On September 29 in 2008 we visited Martin Müllen to taste through the 2007-vintage. There were a few dry top wines that were still
fermenting, so not ready for tasting yet.
Kröver Paradies riesling spätlese trocken 2007, AP:18 08
12,0% alc/vol. Citrusy nose. Hints of mineral, earth, apricot. Quite light and dry spätlese in the mouth. Pure and fresh style. Fine
acidity. Good length. Good, but not the deepest wine from Müllen.
Kröver Letterlay riesling spätlese* trocken 2007, AP:20 08
13,5% alc/vol. Riper nose. Citrusy with hints of flowers. Fruitier and more concentrated wine in the mouth. More flowers and honey-notes,
lacking a little the minerality and a simpler wine. Lower acidity, rounder style. Good length and well-balanced alcohol.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling spätlese trocken 2007, AP:15 08
12,0% alc/vol. Fine nose. More minerality and depth. Hints of apricot. Powerful and concentrated wine in the mouth. Some sweet
apricot-notes. Mineral depth. Young wine that has not had long time in bottle. Still shows pretty and pure Hühnerberg-fruit all the way.
Fine acidity and length. Very good quality.
Weisser burgunder spätlese trocken 2007, AP:19 08
14,0% alc/vol. More leafy, balsamic and quite fruity weissburgunder. Powerful and rich wine in the mouth. Lots of yellow fruits. Quite ripe. Simpler
style. Decent acidity and fair balance. Alcohol a little high in the finish.
Kröver Paradies riesling spätlese* 2007, AP:13 08
9,0% alc/Vol. Mineral nose, wet slate. Apricot and sweet flowers. Sweetish and a quite powerful spätlese for the vintage. Fruity and flowery with some
minerality showing. Simpler than the nose. Decent acidity and fine balance. Good wine.
Kröver Letterlay riesling spätlese** 2007
Riper notes on the nose. Yellow fruits. Light minerality. Powerful wine in the mouth with a little more sweetness. Hints of citrus. Fine
acidity for this einzellage. Structured wine. Still simpler fruit than Paradies. Decent.
Kröver Paradies Deare riesling spätlese** 2007, AP:12 08
8,5% alc/vol., 25 year old vines. More minerality in the nose. Dark mineral notes with fine depth. Hints of citrus. Quite fullbodied
spätlese. Mineral style. Citrusy fruit. Good depth. Fine acidity and length. Very good wine.
Kröver Paradies riesling spätlese** alte reben 2007, AP:11 08
8,0% alc/vol. Vines 40 years or older. Even more mineral depth here in the nose. Hints of citrus and apricot. Thicker and sweeter wine
in the mouth with obviously more concentration. Fine fruit, mineral, citrusy. Already complex, despite it's youth. Fine acidity and citrusy
finish. Great wine and for a relatively cheap price.
Kröver Paradies riesling spätlese*** 2007, AP:10 08
7,5% alc/vol. Riper and sweeter nose. Flowers and minerality. Fullbodied and quite thick Paradies in the mouth. Bigger and riper fruit with
more obvious sweetness. Young flowery, fruity style with little or no botrytis. Fine acidity and structure. Good length. Great wine, but to
me the alte reben is more interesting.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling spätlese 2007, AP:09 08
7,5% alc/Vol. Apricot, slate and light minerality on the nose. Fullbodied and sweet Hühnerberg in the mouth with the typical mineral and
apricot-notes in the fruit. Sweet with a fine balance and good acidic backbone. Very good wine.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling auslese 2007, AP:08 08
7,5% alc/Vol. Sweeter nose with more apricot. Underlying minerality. Light botrytis notes. Powerful and sweet Hühnerberg in the mouth.
Apricot in the fruit. Fine and clear botrytis. Citrus-notes. Underlying minerality. Fine acidity and length. Great wine.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling auslese** 2007, AP:06 08
8,5% alc/vol. More botrytis in the nose. Sweet apricot-notes and some minerality. Thicker and more concentrated wine in the
mouth. More of everything. Young fruit. Apricot and citrus. Fine botrytis. Still there is a slightly rustic feel here. Underlying
minerality not showing much yet. It is bigger, but is this better than the normal auslese? Time will tell.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling beerenauslese 2007, AP:05 08
8,0% alc/Vol. From vines with original roots. Ripe apricot with a lot of minerality o the nose. Thick and fruity BA in the mouth with
obvious minerality for a BA. Anise-notes. Interesting and complex style. Transparent botrytis. Fine acidity and long taste. Great BA
that is wonderful now and will be interesting to age.
Trarbacher Hühnerberg riesling beerenauslese* 2007, AP:04 08
This bottle had been open for 1 month. Fruity and intense nose. Tropical. Thicker and more tropical BA in the mouth. The fruit is very
obvious and perhaps masking some of the finer depth in the wine. Hints of anise, apricot. Fruitier and with a higher acidity. More
refreshing style with a fresher citrusy finish. Very good BA, which is hard to compare with the non-star. It lacks the depth of the first
BA, but it might be because of the time this has been open.
No doubt this is a great vintage for Martin Müllen. Especially interesting to me where all the spätlese-bottlings from the Paradies. The
sweet Hühnerberg where great and especially the beerenauslese without stars was a tremendous wine. For the drier Hühnerbergs it will be
interesting to taste those that are still fermenting, when they finally are ready.
Arnt Egil Nordlien
Tasting note: Sep-08