Lay down your '06 Auslesen

I just had the pleasure of sipping over three days the 2006 Reinhold Haart Wintricher Ohligsberger Auslese Erste Lage and it was wonderful but definetly was a wine that was not ready for primetime, even on day three. The Auslese in this vintage have lots of botrytis, thick fruit, good acids but sometimes tend to have a big, fat syrupy quality. This wine had it. Like the syrup in fruit cans. These wines need to be laid down. Let's take 2005 as an example. That vintage was all about purity, balance and clean botrytis. Acid was at a similar level as 2006 but the perceived acidity was much higher in my opinion at the Auslese level in 2005 due to the less heavy quality of the vintage. So the young Auslesen were very easy to drink. Not the case in 2006. These are thick wines, similar to 1976 is what people have told me. I love a young Auslese every now and then. One of my hedonistic delights. Maybe I'll drink three or four a year. So if I have a hankering for young Auslese I'll get my 2005 F. Weins Prum on.

The wine was lovely and had a nose of pineapple, slate, peaches, apricots and that canned fruit juice thing. The palate is thick, dense and ripe with good acidity but the thickness right now overshadows the acidity. Not much finesse to speak off but packed with intense flavor. Usually this vineyard is known for finesse. Maybe 2006 is a fluke or maybe the finesse will shine through in 30+ years as this did not budge much in my fridge over three days. Great wine nonetheless but give this time.