Alfred Merkelbach Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese 2005 (Mosel)
Another big hit for one of my favourite producers in the Mosel area.
The Merkelbach Spatlesen I've tasted before have been incredibly light
and pure, and this is no different. The nose is quiet, understated and
subtle but oh so elegant, with lots of apple, lime, citrus, peach,
slate and flowers. More of the same flavours follow on the palate with
some cherry and faint honeyed notes also coming through, but what's
amazing is the texture and mouthfeel - this is literally like having
silk sliding over your tongue. Falls away a bit at the finish, but
it's still amazingly good value (picked this up at about $18, and I'd
happily buy more).

Schafer Frohlich Riesling halbtrocken 2006 (Nahe)
I opened this early in the evening and the nose was completely
dominated by sulphur. Poured a glass and let it sit a while while
putting the bottle back in the fridge. An hour later, it was much more
accessible. The nose is quite austere with some minerals, citrus
fruits and a herbal/minty note, but it's very pleasant on the palate
where it's very forward, clean and precise with plenty of acidity,
steely minerality, more lemon and citrus notes and a medium length
finish. Solid value (also around the same price range as the
Merkelbach - although I'd buy that ahead of this without any doubt the
next time).

Cheers,

Salil

Salil wrote:
> Alfred Merkelbach Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese 2005 (Mosel)
> Another big hit for one of my favourite producers in the Mosel area.
> The Merkelbach Spatlesen I've tasted before have been incredibly light
> and pure, and this is no different. The nose is quiet, understated and
> subtle but oh so elegant, with lots of apple, lime, citrus, peach,
> slate and flowers. More of the same flavours follow on the palate with
> some cherry and faint honeyed notes also coming through, but what's
> amazing is the texture and mouthfeel - this is literally like having
> silk sliding over your tongue. Falls away a bit at the finish, but
> it's still amazingly good value (picked this up at about $18, and I'd
> happily buy more).
>
> Schafer Frohlich Riesling halbtrocken 2006 (Nahe)
> I opened this early in the evening and the nose was completely
> dominated by sulphur. Poured a glass and let it sit a while while
> putting the bottle back in the fridge. An hour later, it was much more
> accessible. The nose is quite austere with some minerals, citrus
> fruits and a herbal/minty note, but it's very pleasant on the palate
> where it's very forward, clean and precise with plenty of acidity,
> steely minerality, more lemon and citrus notes and a medium length
> finish. Solid value (also around the same price range as the
> Merkelbach - although I'd buy that ahead of this without any doubt the
> next time).

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
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

"Salil" > skrev i melding
ups.com...
> Alfred Merkelbach Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese 2005 (Mosel)
> ...(picked this up at about $18, and I'd
> happily buy more).
>
> Schafer Frohlich Riesling halbtrocken 2006 (Nahe)
> I opened this early in the evening and the nose was completely dominated
> by sulphur
Hi
Schäfer-Frölich has a very good reputation, a 3* vintner and a very big one.
Alfred Merkelbach is very average and also very small. I'm surprised you
find him outside of Germany :-) However, it proves that even with less
prestigious vintners in Germany you may find quite good bottles...
Merkelbach Spätlesen usually come at about 5-6Euro - about 8-9USD at the
winery...
Anders

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