Premier Cru - German Wine RSS/RDF Feed http://www.premiercru.net/premier/jsp/xml/premiercrugermany.php http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=45357 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=45360 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43314 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43089 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43305 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=31188 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43695 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44954 96 points John Gilman: "The lone BA in the Schaefer cellars in 2010 showed no difficulties following all the Auslesen fireworks this year. This is a beautifully deep and dancing wine, with great elegance in evidence on both the nose and palate. The stunning bouquet offers up scents of oranges, a touch of pineapple, candied peach, honey, citrus blossoms, slate and lime zest. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very, very racy, with flawless focus and balance, superb structural integrity and exceptional acid bounce on the very long and refined finish. A beautiful bottle of Beerenauslese that will offer up a rather broad window of peak drinkability. 2011-2100" http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44845 92+ points John Gilman: "As has been the case in most recent vintages at Weingut Schaefer, the family's tiny holdings in the Sonnenuhr have only produced a single wine this year, but what a lovely bottle of Spätlese it will be. The nose is deep and really lovely, as it offers up a complex blend of pear, apple, a touch of vanilla custard, beautiful slate tones, orange zest and a pungent topnote of apple blossoms. On the palate the wine is medium-full, elegant and filigreed, with fine focus, lovely mid-palate depth, ripe acids and impressive length and grip on the dancing finish. A beautiful bottle of Spätlese that will drink well with only a couple of years of cellaring. 2013-2035." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44848 Theise: "Here begins as singular and remarkable a trio of wines as I have ever tasted. It starts again with eucalyptus, stronger; the whole wine is stronger than the Spät, but not really sweeter-seeming, rather more solid and salty, and considerably more intense, with obdurate length; incomparable parameters of flavor and structure; paranormal vinosity." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44817 Theise: "In vintages with such massive fruit, the craggy stony Burgberg indicates another vein and layer of profundity; it's like a statue of Zeus looking stern and imperious (at least until his wife has her way with him); it's Riesling as fleur de sel, the liquid foams away, the air is charged with ozone, a few flecks of salt cling to the stones. Quite the future in store for this." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44827 Theise: "Stunning! Potentially supernal Riesling; even now the stone and licorice is paired to a juiciness almost beyond credulity, as if the very stones were sweet, or a mine was drilled so deep into the terroir that a sweetness was unearthed from the seam. I'm less certain how this will manage filtration and bottling (vis a vis the fruitier Goldloch) but wow, what density and mass." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44830 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44799 Theise: "From the Klosterpfad vineyard (across the Autobahn); it's another of those eerie parfaits of green, Chartreuse, verbena, peas and mint; perfect balance, poise and clarity with no shrieking acidity; finishes like a pyscillocybin margarita, yet there's a charge of tenderness here, a welcome." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44828 Theise: "The aromas are a little mute, and the palate is turbulent and nubby and with kitten-teeth of acidity, yet it's drenched with internal perfume, and recent bottling has surely twisted it into an obdurate knot. What does show is compelling." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44813 Theise: "Pleasingly angular, digitally focused and hi-def, certainly plausible as a Spät, and if you have a long memory, as an Auslese. Stylish and almost sleek, with a really walnut-y finish." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44816 Theise: "CORE-LIST WINE. And a superb, light-ish Auslese -- yes I know it's a Spätlese, and it does have a refined shimmer of fruit and great fresh contrasts and relief, but there's also the slight underlying syrup that identifies Auslese. Not "sweet" as such; just a concentrated little core. Extra fine wine." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44815 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44800 Theise: "In effect a "village wine" à la Burgundy. Often my favorite, as the sandy soils give a garrigue-y untamed flavor that I like. This '10 is smooth -- almost. It has a swollen yet granular fruit, like smoked hay. Rich fruit but almost peppery, singed, like a birch fire, yet the mouthfeel is nearly creamy. Franzen's Rieslings often change markedly in their first 1-2 years, so this may yet have more to reveal." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44818 Theise: "For whatever reason (and after being admonished repeatedly by Armin for visiting so early, before the GGs were ready) these GGs were ready, at least to taste with any half-decent sense of where they'd go. As usual Goldloch is the fruit-bomb of the trio, with such tactile sorrel and wintergreeny density you need a power-drill to push your way through. Dramatic, clearly great and massively endowed, the best I've yet tasted, even at this embryonic stage." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44829 Theise: "On its gross lees till March; and what an exotic concentrate of plums and vetiver and quince and verbena, smoldering down to an allspice and cardamom finish. Crazy! Fry some apple slices in sage butter, dust them with ginger and coriander and serve with a tarragon ice cream. There's a Chinese green tea called Tai Ping which exactly three of you will have ever heard of but you three will remember its ethereal green sweetness. It's here too." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44826 93+ points John Gilman: "This is one of three Auslesen from the Domprobst this year, with all three exceptional and showing decidedly different personalities. It will be hard to choose a favorite amongst them. The AP #1 Auslese is a beautifully glazed, elegantly botrytized bottle that offers up a fine bouquet of sweet apple, orange, a touch of yellow plum, lovely minerality, honeycomb and lime blossoms. On the palate the wine is deep, fullish and very pure and minerally, with a lovely spine of acidity, excellent focus and impressive length and grip on the perfectly balanced finish. A lovely wine. 2016-2060." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44843 91+ points John Gilman: "There will only be this single Kabinett from the Himmelreich in 2010 and it is cut in a quite lovely and classic style. The vibrant bouquet offers up scents of orange, lime zest, beautiful slate minerality, citrus blossoms and a touch of wild yeasts in the upper register. On the palate the wine is medium-full, bright and pure, with lovely nascent complexity, very nice balance and a long, bouncy and elegant finish. This will drink very, very well right out of the blocks. 2011-2030+." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44840 Theise: "Hard tasting the sweet Scheus, which hadn't received their first SO2 and still showed volatile. This is an old-school massive botrytis Auslese, but the mass justifies the botrytis (whereas I was unconvinced by a Spätlese); it's ludicrously spicy and like a potion of malt, shrimp stock, pineapple, nutmeg; it's a tangy wine, sweet and sour in a ringent standoff; very long, yet less "fruity" than the lighter Spätlese." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44822 Theise: "A relative gentleman, this Scheu, in a conservative grey suit but with a green polka-dot tie. Woodruff and subtle cassis and marjoram; focused and digital, refined, the reduction of tropical fruit to - what? To a ceremony of the roots, and to the black magma in which they live. I have a sense this could explode with extravagant spice and esoterica -- live its wicca-life -- so don't assume this will be "subtle" forever. But I guarantee you, this is in every way more interesting, finer, better than the novelties you're sourcing from those corners in Malta or Gibraltar or wherever." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44819 Theise: "A named site but not a Grand Cru, though it could be. It was the most backward among the site-wines but also showed the most substance and the richest reserves; yellow fruits in a powder sprinkled over stones and tortilla chips (!), iron filings and mizuna and buckwheat rusks -- yup, sounds insane. But either it's insane or I am, and I'm not, at least at this moment. The wine is gorgeously wacked out." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44820 Theise: "What to say any more? Edenic primary fruit, massive acidity, gigantic yet invisible sweetness, a swollen mass of - swollen mass. It drinks itself and pisses you out. Drink it young (3-5 years) as long as you accept the claws of acidity." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44823 90 points John Gilman: "The 2010 Krötenpfuhl Kabinett is quite typical of many of the wines at this Prädikat level in this vintage, as it is beautifully balanced at a slightly higher must weight than is customary with Kabinetten and consequently is a bit broad-shouldered in style- though still maintaining Kabinett sensibilities. The really lovely and complex nose offers up scents of apples, tangerine, late, just a touch of petrol and a topnote of lilacs. On the palate the wine is medium-full, complex and beautifully balanced, with bright, well-integrated acids, fine focus and very good length and grip on the slightly ad-shouldered finish. A lovely bottle. 2016-2035+." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44802 Theise: "An absurdly expressive and brilliant wine, yet also keenly searching and inscrutable; it hypnotizes your palate. As always the warm smoky hay, salts, buttery pan-cooked leeks; in a sense this is all there -- but is it? The twitching hyper-dynamism and thick custardy finish suggests otherwise." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44821 96 points John Gilman: "The 2010 Hermannshöhle Auslese is also brilliant in this vintage and one of the true superstars to be found at this Prädikat level in the Nahe this year. The hauntingly beautiful bouquet offers up a blazing blend of blood orange, pink grapefruit, oranges, glorious minerality, a touch of petrol, irises and orange blossoms in the upper register. On the palate the wine is medium-full, deep and very intensely flavored, with great focus, ripe, snappy acids, impeccable balance and a very, very, very long and racy finish. Just a brilliant bottle of Auslese in the making! 2018-2070." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44808 94+ points John Gilman: "The 2010 Hermannshöhle Spätlese is another very beautiful example of the vintage. The wine today offers up a stunning, crystalline expression of its slate minerality on both the nose and palate, to go along with a superb aromatic mix of sweet grapefruit, orange peel, incipient notes of petrol and a topnote of orange zest. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very pure on the attack, with a kaleidoscopic base of minerality, snappy acids and a very long, focused and electric finish. This wine is beautifully light on its feet and so intensely flavored that it is almost painful to taste today in its youth. It is a beautiful bottle of Spätlese that seems likely to be a stylistic mix of the 2001 and 2004. 2016-2050." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44806 94+ points John Gilman: "The 2010 Oberhäuser Brücke Auslese is a really stunning wine in the making. The wine simply soars from the glass in a superb aromatic mélange of apples, oranges, a touch of petrol, striking minerality, honeycomb, orange zest and citrus flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, fullish and wonderfully filigreed, with a great core of fruit, snappy acids, great focus and balance and stunning grip on the very long, dancing finish. I love the interplay of soil, glazed fruit and acids that are on display in this beautiful vintage of Brücke Auslese. 2018-2070." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44807 92+ points John Gilman, View from the Cellar: "The 2010 Leistenberg Kabinett is also a very successful example of the vintage, with a very pronounced, citric profile that is most appealing on both the nose and palate. The bouquet offers up a classy me´lange of orange, pink grapefruit, slate, petrol, orange blossoms and a beautifully crystalline expression of minerality. On the palate the wine is medium-full, deep and very tangy, with a lovely core, zesty acidity and excellent length and grip on the complex finish. Very classy wine." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44803 Theise: "Rare for this to run so hard, but it's the class of the (several) Kabs, and again a lissome but zippy sonata of slate, and with the absurd density of top '10, with overtones of cinnamon, strawberry and wintergreen." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44825 Theise: "This was just the palate-cleaner to lead us into the serious wines, but wait -- this is awfully good! It's a lovely murmuringly smooth wine with length, a hint of fennel and a low note of stone. Best if you drink it good and cool, but not ice cold." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44798 94 points John Gilman: "The 2010 Ürziger Würzgarten three star Auslese is also bottled under natural cork and seems to have been the most expertly de-acidified in the range of Christoffels that I tasted from this vintage. By a pretty good margin this was the most impressive 2010 I tasted from the estate this year. The complex nose is deep and lovely, as it offers up scents of pears, candied strawberries, honeycomb, violets, lilacs and slate. On the palate the wine is medium-full and impressively rock solid at the core, with lovely focus and cut, beautiful balance and excellent grip on the complex and tangy finish. Now this behaves like a 2010 Auslese! 2014-2035+." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44814 Theise: ""This is always from the same parcel, and it cannot produce more than forty hectoliters per hectare," says Hans-Leo. "We?ve had at least Spätlese from this site in every vintage except 1991. I could make hese wines heavier, but it goes against my philosophies. The day I can?t make wines like these any more is the day I?ll pack it in." It?s down below, to the right of the sundial, in case you want to locate it." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44812 91 points John Gilman: "The 2010 Ürziger Würzgarten Spätlese from J. J. Christoffel is one of the stronger wines in the cellar this year, but it too gives off this perception of very round acidity from its deacidification that is not really in keeping with the style of the 2010 vintage. The nose is quite a bit more precise than the Erdener Treppchen Spätlese, as it offers up scents of apple, strawberries, a touch of lime blossom, slate, a hint of honeycomb and a very gentle base of slate minerality. On the palate the wine is medium-full and shows off a really lovely core of fruit, with fine filigree and good length and grip on the gently acidic finish. Structurally, this comes across like one of the top examples from the 1999 vintage, which will make it quite good for early drinking, but which really emphasizes how the wines have been changed by their deacidification. 2013-2025?" http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44811 Theise: "Another scintillating masterpiece to follow the amazing '09. Jo's in the zone with this vineyard lately. Somehow this still conveys a silky clarity given its richness, as if it grows taller but not thicker. All Fuder; all gorgeous." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44838 Theise: "This isn't as arch or screamy as the wonderfully manic '09; it has more material to struggle through. The giant is just waking up. What starts to come through is almost scary; a sinus-clearing mass of pearmint and verbena and spiced apple. Stand by me and hold my hand when I taste it again." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44835 Theise: "I seem to have been channeling Dr Seuss when I tasted this wine. "Shatter and shimmer and gleam and glimmer, deep and crisp and weep and lisp - (etc)" Nothing rhymes with brilliance except consilience, but when flavor is mentioned, this has millions." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44837 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=26204 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43389 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44626 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44413 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44380 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44382 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=44375 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=41990 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=42049 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43498 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=28088 97 points Wine Spectator: "Scintillating for its complex mushroom, tobacco, honey, guava and mandarin orange aromas and flavors on a plush, solid framework. The sweetness and density dominate today, but this has the dimension and acidity to improve." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=17333 The 2007 version got 100 points from Parker's WA http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43710 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43692 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43681 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43667 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43685 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43686 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43677 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43391 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43669 94+? Points Parker's WA: "The auction-destined 2005 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese A.P. #2 offers a nose of over-ripe melon, brown spices, apple jelly. Oily in texture and tinged with the spice and honey of botrytis on the palate, this then finishes with a shocking brightness and vivacity of citrus infiltrating a finish of quince preserves, apple jelly and jellied red currant. While it may not exhibit the layering or the elegance and delicacy of several of the best wines here today, this A.P. #2, with its dynamic of brightness and tartness playing (at present even a bit roughly) against creamy, richly botrytized, honeyed, jellied fruits and low tones, will continue to speak with a voice that is all its own." http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43679 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=30860 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43325 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43478 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43408 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43370 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43371 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43411 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43410 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43414 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43364 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43324 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43303 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43322 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43323 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43313 http://www.premiercru.net/premier/shop/WineDetails.do?wineId=43300