ARE YOU READY FOR SOME RIESLING?

THE KRISSES ARE NOTHING IF NOT COMMITTED TO THE GRAPE AND THE BEST OF WINES!

This post features the Krisses. If you search for Kris A and KrisB on tBoW you will find them loping up and down the steeps of the Mosel. They learned to l-o-v-e German wines. In fact, they love all German beverages including BEER of which tBoW and kindt also are quite fond. In fact, you may quote KrisB in confirming that German beverages are pretty much tops all round.

Then they dropped out of sight like a hailstorm in September [ed. metaphor does not really work but what the hey.]…like a vineyard in February. Like a plate of cheese on a Spring afternoon with a delightful bottle of Burgundy.

They produced their own special blends – two bebes – and now the Krisses are back to share their favorite post partum wines with all of us.

2013 Weingut Beurer Riesling trocken: Really delicious estate trocken. All the cut you want. Reminds me of the beginning of a wine tasting in Germany. Tastes like Germany? Very good. Honestly maybe didn’t know a basic estate could be this good.

2010 Renato Motalli Valtellina Superiore – Valgella NEBBIOLO Very nice. Had this tinny thing that took a while to blow off, but really deepened and fleshed out the next day. Great wine. Here are cellar tracker notes. [ed. hmmm..posting cellar tracker notes.]

2018 Azienda Agricola Platinetti Guido Colline Novaresi Guido. Super tasty. Tastes like Italy. Classic northern Piemontese blend. Super delicious. Cellar tracker notes. [ed. he did it again. Once more and it’s a trend.]

NV Coessens Champagne Brut Nature Largillier Definitely very mineral with not a lot of red/blue fruits (surprisingly, because it is 100% Pinot), instead yellow fruits abound with a stony edge. Very very good. Cellar tracker [ed. crime-in-italy!]

2016 Enderle & Moll Pinot Noir Basis KrisA’s [ed.that be the missus] first Pinot after Beckett was born. Amazing nose off the bat. Very rangy at first with super high acids. Deepened further by the hour. Really good. And the price! Super value. Cellar tracker. [OK. Since this wine helped tBoW turn a corner on German pinots I had to see what CT said. “Decanted but was open from first pour. Beautiful just ripe cherry fruit with minerals, herbs, and some bark. Mild tannins were barely noticeable. Elegant but with excellent concentration of flavors. Excellent and great QPR. If this is the base wine, really looking forward to the Liaison and single vineyard wines.” tBoW rebuttal: No need to decant. Flavors are dependent on one’s palate. I will say this: based on QPR – quality-price-ratio – I bought summore!]

2010 Weingut Günther Steinmetz Wintricher Geierslay Riesling Spatlese sur lie: This was killer First wine after Beckett was born. [ed. the Enderle & Moll was 1st for Kris A. This must be for KrisB, no?] Nearly ten years old, yet still super electric and pithy, but also with delicate kabinett fruit flavors. Tastes mostly dry despite 28g RS. 11g of acid will do that! Super fresh too. https://www.cellartracker.com/w?1338552

Lets also welcome the Field Maus [ed. he’s still around? been ages since he posted!] who would like to share something warm and touching about dogs and wine. We can all use some of that. https://www.oregonwinepress.com/wine-countrys-best-friend

Here’s something unusual. Dance competition for cowboys and polka.

Lederhosen und Rot Wein!! Sehr G-u-u-u-ut!

This is the Ahr Valley which is north of Mosel and which – until very recently – has been the most highly regarded wine valley in Germany.

Oh yeh. tBoW is going. Goodbye Luxor and Valley of the Kings…und Hellau Ahr.

We last (actually initially) wrote about German Pinot Noir, Spatburgunder, during the past summer. Das vas nicht gut.

Under relentless email assault from Lyle Fass tBoW dipped his tongue into the glass of German Pinot Noir sold by Fass. [ed. Fass is the successor or at least rival to the king of online megawinemarketers Jon Rimmerman of Garagiste]. The hype is powerful and compelling for any woke wine slugging environmentalist. Global warming has allowed for the propitious [ed. portentious even?] growth of Pinot Noir by Le Bosch. Rumors have been inconsistent. Fact checking – an impromptu tBoW tasting past summer – was inconclusive to be kind.

Two bottles were cracked together; one imported by Fass and the other by Kermit Lynch.

2017 Enderle & Moll Liaison $38 (online altho’ I am not sure what we paid Fass): Chambers Wines website says this…”a beguiling nose of stone, crushed strawberries and red florals, the palate is radiant with red cherries, strawberries, blood orange, and a hint of tart red currant.” Not the tBoW writing style however useful for a quick intro to top tier (at least for now) German Pinot Noir. Enderle & Moll as Fass warned is a hot ticket. What did we think? This wine is Burgundian. The wine is so tasty. The fact it is beyond quaffable is H-U-G-E news for tBoW and readers. The wine calls V-O-L-N-A-Y its brother. Volnay is commonly described as pretty, lush, floral. tBoW might add on the “cherries” side of Burgundy [ed. the other side is mushrooms, feral, “forest floor.”] We love cherries. The best news is that this could be easily mistaken – at least by tBoW – for “yer durn tootin” Burgundy. Don’t bother searching. Cannot get it.

2016 Albert Boxler Pinot Noir $67: Man. We missed out here. One of those “why-didn’t-we-buy-more.” Imported from Kermit Lynch who this summer offered a 6 pack steal of Boxler Alsatian wines for under $220. We bought two six packs of Alsatian white wines and the lone Pinot Noir. Boxler is a reliable Alsatian white wine producer however who knew this red would be so incredible. It was the priciest bottle in the gang which we attributed to scarcity. As IGTY might put it…who makes Pinot Noir in the Alsace? Who would pay $67 for it? If the Enderle & Moss is Volnay then this is Russian River Pinot Noir from Williams Selyem or Rochioli circa 1980s. Those wines were distinctly Californian from one of the two best – amend that four best – growing regions for Pinot Noir in California (and therefore the nation).

The other two credible New World Pinot regions would be the Willamette Valley (Maggie Harrison/Antica Terra; Patty Green RIP) and southern Napa’s Carneros rolling hills. You can also throw in Jim Clendenen in Santa Barbara. Our point is this. The 2016 Boxler Pinot Noir is a ringer for the best of lush and balanced and sluggable California Pinots. Fruity without going over the top, balanced (always important even essential to well made wine), never acidic not even in the earliest stages.

Burt Williams was the legendary self-taught winemaker who put Williams-Selyem (and Pinot Noir outside Burgundy) on the map. He died recently…a healthy and greatly respected winemaker whom the wine industry just did not want to let go of.

And that is the good news [ed. he means the wines not the deaths]…two Pinot Noirs that tasted like Burgundy grown and produced outside Burgundy, along with Pinot Noir that tastes like the earliest great New World Pinot Noir wines.

We expect to be busting corks on other German Pinot Noir wines shortly. We shall duly report. For right now…keep your eyes peeled. Today we are back on the hunt for German Spatburgunder. So, as always…when buying German Pinot Noir? Research and stay frosty.

Und now vee haff ein spitzenmäßiger Schuhplattler, sehr exakt und rhytmisch getanzt. Sowas sieht man nicht alle Tage. Jawohl!!

We know it’s the thick of summer when cognitive haze from the PM seems indistinguishable from the typical cloudy overcast in the AM. Looking back is easier than being there if we glide like Roller Girl does in the outstanding Burt Reynolds comeback film [ed. tBoW has Le Large cinematic hangover, do scrutinize the trailer above and Heather Graham’s debut couch scene below]. Summer IS presently in full stride and we are not always able to describe all the wines we are sampling. Here are some of what has been left on the bar with a cork in it next to the detritus of night work. Quite a haul, too, with some really nice wines from Paso, Provence and Israel just to tease your curiosity. And there will be even more next week with the Field Mouse in town. (more…)

Summer afternoon tastings that morph into evening wine campaigns is what the hottest season is all about. Strategy, tactics and logistical controls are so very important especially when conditions are harsh as in really really H-O-T. And when the tasting theme, suggested by the regent Mouse is Riesling served cold, temperature management is vital. As the outside thermometer burns through 100 degrees the glasses get warm just sitting around. The treatment? Cold conditioning for stemware which means rinse the glass in ice water before each new pour. Wine buckets no more than a quick reach away replenished with ice throughout the day. But what about the taster? Keep a swimming pool nearby, wear trunks or a discrete one-piece and dip every 30 minutes. Throw a towel over the chair and return to the table. Assemble a crack team with the inevitable hangers-on. Tactics include having the requisite plonk for the lumpen. To summarize…keep cool and moist, stratify wine selections, and ensure the tasting cadre are kept refreshed.
This tasting proved to be especially interesting.
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