Pick up some champagne with your wine.
Disclaimer: I entered into a tentative agreement with the online wine retailer Wine Chateau under which they sponsor two of my posts per month. Wine Chateau has no influence on the topic I select for the post or its content. Opinions expressed are all mine.</id
I wrote this piece a while back but never published it…it is still a good summer story.
It is about time I write about a Riesling again, especially before I go on my summer break…and the time for a wonderful wine came after our Napa Cabernet Sauvignon vertical.
I have written about the winery Weiser-Künstler extensively before, you can see my winery visit report here. I even wrote a post before in which I compared this wine with the 2011 Spätlese from the same vineyard. When I want to impress friends with a good Riesling, this is one of the few wineries I tend to pick out for that purpose. The quality is usually very good, and the wines have the ability to even make less enthusiastic wine drinkers appreciate what good Riesling can stand for. It has been about a year now since I tried this wine last, so it might be interesting to compare the notes for this wine, a year later. As a reminder, the wine has 8% ABV and comes from a vineyard that the importer describes as the “Scharzhofberg” of the Mosel…pretty high praise, especially when you know my very weak spot for the Scharzhofberg. I tend to agree. All the wines from this hill that I have had were incredibly pleasant…
But back to my old notes; in June 2012 I described the wine like this:
“The 2011 Weiser-Künstler Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling Kabinett had a nose of spontaneous fermentation, something I will write about in another post in more depth. Suffice it to say that the wines initially are more smelly/stinky when poured than you expect, which levels out after a bit. On the palate, the wine was lean, with yellow fruits and enough acidity to carry it. The wine held a perfect balance of acidity and sugar and was just great to drink. It was refreshing and easy to drink.”
Now, in June 2013, I am looking at my notes and it is actually pretty interesting:
The 2011 Weiser-Künstler Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling Kabinett showed itself in a very pale, light color, it looked almost as clear as water. That was surprising, I didn’t remember it that way. In the nose, spontaneous fermentation was still very prominent, followed by peach aromas. On the palate, this medium bodied wine seemed very ripe, with aromas of peach, pear and some cream. There was a rather low acidity this time around, still noticeable, but definitely less prominent than my previous note suggested. The wine had a rather short finish. A bit into the tasting, I started getting some strawberry aromas. I liked this wine a lot. It has a sophistication to it that is very pleasant. It is not a deep wine, but it changes enough in the glass to keep surprising you again and again. In a more subdued state right now, less refreshing than in 2012.
The wines are imported by vom Boden (who have an excellent German portfolio!) and are therefore available in the US. Weiser-Künstler produces in rather low quantities, so if you ever come across this label, which is rather easy to remember, pick up a bottle. Who knows when you will next see one. And I bet you won’t be disappointed…
the winegetter 