2007 Heymann-Löwenstein,"Uhlen Rothlay", Germany

Decanted 8 hours

Glass: Zalto Universal

Heymann-Löwenstein makes incredible wines and the “Uhlen Rothlay” is one of my favourite Rieslings.

To some degree this wine is too much. It leans towards a way too dense/oily style, with an overripe note of peach, acacia honey, which almost takes the shape and feel of caramel. On top of this, Rothlay is a spicy wine; white pepper and slate notes, which aren't exactly "friendly". This is the main reason why I always decant this wine so long - to sort of temper the beast and creative a better balance. It has worked with great success in the past. With this 2007, I almost feel I should have given it another 3-4 hours. Having said that - and listed all of the components and basically already concluded that the wine is too far from what I look for in a great Riesling - I still love it. Confused?

Well. When I wrote the Krug Party notes, I knew I was going to use a description over and over again. The description, or note if you prefer, was energy. Energy has evolved into an obsession for me. It's something which is hard to explain on paper and not something I can always measure, and it can affect everything from the wines freshness, to it's structure, viscosity, acidity and how complexity is not only defined in layers, but also how much edge each layer has.

This wine has tons of energy and - despite its violent style - it creates a second dimension, which allows you - as a taster - to get closer to the wine and feel how genuine a wine you have in front of you.

The 2007 Uhlen-Rothlay is impressive stuff, however not in the same league as the ‘2005....but maybe it will come…8 hours of decanting didn’t tame this unique wine…one should remain humble about concluding. Time will tell.