German Catalog 2006 USE THIS ONE.qxp - Michael Skurnik Wines

Biffar. The Pfalz is terribly active, starting Easter weekend,
cars and pedestrians and cafes spilling out onto the
sidewalk—for a number of city-folk in the Mannheim-
Heidelberg axis the Pfalz is “wine country”. But when
I’m there in March it’s all asleep in the buds and seeds,
and you can hear the soil talk.
Here’s some of what it has told me.
Stellar, first-growth quality estate since the 1992 vintage.
biffar at a glance:
Excellent collection of many of the top vineyard sites of
the Pfalz. Brilliantly fashioned wines with eye-popping clarity and penetration.
The taste of these wines is incredibly rich in mineral
how the wines taste:
complexity and incredibly specific in fruit and soil flavors.
They are on the rich side. They’re brilliant but not squeaky-reductive. They have
a noble glow about them; they realize the greatness inherent in the superb vineyards
from which they come.
GBR-081 2005 Kalkofen Riesling Grosses Gewächs
Now we’re talking! This is just what you want GG to be; a seriously fine nose of roasted
corn, chalk and aloe; palate shows wonderful force and spice — it’s along lines of
Mambourg, Furstenturm — mouth-fillingly generous and long.
SOS: 0 (now-4 years, again 11-14 years)
GBR-077 2005 Deidesheimer Herrgottsäcker Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken +
Zingy and lush at once; typical aromas of straw, lime and pineapple; it fills the mouth
juicily and shimmers slowly into a talc-y gripping finish of laurel, lime and good consommé.
This is wholly satisfying and perfect at table.
SOMMELIER ALERT! SOS: 1 (2-6 years, again 13-16 years)
GBR-074 2004 Deidesheimer Kieselberg Riesling Kabinett
GBR-078 2005 Deidesheimer Kieselberg Riesling Kabinett
CORE-LIST WINE. There’s only 75 cases of this, so we’d prefer to ship `04 as long as it lasts.
The 2004 is a classic in a very fine string of wines; there’s the customary ginger and
pineapple, with the underlying grassiness of `04; a hint of verbena; taut and spicy; basically
Pac-Rim cuisine in a glass!
SOS: 2 (between four and fifteen years)
This `05 is . . . an `05, clearly big-Spätlese, and the most enveloping and generous of any
of the thirteen vintages I’ve shipped.
SOS: 2 (6-18 years)
GBR-079 2005 Wachenheimer Altenburg Riesling Spätlese +
The sample was freshly sulfured so the aromas were muted, but the structure is wonderfully
solid and firm; really limey-gingery with aristocratic flowery echoes; the finish
is as deep as demi-glace.
SOS: 2 (8-22 years)
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PFALZ WINES