Riesling wines at the 2013 spring auction in Eberbach Abbey

Eberbach Abbey, although this picture wasn’t taken in March 2013 but rather in summertime. Before the renovations many interior scenes of the film The Name of the Rose were shot here. (Despite several visits I’ve never encountered monks roaring penitenziagite! at passers-by.)

Last year – in March 2013 – I again attended the spring auction in Eberbach Abbey in Rheingau, Germany. The spring auction only includes wines from Hessische Staatweingüter/Kloster Eberbach. I just got around to posting a translation of what I wrote about the 2011 spring auction, and there I wrote a bit more about these auctions in general. A tasting and dinner with old wines in Eberbach Abbey that I attended took place the evening before the auction, and some of the wines of the auction were included at that dinner as well.

Dieter Greiner, CEO of Hessische Staatsweingüter Kloster Eberbach, says some words of welcome.

Here are my notes on the Riesling wines that were included in the spring auction. The red wines will be included in a later post. In most cases I tasted the wines both at the pre-auction tasting in the morning and during the auction itself in the afternoon, since most wines are poured as they go under the hammer. The tasting notes are a combination of my impression of the two, or rather, I took notes in the morning and then adjusted them somewhat during the afternoon.

The wines are from Rheingau, unless I write that they are from Hessische Bergstraße.

Dry wines

2011 Steinberger Riesling Kabinett trocken (Goldkapsel)
Nose with peach, citrus, mineral, some Riesling perfume, and just a touch of herbaceous notes. The palate is rather dry, with high acidity and a small hint of bitterness. Pleasant nose, firm but somewhat charmless palate. 84 p?

2011 Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Kabinett trocken (Goldkapsel)
Nose with yellow apple, some peach, honey, slate-y mineral notes, very faint petroleum notes, and spice. The palate is dry, with good concentration, spice, yellow apple; foody and with some bitterness. More fruit and concentration than the previous wine, but still firm. 87 p

2009 Steinberger Riesling Kabinett trocken (Goldkapsel)
Nose with ripe yellow fruit, some honey, spice, and emerging mature notes. A sweetish nose for a Kabinett. The palate is rather dry, with some sweetness of fruit in the attack but not a very fruity mid-palate, with mineral and a foody bitterness. Could be going through a slightly dumb phase and possibly gain from some additional cellaring. 86(+) p

Also tasted at the 2011 auction, when I scored it 87-88 p.

2005 Heppenheimer Steinkopf Riesling Spätlese trocken (Goldkapsel)
Hessische Bergstraße.
Nose with noticeably ripe yellow fruit, some tropical fruit, honey, hints of dried fruit, and some petroleum. Palate with ripe yellow fruit, decent concentration, just a hint of alcoholic feeling, zest, a hint of bitterness, and rather high acidity. Wonderful nose, the palate is foody but could have been a litte better. 87 p

2005 Hochheimer Domdechaney Riesling Erstes Gewächs
Nose with yellow apples, some citrus and honey, straw and wool and almost a bit of oak barrel notes, some petroleum; a serious nose. Palate with yellow apples, mineral, mint, rather high acidity, noticeable spice, good body. Foody, rather mature but can take some more cellaring. A very fine wine, but would have been even better with a bit more acidity and freshness. 90 p

2007 Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Spätlese trocken (Goldkapsel)
Vinified in young oak barrels (Stückfass, 1200 l) and bottled after 18 months, in June 2009.
Nose with yellow apples and other ripe yellow fruit, slate mineral, spice, some straw and wool, discrete oak barrel notes, and a hint of “sulfuric notes” (of the same kind that spontaneously fermented Riesling tends to get) that I don’t find disturbing. A powerful palate with yellow apple, ripe yellow fruit with “Auslese feeling”, noticeably spicy, and a rather high acidity. Rather mature, could develop more. 90 p

Also tasted at the 2011 auction, when I scored it 89-90 p. Nice to see that it has developed in a positive way, since it was vinified in a slightly odd way, and because I bought a few bottles in 2011 that I for some reason haven’t touched yet.

2008 Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling Erstes Gewächs
Nose with zest, yellow apple, some honey, mineral, some petroleum; an elegant nose. The palate is medium bodied(+) with citrus, minty minerality, and high acidity. A mineral-dominated and elegant style. 90(+) p

I also tasted it at the dinner the evening before and then I scored it 90 p.

Off-dry wines

The auctioneer Leo Gros reads from the auction programme.

2009 Steinberger Riesling Kabinett (Goldkapsel)
Nose with peach, yellow apple, some honey. Off-dry palate with peach, good acidity and a fresh aftertaste. 87(+) p

Also tasted at the 2011 auction, when I scored it 87-88 p.

2010 Steinberger Riesling Kabinett (Goldkapsel)
Nose with citrus, some peach, mineral, some petroleum, discrete Riesling perfume; elegant. The palate is off-dry(-), with citrus, good acidity, mineral, and a fresh aftertaste. Fresh style, young, but not very concentrated for a Goldkapsel bottling. 87(+) p

2011 Steinberger Riesling Kabinett (Goldkapsel)
Nose with citrus, peach, mineral, and hits of herbaceous notes. The palate is off-dry, with peach, citrus, and high acidity. Rather elegant, nuanced aromas. 87(+) p

Compared to the 2010, the 2011 isn’t quite as elegant, but is more concentrated on the palate and has more of a Spätlese-like nose.

2005 Steinberger Riesling Spätlese Mauerwein (Goldkapsel)
Produced from grapes harvested from the vines that grow directly at the vineyard wall in Steinberg.
Nose with peach, honey, petroleum, some dried fruit, a hint of wool. The palate is off-dry(+) with peach, honey, and rather high acidity. Could develop more. 89(+) p

2006 Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Spätlese (Goldkapsel)
Nose with dried fruit, yellow apples, honey, a hint of white raisins, some botrytis, and smoky minerality. The palate is off-dry+, with citrus, peach, yellow apples, honey, and good acidity. Foody, clearly Auslese-styled, good for a 2006. 89 p?

Also tasted at the 2011 auction, when I scored it 88-89 p. This wine is typical for the way many 2006 were made, since it shows a lot of “weight” for its Prädikat, but pleasantly enough avoids the all to common bitterness. The 2006 Auslese Goldkapsel from Baiken that was also in the auction (see below) definitely showed more bitterness.

2009 Steinberger Riesling Spätlese Mauerwein (Goldkapsel)
Nose with honey, yellow apples that are partially baked, mineral, menthol, some Riesling perfume, and a discrete petroleum note. The palate is off-dry+ with peach, citrus, and a high acidity. Elegant, partly an Auslese style since the sweetness and aroma go in that direction, but doesn’t quite have the concentration. Young on the palate, 89+ p

Also tasted at the 2011 auction, when I scored it 89-90 p.

1943 Rüdesheimer Eiseninger Riesling Cabinet
Eiseninger is since 1971 part of the vineyard Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg.
Nose with yellow apples, honey, spice, petroleum, some firne (“old wine notes”), rather smoky, rather sweetish nose. The palate is dry, with winter apple, firne bitterness, and rather high acidity. OK aftertaste, not too concentrated. The nose is better than the palate, but the wine sticks together. 86 p?

I also tasted it at the dinner the evening before and then I scored it “87 p?”. It is always fascinating to taste wines as old as this one that are fully drinkable, even in those cases when fully acceptable “wrinkles” and other signs of age means that the score doesn’t get that high. I’d compare it to a 70 year old who competes in an athletic event. Grandpa should definitely get a big round of applause and a standing ovation for competing successfully, even if the actual time/distance/height achieved isn’t quite as impressive as when a 20 or 30 year old athlete competes.

Sweet wines

2011 Steinberger Riesling Auslese (Goldkapsel)
Nose with ripe yellow fruit with peach, citrus and some blackcurrant buds, Riesling perfume, mineral and elegance. The sweetness is at Auslese+ level, palate with citrus, peach, high acidity, clean aromas, long and fresh aftertaste. Very pure and elegany style. Young, 91+ p

2007 Steinberger Riesling Auslese (Goldkapsel)
Half bottle
Deep golden colour. Nose with botrytis, dried fruit including dried apricots, citrus, some Riesling perfume and mature notes. Beerenauslese sweet, palate with dried apricot, high acidity and a hint of bitterness. Rather pure and elegant, could develop more. 91+ p

2006 Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Auslese (Goldkapsel)
Golden colour. Nose with dried fruit, petroleum, some spice and some smoke. Sweetness at the Auslese+ level, palate with dried apricot, rather high acidity, spice, a hint of bitterness in the background. Rather mature, 89 p.

2006-styled with a lot of botrytis character and some vintage-typical bitterness, that unfortunately makes the wine less elegant than otherwise. But it does have impressive weight.

2005 Hochheimer Domdechaney Riesling Auslese (Goldkapsel)
Nose with dried apricot, zest, some honey, some botrytis and spice. Sweetness at the level Auslese+, palate with dried apricot, some honey, noticeable spice, and good acidity. Shows good power but not quite the elegance of the best wines of this type. 89 p

Also tasted at the 2011 auction, when I scored it 91-92 p.

2003 Erbacher Siegelsberg Riesling Auslese (Goldkapsel)
Nose with dried fruit, zest, yellow apple, some winter apples, some petroleum. Sweetness at the level Auslese+/Beerenauslese, palate with honey, botrytis, spice, and good balance. Rather mature, 90 p.

1993 Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Auslese
Golden colour. Nose with some dried fruit, baked yellow apple, honey, mint, mineral notes, and petroleum. Sweetness at the level Auslese+, palate with honey, spice, yellow apple, rather high acidity, a hint of a foody bitterness. Good vigour, 89 p.

2010 Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland Riesling Beerenauslese (Goldkapsel)
Half bottle
Golden colour. Nose with dried apricots, spice, botrytis, honey. Sweetness at the level  Beerenauslese+, palate with dried apricots, citrus, botrytis, high acidity, and a long aftertaste. Pure aromas, elegant, young, 94+ p.

As always (when the wines are well made) Rüdesheimer Berg gives wines with great elegance!

2004 Bensheimer Kalkgasse Riesling Beerenauslese (Goldkapsel)
Hessische Bergstraße. Half bottle.
Rather discrete nose with honey, dried fruit, spice, mint, and mineral. Palate with dried fruit, strong citrus notes, mineral, botrytis, spice, and high acidity. Fresh style with a lot of citrus and mineral for a BA. Rather young, 92(+) p.

1983 Heppenheimer Centgericht Riesling Eiswein
Hessische Bergstraße.
Deep golden with some amber. Nose with dried fruit, yellow apple, baked apple, honey, pronounced spice notes, smoke, some botrytis? Beerenauslese(+)-sweet, dried fruit, honey, spice, a hint of bitterness, good acidity, and a fresh aftertaste. The bitterness is a bit higher than ideal, fully developed, 92 p.

I also tasted it at the dinner the evening before and then I scored it 94 p.

2009 Heppenheimer Centgericht Riesling Eiswein
Hessische Bergstraße. Half bottle.
Deep golden colour. Nose with strong notes of dried apricots and apricot compote, a hint of botrytis?, some perfume, and noticeable spice. Beerenauslese sweetness, palate with dried apricots, citrus, definitely high acidity, good concentration, some spice, clean aromas. 92+ p

Also tasted at the 2011 auction, when I scored it 93-94 p.

1998 Hochheimer Domdechaney Riesling Eiswein
Nose with honey, dried fruit including dried apricot, zest, a hint of botrytis, elegant not very developed. Sweetness at the level Beerenauslese+, palate with citrus including zest, dried apricot, high acidity, clean and fresh aromas. Could develop more, 93(+) p.

Unusually fresh for a wine from Domdechaney. The Hochheim vineyards often yield more spicy wines when compared to many vineyards further west in Rheingau.

1973 Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Eiswein Beerenauslese
Nose with dried fruit, yellow winter apples, some botrytis, spicy honey, petroleum, some smoke. Beerenauslese sweetness, the palate is spicy, with honey, rather high acidity, dried fruit, and a fresh aftertaste. Good aftertaste! 91-92 p

I also tasted it at the dinner the evening before and then I scored it 93 p.

2011 Rauenthaler Gehrn Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese
Harvested at ripeness/must weight of over 200 °Oe (minimum requirement for a TBA is 150 °Oe). Half bottle.
Nose with dried apricot, honey, botrytis, some spice, elegant. The palate is powerful and typical TBA sweet, very great concentration, dried apricot, citrus, spice, and high acidity. Pure aromas, young, 95+ p.

Swedish version here.