(Glass; Zalto Universal)
Summerhouse and a great glass of Riesling is one of my favourite gymnastic exercises. I wish I could say, that my wife an I just sat down and enjoyed the lovely halibut dish, but my two wonderful kids also wanted some attention – so the circumstances where certainly not optimal for focusing on the wine. I had opened the wine 24 hours in advance, but still it had a little bit of sharp fennel note on the opening. Luckily it quickly evaporated, but I think it tells me, that this wine is young and in need of a lot of air to show perfectly. Otherwise the wine showing great linear expression, with citrus and pear flavours. The taste is made in the same manner, with a very tight and linear expression. Under these circumstances I was happy with the wine, but I wasn’t blown away. I think the wine is way too young still, and Dönnhoff tend to evolve a distinctive luxury palate smoothness over time and I will certainly cellar and wait patiently for that to happen.
Jan-2009
Posts
11 comments:
Hej Thomas,
Jeg ser frem til dit indtryk af vinen :-) Jeg håber alting er vel...
Vi ses,
Dennis
Hej Dennis,
Alt er vel tak (lidt for travlt på jobbet).
Hvad med dig?
Så er noten klar.
Vi ses.
/Thomas
Thomas,
last sunday the Top winemakers from Nahe, Rheinhessen, Pfalz and Ahr were in town and presented their Rieslings. The 07 "Hermannshöhle" GG was such open and complex on this day........clearly outperformed all other Rieslings at this tasting.
Skaal,
Martin
www.berlinkitchen.com
Hi Martin,
My only reference point on the subject”Open” on the GG – is the 2004 Vintage, which I tasted two times in 2008. That electrical and luxuries fruit core is what I seek and categorizes as “Open” – the 2007 is no way near that.
But maybe I didn’t decant it probably or my taste has been ruined by all these Champagnes.
;-)
/Thomas
Maybe our bottle in Berlin benefited from transporting by plane, shaken and not decanted. ;-)
Our bottle was not open in a way you understand OPEN with a "electrical and luxuries fruit". Instead our version showed grace, purity, elegance.......SOPHISTICATION. Rather dominated by minerality, flavors of herbs and the fruit flavors were in the background.
Concerning 04 vintage, Tom P. brought a 2004 Keller "Hubacker" to Berlin last summer. What a hedonistic wine with electrical fruit..........
Skaal,
Martin
P.S. The wine was open in a way that you could discover&experience the inner core&soul of the wine. And as a consequence, you understand why Mr. Dönnhoff is a Master of Riesling and 07 "Hermannshöhle" is one of the Top 3 dry Riesling of the vintage.
He he, Martin…I like the Shaken not decanted comment.
I am slowly moving from a “taster” to a “drinker” of wine, especially on the occasions where the background noise is filled with a 2½ hour concert of two crying kids. Makes it a bit tough finding the inner soul of the wine…hehe.
In terms of seeking elegance and sophistication, I am in the same boat as you – that’s why I drink Champagne more and more often and dislikes opulent wines. You might have noticed and that I praise 2007 for its linear expression – so maybe we are talking the same language after all. G-Max from Keller is also a very highly elegant Riesling with all the positive features you and I like – but G-Max also has a fantastic elastic structure, which brings out certain deliciousness – same thing I am trying to describe with Dönnhoff – maybe I didn’t pass the Riesling boards test.
;-)
/Thomas
Uups, I overlooked the term "linear expression". Perfect term for "Hermannshöhle" and also for the Keller wines.
I will copy the term "linear expression" for my next TNs. :))))
BTW, therefore I have some problems with Schäfer-Fröhlich Rieslings, they lack of linear expression.
Best,
Martin
Martin – the good news is that I have 5 more of these in my cellar.
;-)
/Thomas
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the Tasting note!
In general I agree with you - the only complain if any is that I do not feel that Dönnhoff got all out this great, great vintage.
I think it had the most brilliant nose when I opened it for the tasting in CPH (and actually the best nose - where as the Keller wine was much more reserved).
Still I prefer Halenberg and Kellers big wines.
Se you soon Martin...
Dennis
Lucky guy, I ordered 6 bottles, BUT I received 2 bottles. Very strong demand for this wine in Germany.
But it is good know that you some more bottles in the cellar......... ;-)
Skaal,
Martin
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