|
Remarkable Riesling Remembered |
|
Reported by Larry Woods
 On Wednesday, June 10, 2009, a sell-out crowd of Guild members and guests braved the extensive construction on Preston Street to attend a Riesling tasting at DiVino Wine Studio that was, indeed, remarkable, as advertised. Guild Director Robert White presented an excellent collection of wines that he had purchased over the last few years, including a flight from Ontario, three flights from Germany, and a Niagara dessert wine.
Between tastings, Robert presented an interesting, educational and enjoyable slide show that included photographs and information he had gathered while attending the German Wine Academy.
Many Ontario wineries are now producing good Rieslings, demonstrating that our climate and soil conditions are well-suited for this grape. In the first flight, three Rieslings from Ontario were tasted blind. The clear favorite from this trio was an off-dry Riesling produced by Cave Spring Cellars, one of the most consistently reliable Riesling producers in Niagara. (Their $30 premium 2004 CSV Riesling was the first Ontario table wine to win a 90+ score from Wine Spectator). Although the wine was a little closed at first, it was well balanced, with good fruit and minerality, and was quite typical of a well-made Ontario Riesling. Some participants liked the “austerity” of the Trumpour’s Mill Riesling from Prince Edward County – it had searing acidity and some minerality, although the fruit was quite subdued. The third wine of this flight from Carmela Estates was “stinky” (in a bad way), due to excessive sulphur usage in the production process.
 The second flight was a mini-vertical of Riesling Kabinett from the 2002, 2003 and 2004 vintages from Schloss Schönborn in Rheingau, Germany, which has been owned by the same family since 1349, and has 90% of its 50 hectares along the Rhine valley planted with Riesling. Robert recalled that 2002 was a cool year, 2003 was extremely hot (temperatures of 36° to 38°C!), and 2004 was a normal year. Surprisingly, the wine from 2003 was badly lacking in fruit, had little residual sugar, and seemed like a dead wine. The excellent 2004 vintage was slightly more popular than the 2002 vintage, with perhaps a little more fruit, although both were lovely, well balanced wines that felt a little “spritzy” on the tongues of some tasters, possibly due to the wines’ high acidity.
The third flight (tasted blind) began with a wine that had a darker yellow colour, lacked fruit and residual sugar, and had unpleasant sour/bitter notes. The writer felt that this wine was “too awful to be a Riesling”. Nobody chose this wine as their favorite—it turned out to be a Silvaner from Franken, which was bottled in the distinctive “bocksbeutel” bottle (shaped rather like an old Mateus Rosé bottle) that is used in Franken. The bocksbeutel is said to be named after a pouch or bag of the same shape (rather then the literal translation, a goat’s scrotum). This wine is an acquired taste, and is said to be most popular in Ontario with wine drinkers from Franken, Germany.
The Geist Riesling was the favourite of four tasters, who felt that it demonstrated good typicity, and was a good example of a mature food-friendly Riesling. The strong favourite of this flight was the Weingut Jahannishof Riesling Kabinett, which had pleasing floral and apricot aromas, lots of fruit, and enough residual sugar that it could have been a spatlese, well balanced with acidity. This well-made wine (from the very good 2004 vintage in Rheingau) would be a pleasure to drink on its own, but was also a food-friendly wine.
 The fabulous fourth flight began with the second-favorite 2005 St. Urbans-Hof Riesling Kabinett from the outstanding Piesporter Goldtröpchen vineyard in the Mosel region. When this wine was released by the LCBO in 2007, it received the outstanding “two- glasses” rating (“We both agree—a brilliant wine”) from winecurrent.com. Guild Governor and Past President Vic Harradine of winecurrent.com wrote, “Purchase and drink this to become a life- long convert to German Rieslings. The nose is delicate with peach, mineral and floral notes to the fore. You'll begin your tasting experience with a creamy texture and a mélange of fruit flavours, including sweet pineapple, zesty citrus and juicy, ripe peach. The finish layers on more sweet fruit flavours, magically balanced with bracing acidity.” (winecurrent.com, June 9, 2007 Vintages Release)
The 1995 Balthasar Ress demonstrated many characteristics of an aged Riesling nearing the end of its life – predominant “petrol” aromas, a darker yellow colour, good fruit and acidity with a hint of residual sugar. It also had an unexpected lemon finish, rather like a Chenin Blanc.
The favorite of the flight was the 1998 Thanisch from the Badstube vineyard in Bernkastel, Mosel, one of the top Riesling-producing areas in the world. This wine had remarkably vibrant fresh fruit (tangerine, mango, tropical fruit, gooseberries and also fennel were noted), and was well balanced, with good acidity. It was purchased eight years ago for $18.95, and will age gracefully for a few more years for anyone who is fortunate enough to have a bottle.
We ended the evening with a very pleasant 2006 Château des Charmes Late Harvest Riesling from Niagara that offered refined fruit aromas, medium sweetness balanced with good acidity, and a hint of pineapple on the finish.
For the Riesling fans who were fortunate enough to be able to attend, this was a most enjoyable and memorable evening of wine tasting.
The wines: Flight 1 - Trumpour's Mill Riesling, 2007, Prince Edward County VQA, $15.80, 28258
- Cave Sping Riesling, 2007, Beamsville Bench VQA, $17.75, 286377
- Carmela Estates Winery Riesling, 2002. Prince Edward County VQA
Flight 2 - Scloss Schönborn Riesling Kabinett, 2002, Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg, Rheingau
- Scloss Schönborn Riesling Halbtroken, 2003, Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg, Rheingau
- Scloss Schönborn Riesling Kabinett, 2004, Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg, Rheingau
Flight 3 - Bűrgerspital Wűrzburg Silvaner Kabinett Trocken, 2006, Wűrzburger Pfaffenberg, Franken
- Bűrgerspital Zum HL. Geist, Riesling Kabinett, 2004, Wűrzburger Stein-Harfe, Franken
- Weingut Johannishof, Riesling Kabinett, 2004, Johannisberg "G", Rheingau
Flight 4 - St. Urbans-Hof Riesling Kabinett, 2005, Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Mosel Saar Ruwer
- Balthasar Ress, Riesling Kabinett, 1995, Hallgartener Jungfer, Rheingau
- Weingut WWE. Dr. H. Thanisch, Riesling Kabinett, 1998, Bernkasteler Badstube, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Flight 5 - Chateau des Charmes Late Harvest Riesling, 2006, Niagara-on-the-Lake VQA, $19.85, 432930
|
|
Last Updated ( Sunday, 12 July 2009 )
|
|
|
Upcoming Events |
|
To register for an event, click the Register for this Event button on the event's description page. This will take you to the EventBrite registration page. EventBrite FAQ
|
|
Moderation |
|
The National Capital Sommelier Guild strongly supports moderate and responsible consumption of wine and spirits. Guild dinner events allow a designated driver to attend at a reduced price. The designated driver will not be served alcohol. Guild tasting events provide and encourage the use of spit buckets. |
"We don't really write a wine column. We write a lifestyle column that happens to focus on wine."
— The Wall Street Journal Guide to Wine
|
|
|
