[Drinking] Happy Riesling Day!

[Goldstone1976]

Because it’s today, I’m opening this.

My all time favourite Alsatian Riesling grower. First bottle of this vintage I’m opening. Likely to be far too young really - it’ll age up to 30 years. Nonetheless, it should still be ace.

 

[vegster]

Can anyone recommend a Reisling under a tenner that's good ? I just chug white so an expensive bottle would be gone in 45 minutes

 

[Machiavelli]

View attachment 198313Had a glass of this last summer when in Germany. Quite astonishing. Almost amber in colour, but the most surprising bit was how dry it had become.

As @Goldstone1976 says, we have a winner on this thread.
Worth adding that one of the signs of a great wine is the ability to age, evolve, develop depth and complexity. German Rieslings have high acidity that facilitates this and counteracts any residual sweetness (which a Spatlese has).

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Just poured myself a glass. Got to celebrate the day while we can.

 

[Machiavelli]

Because it’s today, I’m opening this.

View attachment 198322

My all time favourite Alsatian Riesling grower. First bottle of this vintage I’m opening. Likely to be far too young really - it’ll age up to 30 years. Nonetheless, it should still be ace.

Wow. Only had Boxler once IIRC and it was delightful.
For romantic reasons, I'm an enormous fan of Rolly Gassmann and pleased to have stumbled across their wines again of late.

 

[Nitram]

Kracher, by any chance?

We went to Berlin in 2015 and found a wonderful Austrian restaurant. It was bizarre as when you went to the loo the sound piped through the music system sounded like a Nazi rally. I found out it was commentary on a World Cup match between Germany and Austria, which Austria won!

Anyway they encouraged us to try Austrian wines.
We enjoyed them so much that when we went out if I saw an Austrian wine on the wine list I would always try it.

I’m no expert and don’t remember the names of the wine so could not answer your question but know I’ve never had a bad Austrian wine.

I gave up drinking nearly two years ago and don’t miss alcohol at all, but used to appreciate a good wine.

 

[alanfp]

Ah, I have only ever had Risling when at a friends house in Hamburg, it was way to sweet for me and I have never tried any since.
Forgive my ignorance.

But you're not ignorant about your own experience of Riesling. Maybe there are Rieslings out there that aren't too sweet and you just haven't found them yet.
I've only tried a few but I didn't find any that I like either and I'm not going to keep on looking any more. What was it Einstein said about keeping doing the same thing and expecting different results?

It's all a matter of personal taste and if there are people who like Riesling then I'm very happy that they enjoy it - it's just not for me.

I very nearly added here "Personally I'll stick to more sophisticated grown-up wines" but I thought better of it

 

[Smoky McPot]

You lucky, lucky bastard.

1971 is the best year of the ‘70s for German Rieslings* without a shadow of a doubt. Most would put it in their top 10 vintages of the century. I’d put it in the top 5 for sure, probably top 3 - precisely because it’s still drinking brilliantly (assuming provenance is ok).

There are basically 5 levels of sweetness of German whites (though inevitably it’s a bit more complicated than that), in increasing levels of sweetness:

Kabinett
Spatlese
Auslese
Beerenauslese
Trockenbeerenauslese

So, a Spat(lese) starts life as just off-dry to definitely off-dry. Age will typically mean it loses some sweetness. Thus, a ‘71 spat wouldn’t be expected to be particularly sweet.

@Herr Tubthumper - yet another free lesson in the wines of your adopted Fatherland.

* Ditto Barolo (and ‘77). NB: Barolo isn’t a German Riesling.

Had a very good chat with Erni Loosen that summer too, it’s interesting to note how global warming is affecting the country and as a result the sweeter TBA, eiswein etc will become rarer and rarer. Sweden maybe be one to look too for these styles.

Completely off topic but recently drank a 100% PN sparkling from Donnhoff that gives alot of grand marques champagne a good run for their money.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

You lucky, lucky bastard.

1971 is the best year of the ‘70s for German Rieslings* without a shadow of a doubt. Most would put it in their top 10 vintages of the century. I’d put it in the top 5 for sure, probably top 3 - precisely because it’s still drinking brilliantly (assuming provenance is ok).

There are basically 5 levels of sweetness of German whites (though inevitably it’s a bit more complicated than that), in increasing levels of sweetness:

Kabinett
Spatlese
Auslese
Beerenauslese
Trockenbeerenauslese

So, a Spat(lese) starts life as just off-dry to definitely off-dry. Age will typically mean it loses some sweetness. Thus, a ‘71 spat wouldn’t be expected to be particularly sweet.

@Herr Tubthumper - yet another free lesson in the wines of your adopted Fatherland.

* Ditto Barolo (and ‘77). NB: Barolo isn’t a German Riesling.

Always appreciated!

 

[Justice]

Because it’s today, I’m opening this.

View attachment 198322

My all time favourite Alsatian Riesling grower. First bottle of this vintage I’m opening. Likely to be far too young really - it’ll age up to 30 years. Nonetheless, it should still be ace.

Brass sockets and switches are a rarity these days. Haven’t had a request since the 90’s.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Had a very good chat with Erni Loosen that summer too, it’s interesting to note how global warming is affecting the country and as a result the sweeter TBA, eiswein etc will become rarer and rarer. Sweden maybe be one to look too for these styles.

Completely off topic but recently drank a 100% PN sparkling from Donnhoff that gives alot of grand marques champagne a good run for their money.

A member since 2009 and it’s only now that you disclose/I’ve clocked that you belong in the same cell as @McTavish @Machiavelli and me?

Yes, I’ve read about high RS wine production moving steadily North (one writer talked about Sussex as a possible location).

I’ve not tried a sparkling Donnhoff; thanks for the tip.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Brass sockets and switches are a rarity these days. Haven’t had a request since the 90’s.

Ha!

We did the kitchen up about a year ago. Previously it was kitted out with lots of individual pieces of furniture, giving it an incredibly country cottage feel which we liked visually, but was hopelessly inefficient for actually cooking in.

So we gutted it (including levelling the floorboards - a 175mm drop from corner to corner of the room), and put in a Quaker style kitchen with modern (now level!) surfaces. In order to keep some of the aesthetic we liked, we put in brass electrical fixtures and also the rustic island worktop you see.

We’re very happy with everything, except those grooves in the worktop you see are a bugger for collecting food debris.

 

[Anger]

Alsatian Riesling is my absolute go to if any doubt as to what I want to drink - as an aperitif, with food, as a dessert wine, or just to enjoy by itself. As McTavish says, Riesling runs the whole gamut from bone dry to unctuously sweet. It’s an astonishing varietal. Along with sherry, the most underrated wine of them all.

Seconded…

 

[McTavish]

Can anyone recommend a Reisling under a tenner that's good ? I just chug white so an expensive bottle would be gone in 45 minutes

For a very dry style, the Tingleup Riesling from Tesco which I mentioned earlier is very good. Usually £11.00 but goes below £10.00 on offer. For a medium dry wine, the Grey Slate Dr L Riesling in Waitrose is pretty good for a tenner. Push the boat out a bit further and you can get Cave de Beblenheim Kleinfels Riesling from Alasace, also from Waitrose. It's £12.00 but Waitrose have a "25% off 6" offer on at the moment which brings it down to £9.00 if bought with 5 other bottles.

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[Smoky McPot]

A member since 2009 and it’s only now that you disclose/I’ve clocked that you belong in the same cell as @McTavish @Machiavelli and me?

Yes, I’ve read about high RS wine production moving steadily North (one writer talked about Sussex as a possible location).

I’ve not tried a sparkling Donnhoff; thanks for the tip.

If you can find some of the Dr Loosen Graacher Riesling (about £25 if I remember) it’s a bargain. It should be labeled up as their Himmelreich GG but they want the fruit of the GG to be from vines of at least 50 years of age. Everything else gets bottled as the straight Graacher. Bargain!

 

[Machiavelli]

If you can find some of the Dr Loosen Graacher Riesling (about £25 if I remember) it’s a bargain. It should be labeled up as their Himmelreich GG but they want the fruit of the GG to be from vines of at least 50 years of age. Everything else gets bottled as the straight Graacher. Bargain!

Thanks for the tip. Are you referring to the Kabinett, Spatlese, ...?

 

[vegster]

For a very dry style, the Tingleup Riesling from Tesco which I mentioned earlier is very good. Usually £11.00 but goes below £10.00 on offer. For a medium dry wine, the Grey Slate Dr L Riesling in Waitrose is pretty good for a tenner. Push the boat out a bit further and you can get Cave de Beblenheim Kleinfels Riesling from Alasace, also from Waitrose. It's £12.00 but Waitrose have a "25% off 6" offer on at the moment which brings it down to £9.00 if bought with 5 other bottles.

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Thanks, thats very helpful.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

If you can find some of the Dr Loosen Graacher Riesling (about £25 if I remember) it’s a bargain. It should be labeled up as their Himmelreich GG but they want the fruit of the GG to be from vines of at least 50 years of age. Everything else gets bottled as the straight Graacher. Bargain!

Dr Loosen, I would buy this for the name alone.