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

down the road. From what I tasted; from Bad Dürkheim
north it was a ripe botrytis vintage, though nothing like
the catastrophes of 2000 and 1995. In the “classic”
Mittelhaardt (south to Neustadt) I’d describe a very good
to fine year with isolated peaks of genuinely stellar
wines. The average quality is genial, juicy, forthrightly
mineral and animally satisfying. In the Südpfalz my two
guys had lovely vintages, perhaps even more lacy and
sheer than their northern siblings.
One’s own psychology as a taster has to be accounted
for. When all you taste are big ripe wines they become
an unreasonable baseline, and you pick nits no one else
would notice. There’s a sense in which you almost can’t
believe what you’re tasting; everything can’t possibly be
this good, there’s nothing not to like.
Unlike 2003, `05 is a fine vintage for grapes like
Scheurebe and Muscat; all it does is ratchet their ornery
selves up a few notches. It seems a better vintage than most
for the dry wines based on the number I selected, which
include some of the best dry Riesling I’ve ever tasted.
If there are “issues” with `05 — and when are there
not issues? — there’s the occasional bit of volatility (none
of which made it into this offering) and the more-thanoccasional
bit of gnarly botrytis in the southerly regions.
There’s also the matter of the short crop, and the paucity
of true-Kabinett. I freely acknowledge that two kinds of
drinkers will be cool toward many (not all) `05s; those
who enjoy light delicate wine such as cool-vintage
Kabinett, and those who like an explicit jab of acidity in
their Rieslings. The Kabinett matter is more vexing. It’s
prima-facie ridiculous to buy these big fellas of (often)
over 90 degrees Oechsle as “Kabinett”, and it tempts you
into thinking “why should I buy Auslese if the Kabinetts
are actually Ausleses?” The answer to that question, by
the way, is because the Ausleses are actually
Beerenausleses and no matter what you buy you’re getting
a two-class upgrade. But still, seekers of the gauzy
German Riesling experience will have to wait till next
year, when I am already assured they’ll be produced.
Explicitness doesn’t preclude subtlety, you know.
There is, you might say, subtle subtlety and obvious subtlety,
and even when 2005 sings fortissimo it sings a jazz
chord of many notes.
Vintage Highlights:
I think I’ll omit the “usual suspects” (Dönnhoff,
Catoir, Schaefer) from these groupings lest they dominate
them. You already know great estates will have
made great wines. Here’s a few things you might not
have known.
The Winery Of The Vintage is, with no doubt whatsoever,
Selbach-Oster. I have never experienced such a
range of masterpieces, all of them, at every level of
ripeness and from every different vineyard. Indeed I’d
place S-O at the top of the heap even with Dönnhoff et.al.
included. I’ll go into detail in Selbach’s text, but in
essence: sheesh!
THE WINE OF THE VINTAGE IN THIS COLLECTION IS:
Selbach-Oster — Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling
Auslese 2-star
THE AUSLESE OF THE VINTAGE IN THIS COLLECTION IS:
Schlossgut Diel — Dorsheimer Burgberg Riesling
Auslese
THE SCHEUREBE OF THE VINTAGE IN THIS COLLECTION IS:
Schlossgut Diel — Scheurebe Spätlese (don’t hate me;
there’s only 35 cases!)
THE KABINETT OF THE VINTAGE IN THIS COLLECTION IS:
Spreitzer - Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Kabinett
THE BIGGEST SURPRISES OF THE VINTAGE ARE:
Wagner-Stempel — Silvaner Trocken (have I ever tasted
better wine from this variety?)
Koehler-Ruprecht — Kallstadter Saumagen Riesling
Spätlese Halbtrocken
Jakoby-Mathy — Riesling “Balance” (a masterly
recreation of an old style of Mosel wine with barely
perceptible but absolutely necessary RS)
Ansgar Clüsserath — Trittenheimer Apotheke
Riesling Spätlese (a majestically powerful and
dignified wine from this emerging star)
Hoffman-Simon — Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling
TBA (in . . . barrique! And it works!)
THE GREATES CORE-LIST WINES IN THIS COLLECTION ARE:
Kruger-Rumpf — Münsterer Dautenpflänzer Riesling
Spätlese
Eugen Müller — Forster Kirchenstück Riesling Auslese
THE SINGLE GREATEST VALUE IN THIS OFFERING IS:
Strub — Niersteiner Riesling Kabinett LITERS
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