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

His wines from the Lorenzhöfer hillside are positive
and adamant, they walk with a firm tread, and they have
a slight and pleasing earthiness. The wines from the
Kasel sites are nominally lighter but utterly ravishing in
polish and beauty of flavor. It’s like the difference
between the top part of Clos Vougeot near Musigny and
the parts lower down toward the route nationale.
In fact I learned one year that the Nies’chen is finestoned;
i.e. lots of crumbled slate and thus superior
drainage, plus a certain filigree quality in the wines, and
Kehrnagel is more coarse-stoned, thus less porous, and
the wines are less elegant. Peter took us for a walk through
the vineyards. He also gave us various spring-waters to
taste; the region is gifted with subterranean streams. We
Of the “big three” in the Ruwer (Grunhaus and
karlsmühle at a glance:
Karthäuserhof, the other two) this is the least expensive.
Ruwer wines are prized in general for their astonishing spiciness and delicacy.
Since the acquisition of great Grand Cru sites in Kasel, Karlsmühle has become a serious
landowner and very important producer of green-bottle Rieslings.
how the wines taste:
sometimes cinnamon.
tasted from springs beneath the Nies’chen, Kehrnagel and
Felslay, and of course they all tasted different.
The best Ruwer wines seem to distill the essence of
Mosel-ness into a nearly unbearable exquisiteness.
Nothing smells so beautiful. The cassis note is haunting.
“They have CARAMBA!” said Sigrid Selbach. They have
that and more; they are the acme of the genre. If you love
Mosel wines - and based on my sales it appears you do—
this is as fine as they can be.
A FINAL NOTE: There’s a spiffy new label, which
gives Peter’s name pride of place over “Karlsmühle.” I
always prefer the name of a family to that of a place, but
we want to introduce the new label with as little clerical
disruption as possible!
Ruwer wines can be the ne plus ultra of refinement,
with their own keenly slicing flavors of cassis and
GKM-094 2005 Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Kabinett
CORE-LIST WINE. There are comments to the effect Ruwer Rieslings can show
improbable spice notes; well, this one could easily be mistaken for a really exquisite
Scheurebe; cassis, apple-blossom, cinnamon and sage abound in a fragrance of amazing
refinement; the palate is crazy-long and solid as a paperweight; the sweetness is
perfectly balanced, and this is 10lbs of flavor in a 5-lb bag.
SOMMELIER ALERT! SOS: 1 (6-22 years)
GKM-095 2005 Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Spätlese +
“Ten years ago we’d have bottled this as an Auslese Goldkap,” said Peter, and so it is.
It fermented till late February, bottled the 1st week of March; it’s the big brother to the
Kabinett, missing perhaps the gauzy brilliance of an `04 but delivering a whomp of
solid vinous rama-lama that’ll roll your foxy bones. It’s like a quince confiture over a bed
of smoky slate; again, an immovable length. Never tasted Ruwer wines like these . . .
SOS: 2 (10-30 years)
GKM-096 2005 Lorenzhöfer Riesling Spätlese +
“In `75 this would have been Beerenauslese!” said Peter, when I compared the fragrance
of this wine to the legendary older vintage. I know I need to reduce my skus but man,
how do you leave something like this behind? More sheer fruit than the Nieschen, less
earth and skeleton; a real apple compote on the nose; botrytis brings its saltiness, and the
sheer mass of the wine is just sick, a tangy-earthy miasma of fruit leading to an astonishing
dry peal of finish that settles into your very sinuses.
SOMMELIER ALERT! SOS: 2 (10-26 years)
GKM-097 2005 Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Auslese ++
Amazingly picked from the vine at 120º Oechsle, and it’s absolutely sensational: a malty
botrytis nose with baked apple and plum-blossom; the palate is like a cumulo-nimbus
lit with dusk-gold; peche-de-vigne, an astounding conciliation of shimmery explosive
fruit with profound weight and solidity. The stuff of legend here!
SOS: 4 (14-35 years)
GKM-098H 2005 Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling BA, 12/375ml ++
“Clearly,” I wrote, “this will be great, or something . . . I can’t see into it.” But then I
waited, and waited….and with air the cassis and cherry emerged, and the wine began
to soar. I’ll spare you the preening over the sleeping infant, except perhaps to say I
know I’m in the presence of a miracle.
SOS: 4 (20-45 years)
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MOSEL WINES