The 57th weinversteigerung is held in the Römerhalle in Bad Kreuznach on September 28th 2008. The wines available for auction were from Ahr, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and Nahe:

Frühburgunder -B- QbA trocken 2007, Weingut Nelles
Red colour. Dark berries on the nose. A touch of oak. Fullbodied and more concentrated than normal for german red wines. Fruity with dark berries. Quite simple fruit. Some oak showing, especially on the finish. Perhaps a little too much. Decent acidity. Tight finish with some tannins showing. Good quality.

Ahrweiler Silberberg Spätburgunder grosses gewächs 2006, Weingut H.J.Kreuzberg
A bit shy nose but quite obvious spätburgunder with hints of rasberries and lightly floral high notes. Medium bodied and oaky wine in the mouth. Some fine hints of rasberries, but the oak is too much. A little low acidity and oaky unclear finish. Not impressive.

Melchior C spätburgunder QbA trocken 2006, Weingut Deutzerhof
Again a shy nose. Lightly spätburgunder-hints of red fruits, with more oak-notes showing. Fullbodied and highly woody spätburgunder in the mouth. Some dark fruit notes, but the oaking is far too much. Low acids. Hard and extremely brutally woody finish. Yuck.

Neuenahrer Sonnenberg spätburgunder grosses gewächs 2006, Weingut J.J.Adenauer
A more feminine nose here. Floral and with some red berries. Lighter spätburgunder in the mouth with more florality showing. But also oak. Especially on the finish the oak is very hard. Medium acidity. Not impressive.

Mayschosser Mönchberg spätburgunder QbA trocken 2006, Weingut Jean Stodden
Lighter colour than the others. Also quite feminine style. Hints of flowers and animal fur. Obvious oak. Lighter style in the mouth with some animal fur and flowery depth. Finer fruit here. But again the oak is too obvious and makes a hard finish. Low acids. Decent.

"SR" Spätburgunder QbA trocken 2006, Weingut Meyer-Näkel
More meaty spätburgunder with dark fruits. Powerful and concentrated Ahr-spätburgunder. Quite fruity with lots of dark fruits. Some obvious oak. Medium acidity and again a hard and oaky finish. Better balance than the others though. Decent quality.
Forster Jesuitengarten riesling grosses gewächs 2007, Dr.v Bassermann-Jordan
Straw colour. Peach and mineral on the quite intense nose. Slight basalt-notes. Fullbodied and quite ripe '07-riesling in the mouth. Mineral and a bit old-fashioned fruit. Big style for this vintage. Good acidity, some alcohol showing on the finish. Decent.

Mandelgarten riesling grosses gewächs 2007, Weingut A.Christmann
Fine mineral, slatey nose. Pure and focused. Fullbodied and dry riesling in the mouth. Intense and elegant fruit. Mineral style. Slimmer wine than Bassermann-Jordan and much more elegant. Fine acidity and a very good wine from Christmann.

Idig riesling grosses gewächs 2007, Weingut A.Christmann
More complex nose here. Minerality with hints of spices and earth. Fullbodied and also more complex in the mouth. More earthy character. Bigger and more complex minerality. But it also means a little more rustic and not as elegant. Good acidity. Very good, but different than the Mandelgarten which I think I prefer.

Riesling alte reben QbA trocken "150 tage" 2007, Weingut Wittmann
Fine slatey nose with hints of sweet flowers. Elegant slightly off-dry riesling in the mouth. Mineral style with fine depth and a hint of flowers. Good acidity and length. Very fine wine.

Morstein riesling grosses gewächs 2007
From double-magnum. More minerality and complexity. Fine and interesting nose. Again elegant and slightly off-dry style in the mouth. Fine mineral fruit with hints of sweet flowers. Fine balance and crisp acidity. Good length. Very good wine and a good selection from Wittmann this year.

Westhofener Brunnenhäuschen "Abtserde" riesling spätlese goldkapsel 2007, Weingut Keller
Fruity and slatey nose. Clear and precise. Not the fullest spätlese in the mouth. But clear, clean and well balanced. Limey fruit with a fine minerality. Great acidity balancing the sweetness. Refreshing, good length. Very good wine.

Westhofener Brunnenhäuschen "Abtserde" riesling auslese goldkapsel 2007, Weingut Keller
Fruiter anr riper on the nose with some hints of honey. Perhaps a little more closed. Powerful and noticable larger scaled and with more sweetness. Again clear, slatey and limey fruit. Flowery. Crisp and fine acidity matching the sweetness. Elegant auslese goldkapsel. Great wine. A tremendous effort from Keller.

Riesling auslese feinherb "Drei Sterne" 2007, Weingut Gunderloch
Shy nose. A bit earth, flowery hints. Medium bodied and lightly sweet auslese in the mouth. Quite earthy fruit, almost rustic in style. Good acidity and length. Decent quality.

Nackenheimer Rothenberg riesling trockenbeerenauslese goldkapsel 1999, Weingut Gunderloch
Golden colour. Honeyed nose. Lots of botrytis-notes of raisins. Some evolvement. Thick and rich in botrytis in the mouth. Fat and creamy, but still with a certain charm and elegance. Fine fruit. Honeyed, sweet fruits, some raisins. Medium acidity and long sweet finish. Excellent tba.

Langenlonsheimer Rothenberg riesling grosses gewächs 2007, Weingut Tesch
Flowery nose, almost perfumed sweetness. Some slate. Fullbodied and lightly sweet dry riesling with a fine balance. Flowery fruit, slate. Fine , but perhaps a little boring. Good acidity and length. Good.

Wallhauser Felseneck riesling spätlese 2007, Prinz zu Salm-Dalberg'sches weingut
Fruity and pretty nose. Complex and fine mineral depth. Sweetish riesling in the mouth with a fine balance and good acidity. Flowery fruit, but fine mineral depth. Good length. Citrus-notes in the finish. Great wine.

Dorsheimer Burgberg riesling spätlese 2007, Weingut Kruger-Rumpf
Underripe nose. Mineral, greenish. Nice and intriguing. Sweet and typical spätlese-like balance in the mouth with a fine acidity. Flowery nose with a peculiar hint of pine needles. Different. Good length. Very good wine.

Norheimer Dellchen riesling spätlese 2007, Dönnhoff
Clear, pure nose. Slate, rainwater in the nose. Typical Dönnhoff-precision and brightness in the mouth. Not the fullest spätlese, but fine sweetness balanced by crisp acidity. Elegant style and a pure and mineral Dellchen. Very good wine.

Oberhäuser Brucke riesling auslese goldkapsel 2007, Dönnhoff
Citrus, slate and honey in the nose. Clear and mineral style. Rich and sweet Dönnhoff-wine in the mouth. Again razor-clear and precise fruit. Slight honey, slate and minerality. Fine acidic cut. Good length. Citrusy finish. Tremendous wine. The finest auslese of the day.

Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle riesling auslese 2007, Gutsverwaltung Niederhausen-Schlossböckelheim
Mineral and earthy nose. Quite light auslese in the mouth. A little earthy style. Mineral, fruit-notes. Lacking precision and clearness. Fine acidity and length. But a little disappointing wine. Decent quality.

Dorsheimer Burgberg riesling auslese goldkapsel 2001, Schlossgut Diel
Evolved nose. Petrol, flowers, minerality. Crisp and acidic auslese in the mouth. Beautiful structure. Fruit a little closed, reductive. Petrolly, mineral, with hints of flowers. Good length. Great wine, that shows some development, but needs another 5 years.

Dorsheimer Pittermännchen riesling trockenbeerenauslese 2003, Schlossgut Diel
Golden colour. Fruity nose. Tropilca, clear. Some raisiny hints. Fullbodied, thick and creamy style in the mouth. Sweet, tropical fruit. Not that much botrytis showing. Lots of sweetness, low acids in the balance. Good, more than great and not as impressive as the auslese.

Bockenauer Felseneck riesling auslese goldkapsel 2007, Weingut Schäfer-Fröhlich
Intense nose. Fruity, lots of tropical elements. Fullbodied auslese in the mouth. Clear style, but highly ripe '07. Tropical, fruity style with lower acids in the balance than the norm. It makes the wine a little simpler. Decent.

Bockenauer Felseneck riesling beerenauslese goldkapsel 2007, Weingut Schäfer-Fröhlich
Yellow/green colour. A bit shy nose. Slatey, some botrytis. A thick beerenauslese in the mouth. Botrytised, but also with clea aromas. Quite transparent style with even some minerality showing. Ripe fruits. Fine acidity and long taste. Tremendous BA and a great wine after the disappointing auslese.

Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg CX riesling beerenauslese goldkapsel 2007, Weingut Dr.Crusius
Yellow colour. Botrytised and honeyed nose. Sweet and crisp BA in the mouth. Honeyed and botrytised fruit. Fine, but not the deepest wine. High and cleansing acids. Long taste. Great wine that impresses mostly with it's structure.

Traiser riesling CR eiswein 2007, Weingut Dr.Crusius
Fruity nose with hints of slate, minerality. Light eiswein in the mouth with medium acids for an eiswein. The fruit is slatey and lightly fruity styled. Better depth than many eisweins. Fine length. Very good. Both the wines from Crusius very very good efforts and shows that this producer is back on the track to recover some of it's lost fame.

Monzinger Halenberg riesling trockenbeerenauslese goldkapsel 2005, Weingut Emrich-Schönleber
Fruity TBA on the nose. Typical of the year with ripe, tropical fruits. Thick and sweet TBA in the mouth with more fruity notes than normal and less botrytis. This is very typical for the '05-vintage and this is a very precise wine with a clear transparent fruity character for a TBA. Fine acidity and length. Impresses with it's cleanness and fullness. Very good, although perhaps not the most complex style.

This was all wines available at the austion. Generally the wines were of higher quality than last year. Especially the dry rieslings from Pfalz/Rheinhessen were at lot better in the '07-vintage than the '06. Also from the Nahe the '07 shows beautiful wines. From the Ahr this year it was the reds from '06 that was presented and the wines shows the problems with both the vintage and the making of red wines in Ahr. There is too much oak for the fruit. The wines are too hard and unbalanced. Personal favorites include Wittmann, Keller, Gunderloch TBA, Prinz zu Salm-Dalberg, Dönnhoff, Diel, Schäfer-Fröhlich BA, Crusius and Emrich-Schönleber.



Arnt Egil Nordlien
Tasting note: Sep-08

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