Expressive Auslese of the “Roter Hang”


 

Rothenberg, Hipping, Pettenthal and Ölberg are vineyards lying at the red slope near the Rhine-Hessian Nierstein. In all these vine locations the Bodenheim based winery Kühling-Gillot owns vineyards. The winery which operates since the 19th century in the winegrowing business, besides the two main grape varieties Riesling and Pinot Noir has planted on its 11 hectares of vineyards Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Scheurebe, Gewürztraminer and to a smaller amount Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.

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Hofgut Falkenstein – Gripping Late Harvest from the Saar


© Nico Kliche, Goldrichs

If you look on the Internet for ways to buy wines from Hofgut Falkenstein, you will find only a few suppliers. Some of them even point out that they receive only small quantities and a delivery is therefore reserved for regular customers. The wines from Hofgut Falkenstein are not only very popular in Germany, you could say, there is a real hype and the vintages are often sold out very quickly.

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Classic Kabinetts of great Moselle vineyard locations

M°vin stands for wine from the Mosel, actually rather for fruit sweet Cabinet wines. Only these are offered by M°vin, which goes back to an initiative of the native Moselles Roman Bastgen and Felix Schon. During their studies in Cologne the two made the experience that the Cabinet wines of their home were very well received with their Cologne friends and acquaintances, even with those who wanted to drink only very dry wines.

So they came up with the idea to market these wines under the label M°vin and thus make these typical Mosel wines better known. For this idea, they have won some young winemakers from the … Read more ...

Saarriesling Kabinett – fresh, juicy, racy

© Nico Kliche, Goldrichs

About one and a half years ago I heard the first time from the online shop Goldrichs, which offered only fruit sweet Rieslings at that time. At that time, I had been asked by Goldrichs if I would like to taste some wines of the assortment and post the tasting in my blog, with which I agreed. This has only been because I found the idea of ​​putting fruity Rieslings in the center of attention worth of support and still find.

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Scharzhofberger Riesling Late Harvest – Vereinigte Hospitien

Viticulture on the Saar © Heinz Teuber  Pixabay

The Vereinigte Hospitien, founded in 1804 by Napoleon Bonaparte as a social foundation, still perform this task today by looking after and caring for old, sick or disabled people in different institutions. From the beginning, a winery was also part of it, which provably has cultivated the first Riesling in the Mosel valley in 1464. The figure of St. James on the bottle label reminds at the St. Jacobs Hospital, the owner at that time.

The United Hospitals are also known for their spectacular wine cellar, the oldest wine cellar in Germany, which impresses not only with ancient Roman masonry from around 330 AD, but above all by its size and the possibility to enjoy wine tasting there.

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Sweetness from Franconia – Silvaner Auslese

In the autumn, there are many wine events – selection is necesssary. Sweet wines are rarely to be found on tasting lists – if there is one -, mostly the winemakers have only dry wines with them. I wanted to taste dry Silvaner at the presentation of wine from Franconia, which was announced with the brand Silvaner Heimat seit 1659 (Home of Silvaner since 1659) created this year.


Home of the Silvaner is not so wrong, because about 1,500 hectares, corresponding to 1/4 of the Franconian vineyards are planted with Silvaner. However, Rheinhessen has almost half more Silvaner in terms of area and the original home of the grape … Read more ...

Chardonnay for lovers of Auslese

Chardonnay is a very versatile variety, which is reflected in dry wines in a variety of wine styles. Usually dry wines are produced with this variety, but there are also sweet and noble sweet Chardonnay variants, especially in Germany and Austria. Two characteristics make Chardonnay a very well suited grape variety for sweet wines. On the one hand, the variety definitely has enough acidity to balance residual sugar, on the other hand, the berries’ shells are thin enough to facilitate botrytis infestation, thus enabling the production of noble sweet wines.

We tasted a Chardonnay Auslese 2001 of the Wittmann Winery. The Wittmann family is involved in viticulture since 1663. … Read more ...

Feinherb showpiece – Molitor’s Zeltinger Himmelreich 2016

There are four different grades of sweetness according to German and EU wine law: dry, semi-dry, semisweet and sweet, in addition, one also finds the term feinherb. A term probably only used in Germany, which should convey to the consumer that the wine has a fine, slightly herb note, even though or just because it is not dry.

In various wine lexica it can be read that a feinherb wine, such as a semi-dry one, has a residual sugar content of 9 to 18 g / l, whereby the sugar may not be more than 10 g / l above the acidity. This is true for … Read more ...

Sauvignon Blanc „Sweetheart“ – everybody’s darling!

Sauvignon blanc is not necessarily everyone’s favorite, at least for the dry wines. Some people because of its aromas can not drink enough of it , others refrain entirely from it because of the aromas. The flavors can vary greatly depending on the harvest time. With increasing maturity, the spectrum of aromas of grass, herbs, green fruits, boxwood, gooseberries, elderberries and yellow fruits often shifts, especially with ripened specimens supplemented with vegetables, asparagus and cabbage.

Among the best known dry Sauvignon Blanc are Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and those from New Zealand. Although Sauvignon Blanc is very prone to noble rot, it plays only a minor role in the well-known sweet wine … Read more ...

Top-Auslesen from the Mosel

After a walk in the warm spring sun and a subsequent coffee with cake, Hans not only served some dry, but also three sweet Riesling readings from the Mosel – all three from well-known, good producers.

Maximin Grünhaus Abtsberg 2010 Riesling Auslese No. 24
Expressive nose with herbaceous, delicately spicy and fruity aromas of citrus and peach. Harmonious on the palate, but thrilling, fine juicy fruit with pleasantly subtle sweetness and racy acidity, spicy herbs, beautiful mineral notes, long very good finish, complex, excellent wine with potential.

Wehlener Sonnenuhr 1994 Riesling Auslese ***, Jos. Christoffel jr.
Golden yellow with orange reflections. In the nose restrained, smoky, spicy, some tobacco, slightly … Read more ...