A subject line I hate but is so apt for this post - A Tale of two Rieslings

Yes I hate any subject line on a blog or a wine bulletin board about a "Tale of two______." No reason. Just see it too much and it annoys me. Played out but I am using it as it really actually works with these two wines. So I decided to call myself out.


They were two Mosel Rieslings from the 2005 vintage. The first was the 2005 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Kabinett from the Saar. Zilliken nailed it in 2005 and this was just one of the brightest, purest expression of Saar Kabinett in the vintage. This was a true Kabinett too although it was probably sweeter "by the numbers" due to the high level of acidity. Lime blossom, apple and loads of mineral on the nose. Dazzlingy pure and expressive. More than it has ever been. Palate was closed at first but opened up with some aggresive swirling. Flavors of zippy lime, peach and some nice watermelon tones. Beautiful cleansing acidity and a long finish. The archtecture of this wine was straight lines, solid taut angles and all stainless steel. Very Saar. Loved it. The alchohol was 8%.


The second wine was certainly peculiar and was a complete contrast to the Zilliken. It was the 2005 Spater Veit Piesporter Goldtropfchen Spatlese Halbtrocken. This was 13.5% alchohol and definetly showed it. A bigger wine than the Zilliken with les obvious structure and more of a blowsy fruity thing. Nose was apple cider (Romorantin?), shittake mushrooms, apricots and haricots verts. Palate was minerally but much more of a damp earthiness. High acidity but with a mashed fruit element (rot?) and alchohol sticking out. The wine challenged me and each sip I was debating whether I liked it or not. Ultimately I am not sure what to think of this unique Mosel Riesling. From a new portfolio of samples I am working my way through. Mosel Wine Merchant is the name of the company and they specialize in unamanipulated, wild yeast, organic Mosel wines. for the most part the selections are on the drier side. Clemens Busch and Knebel are the stars of the portfolio but I have run into some other interesting things too. Look out for these wines.