Terry Theise is a prominent and highly-regarded importer of German and Austrian wines as well as estate Champagnes. Thanks to “ob2s” over at the Wine Library TV Forums, myself and a couple of other Vayniacs were able to attend a German Wine Society tasting of many of his 2006 vintage Rieslings as well as a couple of older surprise wines to add some additional variety to the evening.
I spent a couple of minutes speaking with Terry and also pestered him with several questions during the tasting and found him to be very friendly, knowledgeable and very approachable. And if I needed any more reason to like the guy, the wines he poured for us were exquisite.
Theise began by telling us about the remarkable 2006 vintage. In his words, the vintage is “outsized”, where grapes in the middle Rhine and Mosel were so ripe that wines are mostly at least one and perhaps more than one quality level better than what the label indicates. In other words, wines labeled Kabinett are actually likely to be made from grapes with at least Spätlese if not Auslese measurements on the Oechsle scale. This vintage was unfortunately not so stellar in the Pfalz.
This may have been the first 10+ wine tasting I have ever been to in quite some time where I genuinely liked every wine that hit my glass. However, considering how much of a Riesling fan I am, I cannot say I was surprised. If Bonny Doon's Randall Grahm actually did start a “National Riesling Association”, I would join. Heck, I would be President of my local chapter.
Here was the lineup from the tasting:
2006 Buntsandstein Spätlese Trocken Theo Minges – Pfalz ($27) - struck me as the most classic of the bunch on the nose, apples and apricots, a little imbalanced towards alcohol on the rear palate. Overall very nice.
1997 Riesling Kogl Reserve Erich Salomon – Kremstal (unknown) – the only Austrian wine of the evening, only moderate petrol notes despite its age, tangy, crisp and persimmon flavors. A very interesting wine.
2006 Zeltinger Himmelreich Kabinett Halbtrocken Selbach Oster – Mosel ($24) – very rich with honey and overripe peach, long finish, excellent.
2006 Zeltinger Schlossberg Kabinett Selbach Oster – Mosel ($22) – candied orange nose, explosive fruit in mouth with little minerality. Seemed like the most un-German of the group.
2006 "Soil to Soul" Kabinett Strub – Rheinhessen ($16) – Designed to compete with wines like Leitz's “Dragonstone”, tight nose, peach and minerals, explosion of flavor on the tongue with ripe peaches and apricots coated with powdered sugar. Price aside, this was one of my favorite wines of the evening and at only $16, the QPR on this wine is outstanding.
2006 Dhron Hofberg Spätlese A.J. Adam – Mosel ($38) – this one definitely represents at least a quality level or two upgrade. The nose is very much that of a dessert wine with apricot notes being dominant. This was a little fat for my tastes but it was still very good.
2006 Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Spätlese “Eisendell” Hexamer – Nahe ($29) – My other favorite of the evening, very sharp, stark mineral nose with a little smoke and almost a green undercurrent. Mouth explodes with peach, honey, tropical fruits and minerals. Outstanding.
2006 Munsterer Dautenpflanzer Spätlese Kruger Rumpf – Nahe ($24) – very tight nose, sharp, apple and apricot, excellent finish. Overall very good.
2006 Oestricher Lenchen Spätlese “303” Spreitzer – Nahe ($48) – probably my least favorite of the evening, a fruity syrupy nose and the syrup continues to the tongue coming across as a bit cloying.
1994 Dorsheimer Pittermannchen Spätlese Schlossgut Diel – Nahe ($62) – This wine was an accidental insertion into the tasting. It was supposed to be another '06 from Rheingau but the wineshop packed the wrong wine...and I am so glad they did. This wine brings the petrol in spades, gas station and car exhaust rather than diesel, this wine smells like the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway during rush hour. Deliciously oily on the tongue with a long finish of ripe Fuji apples. This wine is like a cologne for auto mechanics and is amazingly still available for sale in the primary wine market. Since I was driving that night, I had been diligently spitting at this tasting but I swallowed every drop of this.
2006 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Auslese Carl Loewen – Mosel ($40) – honeyed mineral nose with a slight vegetal element, maintains solid acidity with explosive honey flavors. Very good.
The quality of these wines, overall, lends evidence to Terry's statement that, “Grand Cru vineyards are the earth's erogenous zones.”
I spent a couple of minutes speaking with Terry and also pestered him with several questions during the tasting and found him to be very friendly, knowledgeable and very approachable. And if I needed any more reason to like the guy, the wines he poured for us were exquisite.
Theise began by telling us about the remarkable 2006 vintage. In his words, the vintage is “outsized”, where grapes in the middle Rhine and Mosel were so ripe that wines are mostly at least one and perhaps more than one quality level better than what the label indicates. In other words, wines labeled Kabinett are actually likely to be made from grapes with at least Spätlese if not Auslese measurements on the Oechsle scale. This vintage was unfortunately not so stellar in the Pfalz.
This may have been the first 10+ wine tasting I have ever been to in quite some time where I genuinely liked every wine that hit my glass. However, considering how much of a Riesling fan I am, I cannot say I was surprised. If Bonny Doon's Randall Grahm actually did start a “National Riesling Association”, I would join. Heck, I would be President of my local chapter.
Here was the lineup from the tasting:
2006 Buntsandstein Spätlese Trocken Theo Minges – Pfalz ($27) - struck me as the most classic of the bunch on the nose, apples and apricots, a little imbalanced towards alcohol on the rear palate. Overall very nice.
1997 Riesling Kogl Reserve Erich Salomon – Kremstal (unknown) – the only Austrian wine of the evening, only moderate petrol notes despite its age, tangy, crisp and persimmon flavors. A very interesting wine.
2006 Zeltinger Himmelreich Kabinett Halbtrocken Selbach Oster – Mosel ($24) – very rich with honey and overripe peach, long finish, excellent.
2006 Zeltinger Schlossberg Kabinett Selbach Oster – Mosel ($22) – candied orange nose, explosive fruit in mouth with little minerality. Seemed like the most un-German of the group.
2006 "Soil to Soul" Kabinett Strub – Rheinhessen ($16) – Designed to compete with wines like Leitz's “Dragonstone”, tight nose, peach and minerals, explosion of flavor on the tongue with ripe peaches and apricots coated with powdered sugar. Price aside, this was one of my favorite wines of the evening and at only $16, the QPR on this wine is outstanding.
2006 Dhron Hofberg Spätlese A.J. Adam – Mosel ($38) – this one definitely represents at least a quality level or two upgrade. The nose is very much that of a dessert wine with apricot notes being dominant. This was a little fat for my tastes but it was still very good.
2006 Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Spätlese “Eisendell” Hexamer – Nahe ($29) – My other favorite of the evening, very sharp, stark mineral nose with a little smoke and almost a green undercurrent. Mouth explodes with peach, honey, tropical fruits and minerals. Outstanding.
2006 Munsterer Dautenpflanzer Spätlese Kruger Rumpf – Nahe ($24) – very tight nose, sharp, apple and apricot, excellent finish. Overall very good.
2006 Oestricher Lenchen Spätlese “303” Spreitzer – Nahe ($48) – probably my least favorite of the evening, a fruity syrupy nose and the syrup continues to the tongue coming across as a bit cloying.
1994 Dorsheimer Pittermannchen Spätlese Schlossgut Diel – Nahe ($62) – This wine was an accidental insertion into the tasting. It was supposed to be another '06 from Rheingau but the wineshop packed the wrong wine...and I am so glad they did. This wine brings the petrol in spades, gas station and car exhaust rather than diesel, this wine smells like the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway during rush hour. Deliciously oily on the tongue with a long finish of ripe Fuji apples. This wine is like a cologne for auto mechanics and is amazingly still available for sale in the primary wine market. Since I was driving that night, I had been diligently spitting at this tasting but I swallowed every drop of this.
2006 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Auslese Carl Loewen – Mosel ($40) – honeyed mineral nose with a slight vegetal element, maintains solid acidity with explosive honey flavors. Very good.
The quality of these wines, overall, lends evidence to Terry's statement that, “Grand Cru vineyards are the earth's erogenous zones.”
