Boku Heim midweek tasting

This weeks midweek tasting showed a pretty nice line up of different wines and regions. From Pfalz in Germany, to Austria´s Kremstal, Kamptal, Weinviertel, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Neusiedlersee and last but not least Mittelburgenland. The styles of the wines varied accordingly and overall the quality was quite impressive.

The usual tasting team suspects were joined by our class mate, friend and proficient taster Rüdiger.

Note: All wines were tasted open.

1. Grauburgunder 2008 from Weingut Müller-Kern - Pfalz - good - €6,20

rather neutral on the nose, but typical on the palate, refreshing, easy drinking stuff.

2. Sauvignon Blanc 2008 from Weingut Müller-Kern - ok 

green elder leafs, quite high in SO2, bit RS, unripe green flavors, gets more unpleasant with air.

3. Sauvignon Blanc 08 from Weingut Bärenhof - Pfalz - good

ripe falvors, greengage plum and elder, bit botrytis rot, good acid structure, a bit short on the finish.

4. Riesling Spätlese „Dürkheimer Rittergarten“ 2008 from Weingut Bärenhof - ok/good

hints of honey, rather one dimensional nose, acid structure ok, improves with O2, quite easy on midpalate. 

5. Kremstal DAC 2007 from Weingut Stadt Krems - good/very good

honey and very ripe flavors, hints of petrol, minerally, rather evolved, acid structure ok, 

6. Riesling Spätlese „Hammbacher Schlossberg“ 2007 from Weingut Müller-Kern - yech

sulfur reduction pure, good acid structure but sulfur reduction flavors on the palate too.

7. Riesling Auslese 2007 trocken from Weingut Bärenhof - very good

stone fruit, peaches and apricot, very typical, dark berries, underlined with slate flavors, very good acid structure, multilayered, very good length.

8. Riesling 2006 „Die Leidenschaft“ from Weingut Martin Arndorfer - very good/delicious

apricot and peaches, typical Austrian Riesling, tobacco, minerally, multilayered nose, slate, oak perfectly integrated, creamy texture, very lingering.

9. Pinot Blanc „Ungsteiner Osterberg“ Spätlese 2007 from Weingut Bärenhof - yech

sulfur reduction, sauerkraut, same flavors on the palate,

10. Grüner Veltliner „Hundsberg“ 2007 from Weingut Pröll - very good

fruity, hints of honey and butterscotch, pepper, spices, creamy texture, tobacco, balanced acid structure, quite lingering.

11. Weinviertel DAC „Kellerberg“ 2007 from Weingut Gschweicher - very good 

withe pepper, still young, soft texture but spicy, quite lingering.

12. Syrah 2004 from Weingut Kirnbauer - ok/good

spicy, sticht etw in der Nase, quite ripe, broad flavors, oak dominated, rather evolved, bit acetone, 

13. Ursus Magnus 2005 from Weingut Bärenhof - very good

super dark color, light pipe tobacco, peppermint, eucalyptus, dried mushrooms, bell pepper, oak very well integrated, very good tannin and acid structure, lingering.

14. Heulichin 2006 from Weingut Wagentristl - very good

fruity, tobacco, minty, eucalyptus, soft tannin structure, distinctive, good length, oak power, still young, lingering, will massively improve with more time in bottle. 

15. Blaufränkisch Lüss 2007 from Weingut Lentsch - very good

dark color, spicy, ripe cherry, ripe plums, horse radish, good acid and tannin structure, juicy, 

16. Zweigelt „Excellence“  2003 from Weingut Veit - very good/delicious

cassis and cinnamon, black berries, juicy tannin, super lingering, ripe and very balanced, good extract, powered.

17. Vitikult 2006 from Weingut Kirnbauer - corc

extreme corc taint ... for training!!!

Boku Heim midweek tasting

The first Boku Heim midweek tasting after the Easter holiday focused on Riesling from Austria. If you note the difference between wine 1 to 4 and wine 5, you will see that the vineyard soil (primary rock 1 to 4 and loess: 5) is quite easily detectable in Austrian wines. Normally I do prefer Riesling from rocky soils as they are more mineral driven and are showing interesting flavors like stone fruits (peaches, apricot). On the other hand GVs from loess are really good too.

Note: All wines were tasted blind.  

1. Riesling „Zöbing“ 2008 from Weingut Hannes Hirsch - good - about €9,50

bit CO2 visible, bright yellow hue, lemon/lime flavors, with more O2 stone fruit detectable, touch of loess, lean aroma, good sugar/acid balance, citrus fruits dominating on the palate, easy drinking, middle length.

2. Riesling „Klassik“ 2008 from Weingut Gschweicher - good - €7

pale yellow hue, explosive nose, hints of SB aroma due to strong aroma profile, lemon/lime and some cold fermentation flavors, lean body, good acid structure with lower RS level than 1, mineral finish, summer terrace wine.

3. Riesling Smaragd „Ried Kirnberg“ 2007 from Weingut Sigl - very good 

golden hue, hints of lemon, ripe peaches, quite evolved nose, petrol, middle body, good acid/RS balance with good pressure on midpalate, good length, gets better every minute with more O2, quite lingering.

4. Urgesteins Riesling „Reipersberg“ from Weingut Gschweicher- very good - €9,50

pale golden hue, typical stone fruit flavors with more apricot than peaches, good acid structure, lingering, good.

5. Riesling Steinfeder „Terrassen“ 2008 from Domäne Wachau - good

bright yellow hue, prominent loess flavors, totally different than all the others but not unpleasant, very balanced but far on the softer side, overall on the broader side, loess driven on the palate.

6. Blaufränkisch „Lüss“ 2006 from Weingut Lentsch - very good 

dark red hue, sour cherries and cherries, maybe a hint of MLF flavor, vanilla and spices, dark chocolate on the palate, good length, mouth filling, oak very good integrated, lingering. 

indigenous Austrian varieties ..

We opened 2 wines which seemed quite interesting.

1. "Himmelstiege" Riesling Federspiel 2007 from Domäne Wachau - very good - €6,90

minerality driven on the nose, peach and other stonefruits, hints of oranges, very flinty, good acid structure on the palate, good balance (6,7 TA; 2,9 RS)

2. Zweigelt Reserve 2004 from Weingut Dolle - ok - €10,30 (Interspar) 

from the beginning rather open on the nose (quite low sulfur level!!), very soft tannins, just little structure, rating on the border to yech! due to this low sulfur level, disappointing. Maybe this state of maturation was caused by insufficient storage conditions.

Anyway, it was really astonishing to us that this is the current winner of the "Zweigelt Reserve" category of the "SALON Österreichischer Wein 2008". 

3. Heulichin 2006 from Weingut Wagentristl - very good/delicious 

cherries and sour cherries prominent on the nose, hints of chocolate and mocha coffee, spices, black pepper, blackberries, a little bit of eucalyptus, some oak structure on the palate but driven by grape tannins, nice length.

Find more information on this winery: http://members.aon.at/weingut-wagentristl/