Jos. Christoffel Jr., Ürziger Würzgarten, Riesling Kabinett, 2000

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:14:13 GMT

I'm trying to learn my Rieslings, so this review will walk you through what I've learned so far. But the best place to start is why I bought this bottle (above) in the first place. Awhile back I drank the bottle below, and really liked it:

Read that review, here: Jos. Christoffel Jr., Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Riesling Auslese, 1990.

So, I really liked the 1990 bottle, and didn't like the 2000 bottle so much -- at least not at first. And yet, the labels look almost the same. Both are Rieslings from the same producer, Jos. Christoffel Jr. Now you could wonder about the vintage and all that, the fact is, there's a lot that's different on the two labels -- despite the fact that it's the same vintner -- than just the vintage. And that's what I wanted to figure out.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. You can read the earlier review, but first, I better let you know what this current bottle was like.

The nose was honeysuckle! That is, a cross between something floral and actual honey. The taste is most definitely sweet, and it is slightly effervescent (sort of like a sweeter Vinho Verde). The main flavor is a sweet lemon. Yet there was a slight sweet vegetable taste -- like a sweet pea pod. The most base way I can put this is that it's light and flat champagne mixed with Countrytime lemonade. Okay, that sounds terrible. And it's worth pointing out that while this isn't my taste, the quality of the wine was very good. And others that drank it with me very much liked it. And it's not like I don't care for some sweet wines, but this was just not my style. it reminded me too much of a wine cooler.

So why did I like the Ausleses and not this Kabinett?

Apparently there are two main dimensions to this story: quality and style. The style classifications are as follows:

Trocken — bone-dry and high in alcohol.
Halb-trocken — medium-dry and medium-high in alcohol.
Edelsuss — traditional and lower in alcohol; they can be slightly-sweet to very sweet depending on the classification.

But if you're paying attention, none of these words appear either label. So that's less useful. The quality scale runs like this (from lowest to highest):

Kabinett — light wines made of fully ripe grapes.
Spätlese — grapes harvested after the normal harvest ("late harvest").
Auslese — selected and very ripe bunches; typically noble wines intense in bouquet and taste.
Beerenauslese (BA) — individually selected and overripe berries; rich, sweet dessert wines.
Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) — individually selected berries that are overripe and shrivelled on the vine almost to raisins; rich, sweet, luscious, honey-like wines.

Ah ha! Now those was words on both labels. So part of the story is that the 1990 bottle was not just older, it was also a higher-quality wine — the grapes were actually selected for their quality — an "Auslese" — unlike my second, "Kabinett" bottle. But, of course, there is a price to be paid. The Auslese was about $50, and this Kabinett was about $20. So, yet another example of you getting what you paid for.

Also notable is the "Ürziger Würzgarten" and "Wehlener Sonnenuhr" designations. This refers to the specific vineyards where the grapes were grow. Both of these are from the Mosel valley in western Germany. The grapes are grown on these incredibly steep slopes:

However, unless you're a connoisseur of Rieslings, the vineyard where the grapes were grown will likely play a less important role in judging a Riesling by its label than the quality designation.

Anyway if you're like me, you don't usually drink Rieslings, at least not on purpose, but are interested in learning more, I found this article in the NY Times helpful: Ausleses Put Sweetness on the Table.

P.S. I held off on posted this for a few days. And in the interim, I had a small glass of this wine each day. And by the third day, I was starting to like this wine. It lost some of that effervescence, but I'm not sure that was what I didn't like at first. Maybe it's just starting to grow on me.

Cost:

Rating: 7.0

Jos. Christoffel Jr., Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Riesling Auslese, 1990

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:07:10 GMT

My goodness, what an interesting wine! Now, I know what you're thinking: Riesling? That's too sweet. Ack. Yeah, I usually think that too. But I remember a Janise Robinson video I watched many moons ago, and she went off about how interesting Rieslings can be -- if you're patient. And by patient, I mean REALLY patient. You have to wait 10, 20, maybe many decades.(Yes, apparently good Rieslings can be cellared for a long time, even though it's a white). And if you do, you can experience some wonderful payback.

To boil this thing down, think Sauternes but take out nearly all the sweetness and reduce the weight of the wine by at least half. And that's pretty close to what this wine was like: a thinner less sweet Sauternes. Lots of that honey and nectar you'd expect, and apricot.

However, it's a bit more complicated than that. In addition to all the Sauternes similarity, there were definite differences too. First and foremost is a tangerine/satsuma taste. It's quick and delicious. It adds a sort of sweet and sour aspect to the wine. But that tangerine quickly mutates with sort of a dill taste that flashes on the finish -- along with floral elements.

The nose was all over the place: honey, nectar, apricot, peach, pear, and floral. The taste is honey! And as described above, changed with the tangerine, dill, and floral tastes. The first taste is sweet, but the finish is sour, but in a tangerine/citrus way (good not bad). The weight was equivalent to a skim milk (very light body, especially if compared with something like a Sauternes).

Denise described the wine as being "pretty" (she usually doesn't like white, and especially doesn't like sweet wines). And she added: "it's like wearing a big Liz Taylor diamond ring."

Cost:

Rating: 9.0

If you're like me, you don't usually drink Rieslings, at least not on purpose. They're a bit of an enigma. If you're interested in learning a bit more, I found this article in the NY Times helpful: Ausleses Put Sweetness on the Table.

Decanterberry Tales - A Willamette Valley Wine Blog - mosel tag

Jos. Christoffel Jr., Ürziger Würzgarten, Riesling Kabinett, 2000

Jos. Christoffel Jr., Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Riesling Auslese, 1990