Since our initial post, we have added one more Riesling to add to the tasting. Georg Mosbacher Riesling Qualitätswein Trocken Pfalz Freundstück Forst GG 2007 has been added to the list. A great opportunity to taste a wine from what is considered to be one of the great parcels in Germany!
Many believe that Riesling is the greatest of all white wine grapes. This Saturday we’ll explore the contrasts between four excellent examples of Riesling from two of Germany’s finest wine-growing estates, Heymann-Lowenstein and Georg Mosbacher.
Reinhard Lowenstein, whose family had, for generations been winegrowers, has become one of the most famous and iconoclast winemakers in Germany. His wines are so sought after that he sells nearly 60% of his production to private customers in Germany, and the rest are highly allocated around the world.
Readers unfamiliar with the influential and inspiring – though not uncontroversial – work of Reinhard Lowenstein in the ultra-steep, terraced, geologically diverse slopes of the Mosel just above its confluence with the Rhine are urged to consult my accounts in issues 163 and 167. Among Lowenstein’s much-discussed ideas – not that I personally treat this as less than obvious – is that Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer Rieslings are more expressive, better-balanced, and have better aging potential – while potentially, for all practical purposes, still tasting essentially dry – when their residual sugar is allowed to rest above legal Trockenheit. Lowenstein’s nobly sweet Rieslings frequently tend toward a creaminess and sense of lees and stuffing consistent with his dry wines, yet they incorporate at their best a sense of delicacy, refinement, and transparency to mineral sensations that seldom apply to any other grape than Riesling or at any significant distance from the Mosel The 2007 vintage Auslesen tend in fact to be quite obvious in their acidity, and are designated “gold capsule” to reflect their high quality, not because there are any corresponding “regular” Auslese bottlings. – David Schildknecht, The Wine Advocate
Weingut Georg Mosbacher is considered to be “one of the best estates of the Palatinate region; it has made its way to the top by virtue of the distinctive quality of its wines and without the help of PR campaigns.” – Marco Polo Guide, The Best Wines of Germany
Georg Mosbacher Riesling Kabinett Pfalz Forster 2007, $22.99/btl – Pfalz, Germany – 100% Riesling – 13% abv – Inviting, with spice-tinged peach, persimmon, orange and white pepper aromas and flavors. This comes together nicely and stays firm and focused from start to finish. Drink now through 2020. 100 cases imported. – WS 90 points
The scarcely-sweet Mosbacher 2007 Forster Riesling Kabinett offers a peachy, slightly musky nose; a sappy, slightly rustic palate; and excellent thirst-quenching length. As such it is typical of Riesling from lesser sites in this famous, tiny village, whose top sites give arguably the most complex and mysterious wines in the Pfalz. I would plan on enjoying over the next 2-3 years, although there is certainly no need to hold it. – WA 87 points
Georg Mosbacher Riesling Spätlese Trocken Pfalz Forster Musenhang 2007, $29.99/btl – Pfalz, Germany – 100 % Riesling – 10% abv – Ample in both flavor and texture. Rich and round, it’s permeated by nectarine, grapefruit and stone aromas and flavors that remain intense and long. Fine, dry, refreshing finish. Drink now through 2018. 10 cases imported. – WS 90 points
From a relatively cool, breezy, and little-known site above Pechstein and just below the forests that cap the Mittelhaardt, the Mosbacher 2007 Forster Musenhang Riesling Spatlese trocken is predictably cool in its emphasis on mint, sassafras, and under-ripe honeydew melon, with a juicy but restrained palate presence; moderate body; and decided imitations (or intimations) of wet stone in its satisfyingly long finish. I would feel free to plan on holding this for as long as 8-10 years. – WA 89 points
Georg Mosbacher Riesling Qualitätswein Trocken Pfalz Freundstück Forst GG 2007, $34.99/btl – Pfalz, Germany – 100% Riesling – 13% abv – This dry white is rich and fruity, making it seem a touch softer than it actually is. The acidity is deftly woven into the texture, showing more on the finish, which has a nice chalky feel. Drink now through 2019. 15 cases imported. – WS 91 points
From the least-known of Forst sites classified for bottling as Grosses Gewachs (abutting Kirchenstuck), the Mosbacher 2007 Forster Freundstuck Riesling Grosses Gewachs displays Gewurztraminer-like litchi, brown spices, and black pepper as well as a glossy, glycerin-rich texture and opulent richness, albeit at the price of slight, prickly alcohol- and/or botrytis-induced heat. A sappy, spicy, pungently peppery cling here leads one to overlook any minor flaws, and I would simply plan to monitor this in case if proves best drunk within 5-7 years rather than a decade.
I had not visited the well-regarded estate now run by Sabine Mosbacher and Jurgen Duringer for close to a decade, and was quite impressed with the quality at this address. They spoke openly about concerns in 2007 that botrytis might compromise dryness not to mention quality, two reasons why they chose to utilize cultured yeasts for some cuvees rather than letting as many as usual of their fermentations take-off spontaneously. Had a low level of botrytis not been tolerated in the Grosse Gewachse here, those bottlings would probably have been closer to the understated but intriguing personalities of the rest of this year’s Mosbacher collection, but as it is they are certainly imposingly rich. – WA 90 points
Heymann-Lowenstein Riesling Qualitätswein Mosel Von Blauem Schiefer 2006, $24.99/btl – Mosel, Germany – 100% Riesling – 13% abv – Light yet intense, with peach, pear, butter and mineral salt notes wrapped around a core of acidity. This is vivid and stays etched on the palate through the lingering finish. Drink now through 2016. 50 cases imported. – WS 91 points
Lowenstein’s 2007 Riesling Vom Blauen Schiefer is – as its name suggests – sourced from among the ancient terraces of Winningen and neighboring Kobern that are planted on blue Devonian slate. As usual, this displays more brightness and citrus – here lime and grapefruit – than Riesling from some of the other soils characteristic for this stretch of the Mosel. Suggestions of malt and nut oils lend richness and a saline, crustacean savor mingles with wet stone on the mineral side of the ledger, informing a long, both refreshing and intriguing finish. Enjoy this over the coming 5-7 years. – WA 89 points
Heymann-Lowenstein Riesling Qualitätswein Mosel Uhlen L Laubach 2006, $34.99/btl – Mosel, Germany – 100% Riesling – 12.5% abv – Focused, with a firm core of acidity and richness seeping in around the edges. Mint, apricot, spice and mineral flavors hold sway, staying balanced and long as this pushes to its conclusion. Chameleonlike, this changes and surprises. Drink now through 2022. – WS 94 points
The 2007 Winninger Uhlen Riesling Laubach (a.k.a. “L”) – grown on the same sort of soil as the Stolzenberg – features pineapple and kiwi suffused with crushed stone, almond extract, and the bitterness of fruit pits. Like the Blaufusser Lay, this unites creaminess and relative substantiality of alcoholic weight and extract with a sense of refinement and no heat or heaviness, although it fails to quite display the uncanny lift of that wine. The mineral sense here is more overtly of crushed stone rather than savory and saline, while the length in both fruit and mineral registers is formidable. It may well be worth following for a decade, and certainly for close to that long. – WA 91 points
