Riesling | Moore Brothers Wine Company

Archive for riesling – Page 3

the king of grapes, from the archbishop’s garden…

By greg

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

heddesdorffemail

Estate Riesling Medium Dry Weingut Freiherr von Heddesdorff 2007
Last Thursday, alongside a perfect ham steak from Niman Ranch, with heirloom yellow beets and fresh lima beans, this gleaming, crunchy, apple and mineral-scented wine was just sensational, confirming an opinion I share with real wine authorities like Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson, that Riesling is the king of grapes. These grew in the Winninger Domgarten, which once belonged to the Archbishop of Köln.

Andreas von Canal redesigned his label last year (and changed the name of this wine from halbtrocken to “Medium Dry”), so you might not have recognized it when it returned to Moore Brothers in February. Or you may have thought that “Medium Dry” sounds a little too sweet for your taste. But never fear: the wine is called halbtrocken on the back label.

Weingut Freiherr von Heddesdorff:
Andreas von Canal is the grandson of the last Freiherr von Heddesdorff. His family has grown Riesling in Winningen since 1454, on steep, terraced vineyards near the confluence of the Mosel and the Rhine, just upriver from Koblenz. The estate includes two hectares of the Uhlen, one of the steepest vineyards in Germany, and small parcels in the Brückstück, Röttgen, and Domgarten sites. This estate will always have the distinction of being the first German producer I selected to be a direct supplier to Moore Brothers Wine Company.

This wine:
At first, crunchy green apples dominate the nose of this shimmering, crystalline wine. As it blossoms in the glass, wet slate and Asian pear emerge, along with a hint of strawberry and only a faint suggestion of cinnamon.

On the palate, the wine is crisp and medium bodied, with underlying slate minerality, and barely perceptible sweetness in tension with firm, crisp acidity. Drink as a refreshing aperitif; or with sushi (not too much shoyu or wasabi please), crabmeat, lobster, scallops, fresh-water fish, Indian and Thai cuisine, turkey, ham, pâtés, and würste.

As always at Moore Brothers, this lovely wine was selected in a personal relationship with an extraordinary small farmer, and was shipped and delivered to us in refrigerated containers. It has definitely evolved in the past year, but it’s still as fresh as when I first tasted it with Andreas and Irmy at the Brunnenklause in Winningen last spring.

I thank you again for your continued support of sustainable viticulture, and your participation in the stewardship of a heritage that belongs to all of us.

Greg Moore

Categories : learning, riesling, tasting notes

Tags : learning, riesling, tasting notes

johann peter reinert

By greg

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

Our “star thrower” Johann Peter Reinert farms the smallest estate in our German portfolio. That means there isn’t much wine.

The vineyards are tended by hand, and each vineyard site is bottled separately. These are classic Saar Rieslings: light-bodied, with piercing apple and white peach aromatics, and electrifying tension between their fresh acidity and modest sweetness.

Best of all, some of these lithe, seamless wines, which grow in the most aristocratic vineyards in the Saar, are the least expensive German wines we sell.

Posted by Greg Moore

Categories : germany, our winegrowers, riesling

Tags : germany, learning, our winegrowers

a ratzenberger symphony on the lawn…

By greg

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

ratz96

Bacharacher Riesling Qualitätswein Weingut Ratzenberger 1996
If I hadn’t experienced it last Sunday at Tanglewood, this would definitely be on my bucket list: the cumulus clouds in stately parade across the luminous, cerulean sky over the green Berkshire hills; the deceptively simple slow movement of Mozart 39 pouring out of the Koussevitzky shed (James Levine conducting the BSO); and this perfect, fully mature (and now nearly dry) Mittelrhein Riesling in my glass.

This is what I meant every time I tried to describe to you in words how fine white wine can evolve over time in a cool cellar. If you ever tasted an Ampeau Meursault from the 70s or 80s, or you remember the fascinating old Vouvrays from Prince Poniatowski, you know what to expect. The analogy is ripeness.

Weingut Ratzenberger:
Serendipity and dumb luck brought us to Weingut Ratzenberger in Bacharach on a rainy afternoon in July of 2000. Jochen and his father had just ended their relationship with another American importer, which meant that the incredible mineral Rieslings we tasted, grown on a hill that the Romans named Bacchi Ara (Altar of Bacchus), were available for us to buy. Now, the Ratzenberger wines are iconic Moore Brothers staples, and it is no hyperbole to tell you that they include some of the finest white wines made anywhere in the world.

This wine:
I wanted to sell this in 2006, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Moore Brothers, but we were opening our store in New York, and I completely forgot it. Jochen reminded me in January that I had reserved it, so now it’s a thirteenth anniversary wine, and even better than when I first tasted it in his rose garden in 2005.

In the glass, the wine has a deep, mature, limpid citrine color. The nose opens with ripe Asian pears and a hint of cumin and baking spices. Then the wine unfurls, adding bitter honey, ripe white peach, and the suggestion of fresh black truffle. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, with crème brûlée, honey and pink grapefruit comingled with wet slate, and barely perceptible sweetness in tension with firm, ripe acidity. It evolves in the glass like Mozart’s E-flat symphony (K.543) – to a Haydnesque finale that goes on forever. Drink NOW – 2015.

As always at Moore Brothers, this wine was shipped and delivered to us in refrigerated containers (always look for “SHIPPED AT 56°” on the back label), making this a wonderful and rare opportunity to taste fully mature wine in absolutely pristine condition.

Posted by Greg Moore

Categories : germany, riesling, tasting notes

Tags : germany, riesling, tasting notes

kanzemer altenberg riesling spätlese weingut johann peter reinert

By David Moore

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

The best vineyards along the Saar are the most difficult in Germany to cultivate. The steep slopes of weathered slate and the extreme weather conditions give “steelier,” lighter bodied wines than those from the Mittel Mosel downriver. Reinert plants his vines wide apart so that sunlight reaches the clusters, and ripen the grapes to perfection.

This fine, racy spätlese from the Altenberg in Kanzem comes from southeastern facing slopes of decomposed Devon slate. The wine shows brilliant, steely concentration, with apple, citrus, and white peach aromatics, knit together with fine, restrained sweetness and mouthwatering acidity. And after almost six years in the bottle, beginning to reveal the delicately singed fruit that characterizes mature Saar Riesling.

region

Regional History
Viticulture in Germany is mentioned by the Stoic philosopher Posidonius of Rhodes (135-51 BC), who wrote, “…the [Germans] drink a lot of undiluted wine…” It’s known that the Romans first planted many of Germany’s finest vineyard sites.

With the rise of the early Christian church, the vine had been intimately intertwined with religious and secular history. Charlemagne supported winemaking directly with vine planting projects and indirectly, by his support and encouragement of monastic orders.

By the late 18th century, it was the Church who was responsible for quality controls such as laws against the adulteration of wines, replacement of lesser-known varietals with the noble Riesling grape, and the custom of distinguishing certain vineyard sites as being superior.

Long before the “first growths” in Bordeaux were established, the Mosel had already set the benchmark in terms of quality for racy, elegantly fruity Rieslings.

At the end of the 1800s, Rieslings from reputable estates in the Mosel were the most sought after and expensive wines in the world.

Regional Foods
The lighter German wines are excellent with classic regional dishes such as wiener schnitzel, spaetzle (noodles) in butter or delicate cream sauce & kudlen (dumplings).

The heavier Spätlese & dry or off-dry Auslese wines are excellent with fish (including sushi & sashimi), poultry, and other white meat dishes.

German wines pair particularly well with reduction sauces having an edge of caramelization and the addition of cream or crème fraiche. German wines are naturally well suited to cut through the edge of sweetness and fat from these elegant sauces.

In contrast, garlic-laden, tomato-based sauces and olive-oil preparations combat the delicate aromas and texture of most German wines.

Categories : germany, riesling, tasting notes

Tags : learning, riesling, tasting notes

a herald of spring…

By greg

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

Fronton Rosé La Saignée Domaine Le Roc
Now that robins linger in Philadelphia throughout the winter, and aren’t a remarkable sight in March, I rely on the appearance of the first rosés of the new vintage to announce the arrival of spring.

And let me be clear about this: I love pink wine. Not saccharine horrors like industrial white Zinfandel, but small-farm, artisan rosés, which are the dry white wines of agricultural communities like Fronton in the deep southwest of France that don’t have good white grapes.

Négrette, the “little black one,” is the signature grape variety of Fronton. It grows nowhere else in the world. Wine historians believe that it was brought to Fronton by Toulousain crusaders returning from Malta. “Négrette has low acidity,” Frédéric Ribes told me, “but when it’s well made, there’s a purity of fruit that makes it the Pinot Noir of the southwest.” So here’s a very well made rosé of Négrette: a saignée, which is an early “bleeding” of the tanks of the same red wine from Domaine Le Roc that you may already know. A spectacular dry rosé, and a perfect herald of spring.

The grower:
Domaine Le Roc is one more example of a little known family estate that rose to the head of the class when well educated, scientifically grounded members of a new generation took over as effective stewards of their regional traditions. Frédéric Ribes is the middle brother of three who operate the estate, and seems to be the leader. “There are plenty of winemakers here who use too much Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, he says, “but we are convinced that Négrette gives Fronton its identity, and we need to concentrate on that.” How refreshing; like this beautiful wine.

This wine:
The color is saturated rose water, almost grenadine, with flashes of bright vermillion. Red raspberries, cherries, groseilles, and fresh flowers in the nose. On the palate the wine is dry and generous, with stone fruit, red currant, and a hint of red licorice seasoned with white pepper. A refreshing dry finish. Drink now until next spring, when the 2009 vintage arrives, with almost anything you can imagine.

As always at Moore Brothers, this small-production gem was shipped and delivered to us in refrigerated containers, so it tastes exactly the same as it tastes washing down a tartare de bœuf au couteau at Alain Chabrier’s “Rôtisserie des Carmes” in Toulouse.

I thank you for your continued support of sustainable family farms.

Greg Moore

Categories : food with wine, our winegrowers, riesling, tasting notes

Tags : learning, our winegrowers, rose, tasting notes

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