On the first day we arrived in Mosel in September-2008 we went with Karlheinz (Charlie) Gierling to the small family-run estate Jos Christoffel Jr.to taste
some wines. Karl-Josef (Kajo) Christoffel is the old master of the Ürziger Würzgarten. He makes slim, pure and mineral wines from this einzellage that
often can make highly aromatic wines. Kajo is 74, but is still making wines from his few plots in the Würzgarten and Erdener Prälat and
Treppchen. He has an impressive list of old wines still for sale and the wines are remarkably cheap. Quality is still top notch and there
are none that makes such exiting wines from the Ürziger Würzgarten.
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling spätlese feinherb 2007
Earthy, mineral nose with hints of flowers and some spice. Quite aromatic. Fullbodied and with sweet flowers in the mouth. Light sweetness
is well balance with a fine acidity. Good length. Excellent food-wine. Good. Price: 8,50€.
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling auslese trocken 1997
Fine nose. Old-fashioned and wild. Petrol ,minerals, slate, some blackcurrant-leafs. Dry Mosel-riesling in the mouth. Mineral, petrol
and underripe hints of blackcurrant-leafs. Light residual sugar. Wonderful and seering acidity. Crisp and cleansing. Long citrusy taste.
Great wine and another wonderful food-wine. Price: 10,-€.
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling auslese halbtrocken 1997
Not unlike the trocken with a more intense and blackcurranty nose and hints of flowers. Again crisp and acidic wine in the mouth with
a touch more sweet flowers in the fruit. It makes it taste a little bit simpler and it does not quite live up to the trocken-version.
Still very good. Price: Not listed.
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling spätlese 1997
Flowery nose with fine notes of anise and spice. An elegant Würzgarten in the mouth with notes of flowers, blackcurrant and minerality. Very
fine acidity and great length. Another great effort. 97 proves to be a good vintage for Jos Christoffel Jr. Price: 8,50€
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling spätlese 1998
Pretty nose, more on the mineral side. Hints of firn, slate, some blackcurrant. Again a very crisp and elegant spätlese in the mouth with
a fine acidity. More mineral and complex than the 97. Good length. Great wine. Price: 8,50€
Wehlener Sonnenuhr riesling auslese* 1979
Open for 11 days.Served from an old-fashioned small round german wine glass and unlike the other wines not from a modern Riedel-style
glass. Yellow/greenish colour. Complex and intense nose. Anis, minerality, medicinal notes. Some blackcurrant-leafs. Quite wild and very
complex style. According to Kajo Christoffel this is spontaneous fermented. He started doing this in the early 70's. Fullbodied and
sweetish style. Highly complex and fine riesling. Intense and fully concentrated. Mature, but will keep. Fine acidity and length.
Tremendous wine. Price: Not listed.
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling auslese** 1989
Open for 11 days. Flowery, minty nose with hints of minerality and blackcurrant. Fullbodied and sweet wine in the mouth with more
concentration and lots of fruit. Light botrytis-notes. Medium acidity and a little more bitterness in the finish. Morepowerful style,
but not as fine. Very good. Price: 15,50€
Erdener Prälat riesling auslese*** 1997
A bit shy nose. Hints of more botrytis. Honey, slate-notes. Fullbodied and creamy riesling in the mouth. Rich and thick style with evident
botrytis. Much fruit. Young and not developed. Fine acidity and length. Great wine that needs more time. Price: Not listed.
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling auslese*** 2003
Again quite shy on the nose with some hints of botrytis. Hints of exotic fruits. Thicker and sweeter riesling in the mouth with exotic fruit
notes. Riper style. Young. Creamy, but with a fine and quite crisp acidity. Good length. Very good. Price: 18,50€
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling auslese*** 2006
Fine and quite mineral nose with hints of mint, blackcurrant and botrytis-notes. Powerful style in the mouth. Creamy and rich with a milder
acidity. Pronounced botrytis on the finish. But fine botrytis. Very good and very different from the more exotic and fruity '03.
Price: 19,50€
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling kabinett 2007
So we start focusing on the '07-vintage. This is a very lightly coloured wine. The nose shows firn, minerality. Underripe flowers. Clean
and leicht style in the mouth. Acidic and fine structure. Slim, mineral character. Appley fruit. Young and typical wine from the '07. A
true kabinett. Very good. Price: 7,-€
Erdener Treppchen riesling spätlese 2007
Greenish colour - tank colour. Lighly more earthy nose. Again mineral with hints of firn and blackcurrant. Tight and slim wine again in the
mouth. Acidic, sweet-sour taste with more concentration. Crisp acidity and a citrusy finish. Long taste. Fine style. Very good.
Price: 8,50€
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling spätlese 2007
Light straw/greenish colour. Clear, mineral nose. Rainwater, slate. Fresh and acidic Würzgarten in the mouth. Elegant and with crisp
acidity. Fine young and mineral style. Pure. Long taste. Very fine spätlese. Great wine. Price: 8,50
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling auslese 2007
Straw/greenish colour. Riper fruits. Blackcurrants, minerality on the nose. Sweeter in the mouth and a little thicker wine. Clean and pure
fruit. Mineral, underripe firn and blackcurrant. Young and a little tight style. Fine acidity and length. Very good. Price: 12,-€
Erdener Prälat riesling auslese*** 2007
Yellow colour. Fine nose. Clear, mineral and precise, but still sweet. Rainwater, citrus. Some botrytis. Powerful and thick riesling in the
mouth. Lots of fruit. Slightly earthy Prälat-like. Complex minerality. Young fruit. Great acidity and long refreshing taste. Tremendous wine
and the wine of the day for me. Price: 18,50€
Ürziger Würzgarten riesling auslese*** 2007
More spicy nose with yellow fruits and botrytis. Some slate and earth. A little riper wine in the mouth. More fruit and perhaps drinks
better today than the previous wine. But it is simpler, more aromatic and lacks a little of the elegance of the Prälat auslese***. Fine
acidity and a citrusy finish. Very good. Price: 16,50€
This ended a very interesting tasting. The wines from Jos Christoffel Jr. is very well made and from this tasting there is no doubt that
they age very well. The 2007-vintage shows a fine range of wines. It is a vintage that siuts Kajo Christoffels style very much. The
pureness and transparency shows well in the wines in this vintage. To me the Ürziger Würzgarten spätlese and the Erdener Prälat auslese***
where the highlights in this vintage. And the '79 proved to have aged into a marvellous wine.
Arnt Egil Nordlien
Tasting note: Sep-08