On Nov 1, 11:54 pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Great notes, Salil. Thanks! For me, sulfur is often a problem with
> very young German Rieslings, especially as you go up in Prädikat. What
> was the apparent sweetness of the Spätlese? Off-dry? Drier? Sweeter?
> Just curious, as I don't know the wines of this producer.
>
> Mark Lipton

Mark,
The Spatlese was just off-dry - tasted as I'd expect a Spatlese to
taste, rather than feeling like a baby Auslese in the mouth. I've
found that to be the case with the other Merkelbach wines I've tried -
they're not too heavy on the fruit or sweetness, but are more about
just pure elegance.

Anders,
I've found a few of Merkelbach's wines here - particularly the
Kabinetts and Spatlesen from Urziger Wurzgarten and Kinheimer
Rosenberg. From what I've tasted, I'd disagree with calling him
average - as I mentioned earlier, I find his wines very balanced,
elegant and great value (haven't seen many from him going beyond the
$12-18 range) if a bit light at times.
Agree with what you said about the less prestigious vintners in
Germany - I've found some real gems from Carl Schmitt-Wagner, Mathern,
CH Berres, Jakob Schneider and Kurt Darting, and all within a very
reasonable price range (think the most I paid for any of those was $20
for a Schneider Norheimer Dellchen Spatlese 2002 - which turned out to
be a baby/declassified Eiswein!).

Cheers,

Salil