Rieslingfan

There's Horse Ridge Cellars in Connecticut. It's a converted underground bank records vault. Many of my friends have used it with good results.

My favorite wine in the whole wide world is Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese. Ever since the 2001 rating from the Wine Advocate (98) the price has about doubled & availability has been cut by 90%. The stuff just flies out of the shops now. I'm really happy for Helmut Donnhoff, as he is a great guy & a fantastic winemaker, but I miss my favorite wine.

A couple of things: 1) Steve Tanzer does not accept advertising in the IWC. So on that score he is the same as Parker. For me, Tanzer is a more reliable indicator (if I can't taste the wine for myself). If I want to buy a wine for my dad I read Parker. 2) Points rule the wine world right now. When the 2001 Germans came out I had some notice of a WS 97 point rated wine. I spied the wine on the shelves of a local retailer (with no notice of the "great" score). I mentioned the score to the manager & he instantly took the bottles off the shelf. They re-appeared some time later with a new price! I have not shopped there since. 3) At a dinner this past spring I opened a bottle of 1998 Strub Niersteiner Paterberg Riesling Spatlese***. The guy next to me asked what score it had received from Parker. I responded that Parker did not review German wine in the '98 vintage. His response (verbatim): "Then why did you buy it?" A good friend reminded me of a quote from a Monty Python movie that really rings true: "Yes! We must think for ourselves! Tell us more!"

My all time favorite sushi/wine match was with a bottle of 1998 Muller-Catoir Haardter Burgergarten Riesling Spatlese Halbtrocken. The barely off-dry Riesling complimented the sushi perfectly, with both having delicate complex flavors that played off each other. So I'm a big fan of nearly dry Riesling with sushi. I will have to try the Burgundy pairing sometime.

Ortega is indeed a crossing. It makes agreeable dessert wines that are not particularly long lived. I would drink up (though no need to do it say this second...just sometime in the next 6-12 months IMO). I've never heard of the producer.

Has anybody tried the single vineyard wines from '97? I had the Mocagatta several months ago & it was incredibly evovled and lifeless. If was wondering if it was a bad bottle/cooked/etc., as I have always liked the Produttori & was really disappointed. There's a whole bunch of '97s available in my market & I'm hesitating based on the lone Mocagatta.

He used to print the lower scores. If you go back to the old back issues there are some lowly scores in there. Also the low scores appear in the books (e.g. Bordeaux).

I bought a good bit of this & really love it. It's fantastic, uncomplicated drinking with zero guilt over price or "needing to let it age." It's so good to have a good quality Piemonte red that I can just open & drink without thinking about it. I should buy more.

One of the great things about Jim's posts is that he drinks a lot of fantastic AND affordable wines. As an example, my price on the '96 Baumard was $15.99 two years ago. I've seen more recent vintages for not much more than that. Of course Jim likely paid less, but he is a better shopper than I am.

Coincidence...I had this over hte last two evenings, I found it somewhat tight and unyielding on the first night, but last night it was much more open. Excllent stuff, but in need of 3 more years of cellar time.

Well I have also had that late harvest Guigal Viognier Luminescence. Unfortunately I've had it twice. Horrible stuff that left Viognier behind in its distant past. Sweet and flat is about all I can say about it. If it was volatile I would use it to thin paint. I've actually found a Virginia Viognier I like (King). It's not Condrieu, but it's very tasty.

I will have to dissent on the '98 Pegau. Based on my last tasting in June (and several before that) it is still shut down hard. I've found the '98 (and '00) Pegaus showing nothing right now. In another 3 years or so the '98 is going to be glorious.

Even Parker has admitted that emotion plays a big part in a wine getting 100 points. SOmeone already posted the "it just does not get any better than this" line & that's more than likely what 100 really means. 100 is not a "perfect" wine. It's a wine that is flawless & so good that it elicits an emotional respinse. Of course I can get that same result by drinking a bottle of Donnhoff QbA while sitting high on a mountain in the Canadian Rockies. The wine is cheaper, but the plane ticket is a killer.

Grosset Polish Hill Riesling is pretty darned good for Australia. I don't think the Australians hold a candle to Alsace or Austria for dry Riesling, but the Grosset is pretty good.

Fashion has never really caught up with Germany. There have been some price increases lately (especially in the USA), but the backlash is already starting to hit on the higher prices. The German vintners work very hard for what they produce. I actually feel bad for them. They do not get a great return on investment (except perhaps Robert Weil and Keller). Germans Riesling makes up 65% of my cellar, so I certainly love it, but even the buzz from 2001 has won off. Many fine 2002s have been languishing on the shelves. Prum is delicious, but Wine Spectator does not understand it. These wines need lots and lots of air or time. Try decanting a young Prum Spatlese for 8 hours & then see how delicious it is. You'll never drink one straight away after opeing again.