Rüdesheim with view from the Berg-vineyards Foto: Arnt Egil Nordlien

Rüdesheim is a really tourist-trap and a place to hate from the first moment you enter the city. Nonetheless there are places like the Rüdesheimer Schloss which have a fantastic wine-list of older wines. The Rüdesheimer Bischofsberg riesling auslese 1990 from Georg Breuer was as beautiful as Rheingau-riesling can be. Rustic, but oh what a depth of minerals and floral fruit. The calmness of the nabouring-town Geisenheim was a better place to enjoy the silence after the crowds in Rüdesheim. A dinner at Schloss Kosenkenberg was had in peace and quiteness. A Geisenheimer Rothenberg riesling auslese 1998 from the owner Freiherr von Zwierlein showed a classical

slightly underripe Rheingau-riesling. Not very concentrated but nicely greenish nose and slightly petrolly and closed in the mouth. Kloster Eberbach above Hattenheim is a nice place to visit more for those with interest in history probably more than in wine. Their Assmannhäuser Höllenberg spätburgunder kabinett 2002 was a decent and unoaked pinot noir, but easily forgettable. The rest of the Rheingau was mostly short visits. For good sights the Bübenhauser Höhe in Rauenthal viewed the eastern part of the Rheingau beautifully. A bottle of Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen riesling spätlese 1979 from Balthasar Ress was also had along the way. On top now, good and typically rustic with the expected depth and concentration. No more, no less.

 

There was only one tasting had in the Rheingau and that was at Schloss Johannisberg. We did go to Lorch one day on a strasswirtschaft at the Friedrich Altenkirch-estate which served some decent wines. Strangely much of it was spätburgunder. The Lorcher spätburgunder trocken 2001 (AP: 003 03) was actually a nice QPR. Light and unoaked and quite fruity, but with a slight depth to make it very good for the 7,50 Euro-pricetag. We also tasted a spätburgunder sekt, which again reminded me that bubbles and tannins is a very strange combination.  But ok, back to Schloss Johannisberg. It was a beautiful estate with magical cellars. We tasted through the 2003-vintage with Frank Schuber who took the time on a very busy day. A little bit on the winemaking. The Schloss Johannisberg-einzellage consists of 35 Ha. of vines. All riesling. The soil consisting of a quartz underground (Taunusquarzit) and loam-loess topsoil. Fermentation is done with yeast bought from the Geisenheimer wine-school nearby from selected strains from the region. Maturation is in wooden casks. Here are the notes:

Schloss Johannisberg and vines. Foto: Arnt Egil Nordlien

 

Riesling Gelblack Qualitätswein trocken 2003

Light colour. Clean flowery and fruity nose. Lighter and simple fruit in the mouth with too much alcohol in the finish. Medium acids. Euro 9,20.

 

Riesling Gelblack Qualitätswein halbtrocken 2003

Not unlike the trocken. Quite simple flowery and fruity wine, but with a much better balance in the mouth. Better fruit and less alcohol. Medium acids and length. Euro 9,20.

 

Riesling Rotlack kabinett trocken 2003

Light colour. Much more interesting on the nose. Strangely subdued fruit and with a stoney and interesting slatey nose. Young and nicely balanced trocken-wine from the 2003-vintage (something I later realised is a hard thing to find in this vintage). Very fine and the best trocken of the tasting. Fine acids. 13% alcohol. Euro 13,50.

 

Riesling Rotlack kabinett halbtrocken 2003

Colour like the last wine. Nose has some of the same mineral, but not the same depth as the trocken. Decently balanced acids. But not up to the trocken in quality. Euro 13,50.

 

Riesling Grünlack spätlese trocken 2003

Yellow colour. Some nice minerals, but more tropical and ripe fruit. Quite fullbodied wine with ripe fruit, a touch too low acids and much alcohol on the finish (13,5%). Perhaps things will change with some more cellar-time, but I was not impressed with this wine. The kab trocken is a better wine. Euro 21,-.

 

Riesling Grünlack spätlese 2003

11% alcohol, 52 g/L. rs. Slightly more colour than the spätlese trocken. More intence and fruity nose, but with more mineral depth than the trocken. Better balance than the trocken, but a tad higher acids would have been better. A good wine. Euro 21,-.

 

Riesling Rosalack Auslese 2003

Yellow/green colour. Sweet and tropical nose with hints of botrytis and honey. Powerful and sweet auslese in the mouth. Tropical fruit with some botrytis-notes. Greatly structured for this vintage. High cleansing acids and long finish. A very good wine. Euro 65,-.

 

Riesling Rosa-Goldlack Beerenauslese 1999

Lightly golden colour. More botrytised and raisiny nose. Hints of honey and almonds. Sweet and lightly fat in the entrance. Botrytised fruit. Medium high acids and good length with hint of almonds in the finish. The almondy finish Frank Schuber said was typical character for aged rieslings from the Schloss Johannisberg-vineyard. Good, but not great BA. Euro 140,-.

 

Frank Schuber asked me which wines I preferred. I said the two most well-made wines were the kabinett trocken 2003 and the auslese 2003. Those two wines really stood above the rest IMO. Frank Schuber answered that the winemakers at Schloss Johannisberg had exactly the same conclusion on the wines from the 2003-vintage. The prices on the wines in Schloss Johannisberg is quite steep. There are no bargains here. But the 2003 kabinett trocken at Euro 13,50 is well worth the price. It might turn out to be one of the more succesfull of the trockens from this vintage. When the 2003 was harvested, many though it would be a year for trocken-wines due to the natural lower acids of the vintage. But the high ripeness and sugar-contents have been too hard to handle for many a great winemaker in 2003. Many of the trockens seems ripe and almost fat in the entry and with too high alcohol in the finish. The low acids make the wines almost “break” in the middle. Turning the wines disharmonic and unelegant. Perhaps things will be better with age, but from what I tasted trockens should be handled very carefully in the 2003-vintage. The better wines from this vintage turned later to be the sweet wines from spätlese and upwards. There ripe grapes was very “clean” and with very little botrytise. This gave the late-harvested grapes better balance as the acid-levels did not lower with increasing ripeness, which it does with botrytised grapes. So wines like Schloss Johannisbergs auslese from the 2003-vintage could be made.

 

The weather-conditions in Rheingau was poor while we was here. Windy and with some rain. Also some sun, but very cold and never above 17 degrees Celsius.