The Tasting Panel magazine

December2010

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specifi c region) labeled trocken can have no more than 9 grams/liter of residual sugar, and producers use varying degrees to balance the acidity in their wines. QbA trocken wines fi nish crisp and dry across the board though, depending upon their origin, dry wines from classifi ed sites in the Rheingau can have up to 13 g/l of residual sugar. This is the case at Schloss Johannisberg, a Rheingau producer that uses the Riesling Taste Profi le, a scale developed by the International Riesling Society (IRF) to indicate levels of sweetness, on its back labels. “If the label says trocken, you can be certain the wine will be dry,” said Thomas Haag, owner of the Mosel estate Schloss Lieser which boasts sites like Juffer Sonnenuhr, “otherwise, you must taste to know how much residual sugar remains in the wine.” A Plethora of Styles Thanks in part to the effects of climate change and a decided shift away from intervention in the cellar, German wine- makers are producing dry wines that deliver more of the transparency so prized in Riesling. “We’re on a one-way street away from technology in the cellar,” states Martin Franzen, winemaker at Müller- Catoir, an organic Pfalz estate that makes expressive dry wines from classifi ed sites. While styles vary from the coolest slate sites in the Mosel, where estates like Carl Loewen make lean, highly aromatic wines, to the warmer sandstone sites of the Pfalz, a desire for quality is evident throughout. “The heat-absorbing sandstone soils of the Pfalz are ideally suited to producing the ripe, botrytis-free fruit that makes the best dry wines,” observes Tom Benns, wine consultant for Dr. Bürklin-Wolf, a biodynamic estate that produces dozens of dry wines from sites rich in basalt and limestone. Top Picks in Dry Riesling Mosel Bernhard Eifel 2009 Red Slate Trocken INTERNATIONAL CELLARS Carl Loewen 2009 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Old Vine Trocken MICHAEL SKURNICK WINES C. H. Berres 2009 Erdener Treppchen Kabinett Trocken BONAFIDE WINE IMPORTS Clüsserath-Weiler 2009 Terra Rosa Trocken MAGELLAN IMPORTS Schloss Johannisberg 2009 Trocken VALCKENBERG INTERNATIONAL Schmitges 2009 Gray Slate Trocken MAGELLAN IMPORTS Schloss Lieser 2009 Trocken RUDI WEIST IMPORTS Schloss Schönborn 2009 Hattenheim Nussbrunnen Kabinett Trocken NORTHWEST WINES Pfalz Bürklin-Wolf 2009 Wachenheimer Rechbächel Trocken EUROPVIN Dr. Deinhard 2009 Deidesheimer Grainhubel Spätlese Trocken MICHAEL SKURNICK WINES Müller-Catoir (MC) 2009 Trocken MICHAEL SKURNICK WINES A. Christmann 2009 Riesling Pfalz (not labeled trocken) DOMAINE SELECT rheingau Franz Künstler 2009 Hochheimer Stielweg Old Vines RUDI WIEST IMPORTS Schloss Vollrads 2009 Trocken SCHMITT SÖHNE Robert Weil 2009 Riesling Trocken LOOSEN BROS. USA Moseljünger is a group of young producers from the Mosel, all from their own family wineries. They are (left to right): Dorothee Zilliken, Weingut Forstmeister Gelz Zilliken; Verena Clusserath, Weingut Clusserath Weiler; Sebastian oberbillig, Weingut Deutschherrenhof; Alexandra Eifel, Weingut Bernhard Eifel; Florian Lauer, Weingut Peter Lauer; Markus Berres, Weingut S.H. Berres. december 2010 / the tasting panel / 113

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