Tim Frohlich lives in a nice but unassuming house in a Germany meets the Hamptons architecture/hedges type vibe. But it is here that Tim Frohlich at age 30 is crafting some of the most compelling wines in all of Germany. Across the board this visit was pretty amazing. My jaw dropped several times. What..and I mean what an absolutely stunning set of '05's from here. There is a new superstar in the Nahe. If Donnhoff is DRC then Schafer-Frohlich is surely Dujac or Roumier. After the tasting his sister cooked us a wonderful lunch of soup and different types of sausages. Great home cooking. Went great with the wines. Onto the notes.
'05 Bockenauer Felseneck Kabinett Trocken - Very slatey and minerally nose with a hint of blueberry. Filigreed nose and very aromatic for what is usually the toughest category of trocken to pull off. Palate is elegant yet powerful with flavors of key lime pie and a chalky finish with lively acidity. Great dry Riesling but only a hint of the trocken greatness to come.
'05 Bockeneauer Felseneck Spatlese Trocken - This was genius wine. Meaty, dark minerally nose with vivid ripe apricots. The palate had just the most amazing interplay between ripeness and dryness. Showcases the ripeness of '05 in a masterful dry style. Jaw dropping.
'05 Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Spatlese Trocken - Really does not smell like a trocken. Very ripe and almost confectionary. Powdery and perfumey nose. Really compelling aromatics. Concentrated and ripe with great elegance and purity. Sleek and filigreed with very intense minerality. Fantastic.
'05 Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg GG - Tim's trio of GG from '05 are incredible and a must purchase for any afficionado of dry German wine. Like great Grand Cru Chablis. Perfumer, mineral, airy, meaty limey nose. Just great and so pure. Minerals galore and rainwater. Palate was ripe, huge, complex, ethereal and concentrated. So balanced. Floats. There is a wealth of minerality.
'05 Monziger Halenberg GG - Maybe the dry wine of the trip. At least the most memorable. This is like Tim's Les Clos. Incredibly deep nose of mineral and juicy ripe fruit. Again so pure with thet delicate rainwater haging over the nose. Like it is raining in the glass. Extremely concentrated and just a big wow in the mouth. This wine has everything and is my benchmark for the GG category. Ripe, elegant, incredibly concentrated, long, insanely complex, easy to drink and very evocative of place. Just a great wine. (As an aside I just had this at dinner last Thursday and it was very tight but still beautiful and detailed. But on Day 4 open it was glorious. Combine '05 and Tim's acid program and you get masterpieceslike this wine)
'05 Bockenauer Felseneck GG - Mineral nose along with pineapples, resin and some slatey aromas. Concentrated palate with dense minerality and a long finish. Velvety tetxure and great inner mouth energy. Not as dramatic as the first two GG but a great wine but did suffer a touch in comparison to the previous two.
'05 Estate Riesling - This is done in a Halbtrocken style and is even better than the amazing '05 version of this wine. Elegant with a silky texture, great complexity and confectionary fruit. Palate is long and very juicy due to the piquant acids. Just a joy and one of the better estate wines I tasted on the trip.
'05 Weisserburgunder Trocken - Kind of simple with fat fruit on the palate, some stoniness and a long finish. Nice Pinot Blanc but not that special.
'05 Weisserburgunder "S" - Oaky wine. Not my cup of tea. Really fat and ripe.
'05 Kabinett - Brilliant Kabinett. So classic. Nose of minerals and more minerals. Just a rock attack on this nose. Gives a very dry aromatic impression. Elegant and concentrated. Just a very clean and extremely detailed and precise wine. Filigreed and does exactly what it should do in a brilliant way. Subtle but oh so good.
'05 Bockenauer Felseneck Spatlese - For me this is the bottle that defines Schafer-Frohlich. A bit closed on the nose but everything is there. Ripe and complex, intense minerality, concentrated fruit flavors, raspberries, cassis with an amazingly long finish. Great Spatlese.
'05 Bockenauer Felseneck Spatlese GK - Closed nose but hints of wild strawberries on a bed of mineral. Palate has tons of spice, dense ripe fruits and wonderful vivid minerality. Again amazing depth and purity with great elegance and huge mineral.
'05 Bockenauer Felseneck Auslese - Incredible minerality and ripe apricots on the nose. So opulent and concentrated. Intense along with great clean botrytis. Young but stunning Auslese. This is a forty year wine.
'05 Bockenauer Felseneck Berenauslese - Pure nose of botrytis and passion fruit. The botrytis again is hauntingly clean. Palate is amazingly concentarted with botrytis laced apricots throughout but also fresh acidity and minerality throughout. Endless length and amazing integration of botrytis, minerality, concentrated fruit and salty freshness. Jaw dropping.
'04 Bockenauer Felseneck Eiswein - Crazy, twisted, nervous, urgent nose. Brilliant. The palate has so much fruit and is so crispy the juxtaposition is what makes this wine so compellng. Brilliant Eiswein.
'05 Bockeneauer Felseneck Trockenberenauslese - 80 liters made. Into Tim's cellar and I believe some made it's way to the auction. This just spun my head. Best young TBA I have ever had. Nose was so exotic it was hard to place. Like a spicey, kinky, humid perfume of botrytis and sweat. Just crazy. This stuff just coats your mouth and gets into every taste bud with maximum impact. Like honey but there still is 14+ grams per liter of acid. So it snaps on the finish and just does not end. This might be the greatest desert wine I have ever had. Maybe a hair better than Zilliken '05 TBA. But that is splitting hairs.
A great visit and an absolutely riveting collection of '05's here.
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