottles of the Niederberger Helden Auslese. How would you describe the distinct aromas of the Niederberger Helden, you mention peaches and damp forest aromas?
ReplyDeleteI suppose it also lacks the minerality of the Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr.
There is also a yeasty aroma due to Thomas' use of indigenous yeast. But peaches (other stone fruits) and damp earth plus a perfume element pretty much covers it.
ReplyDelete