Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/580744
{ SOMMjournal.com } 1 15 # 3 Mike: Really nice peachy fruit, great balance of residual sugar and acidity, a little bit of spritz. Chalky, kind of like a patio pounder type thing. This is the kind of Riesling you give to people who don't drink Riesling. Conclusion: 2014, Kabinett, Nahe. Josh: We found notes of underripeness to the fruit—a combination of slightly con- fected and under-ripe apricot, some green straw. Had a lot of spritz … screw-cappy . . . sulphur. Definitely had that high acid and that Kabinett sugar. Conclusion: 2014, Kabinett Mosel. The reveal: Kruger-Rumpf Münsterer Rheinberg Riesling Kabinett, 2014 Nahe ($20, Terry Theise Estate Selection/Skurnik Wines). # 4 Josh: A little bit of development here, decomposing fruit—noth- ing bad about that, just a qualitative state- ment. But it doesn't seem old. A lot of interesting complexity here between — a combination of tangerine skin/Creamsicle/ mushroom thing and beach ball. We don't think it's a Grand Cru, but a good entry level AOC or cuvée. Conclusion: 2012, Alsace AOC, possibly a cuvée. $25–30. Mike: We get lots of rubber band, rubber cement . . . musky peach, melon. Definitely had that asphalty, smoky min- eral. We also do not think it's Grand Cru. Conclusion: 2013, Alsace, single vineyard, $30. The reveal: Charles Baur Cuvée Charles Riesling 2011, Alsace ($21, VOS Selections). #5 Mike: Hard to tell what it really was just because of all the stuff in the nose between the reduction and the sulfur. It had nice tension and good acidity, kind of lean. Bone dry. Conclusion: 2014 Trocken from Mosel-Saar. Josh: We also thought it was pretty aus- tere. We agreed that the nose was wet, dirty slate/flint. I don't know whether we'd sell it or not—I had kind of a "meh" [reaction]. Conclusion: 2014, Kamptal, Austria. The reveal: Anton Bauer Riesling Berg, 2013, Wagram, Austria ($21, Artisanal Cellars). # 6 Josh: The tropical nature of the fruit struck us right away— banana , guava, dried banana chip, almost a citrusy flan and a gooseberry kind of thing, which you don't find that often in a lot of Rieslings. There's also a kind of a a candied, white reduced peach to it, but we all agree there is a richness and a weightiness to it. Conclusion: 2013, Kremstal—either single plot or old-vine cuvée $30-35. Mike: Tropical, definitely. A little gassy, a little sweaty . . . not super-duper precise but the impressive part of this wine was the anchor of structure. It could almost be a GG German wine because of all that stony structure, but ultimately the alcohol really made us think it was Austrian. Conclusion: 2013, Krems, $40 The reveal: Pfeffingen Riesling Trocken GG, Herrenberg Ungstein, 2011 Pfalz $30 # 7 Mike: Date, orchard fruits, perhaps a touch of botrytis. Definitely some sugar, some alcohol, late- harvested wine with good minerality and good acidity. We're going Alsace on this. Conclusion: 2005 Alsace VT Riesling 2005. $70. Josh: [In undertone, "Damn."] We were lockstep with you in terms of the color, flavor but didn't conclude quite the age or lateness of the harvest. We certainly think it's an Indian summer, partially botrytized rich style of wine—honeyed, baked, golden apple. Conclusion: Alsace Grand Cru, $45–50 The reveal: Barmes-Buecher Steingrübler AOC Grand Cru, 2010, Alsace, ($54, Sussex Wine Merchants/Petit Pois). # 8 Josh: It's a complete wine where the fruit, acid, and texture are working at the same pace together. It's not a wine that's going to age for 30 years and change people's lives, but it's just a really delicious, balanced Riesling. Conclusion: 2012 Federspiel from Wachau. $30-35. Mike: Herbal, floral, but on the palate, there's apricot and peach . . . very pure, like running-river-water flavors on the palate—quite good. We're oscillating between Krems and Wachau. There's a really stony purity to this wine—it's less ripe than a lot of wines in the Wachau. Conclusion: 2012, Krems. The reveal: Tegernseerhof Riesling Loibenberg, 2012 Wachau, ($34, Artisanal Cellars). # 9 Mike: It's nice to taste wines like this. It's delicious. Nice and pure, super mineral, amazing balance, good alcohol—put together wine. Not hair out of place. Conclusion: Rheingau Grosses Gewächs 2012, $90.