Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Peach, lime and floral aromas and flavors are highlighted by a golden apple tone in this pure, focused Riesling, with a juicy, lime- and mineral-tinged aftertaste. Has great definition, based on the vibrant structure and precision balance.
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Wine Enthusiast
Tasted blind in the same flight as Prüm’s Bernkasteler Badstube auslese, this wine is flashier, more of an attention-grabber, with amazing purity and intensity of fruit backed by great length. The fruit flavors of green apple, pineapple and lime are underscored by slate-driven minerality, and the wine, although plump and amply endowed, is well balanced, with superb posture provided by sinewy acids. Surprisingly approachable now, but could last as long as 50 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese, unlike its Himmelreich counterpart, was relatively shrouded in fermentative aromas on the occasion of my tasting, but site- and vintage-typical suggestions of baked apple and vanilla were clearly in evidence, and even more so on the palate, where dripping florality, vanilla cream, and nut paste add considerable allure. The finish here is formidably long and polished, with complexities of flowers, spices, and mineral already very clearly in evidence. This is another sure bet for at least three decades of bottle maturation from an impeccably consistent source.
Range: 92-94
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
Following the Mosel River as it slithers and weaves dramatically through the Eifel Mountains in Germany’s far west, the Mosel wine region is considered by many as the source of the world’s finest and longest-lived Rieslings.
Mosel’s unique and unsurpassed combination of geography, geology and climate all combine together to make this true. Many of the Mosel’s best vineyard sites are on the steep south or southwest facing slopes, where vines receive up to ten times more sunlight, a very desirable condition in this cold climate region. Given how many twists and turns the Mosel River makes, it is not had to find a vineyard with this exposure. In fact, the Mosel’s breathtakingly steep slopes of rocky, slate-based soils straddle the riverbanks along its entire length. These rocky slate soils, as well as the river, retain and reflect heat back to the vineyards, a phenomenon that aids in the complete ripening of its grapes.
Riesling is by far the most important and prestigious grape of the Mosel, grown on approximately 60% of the region’s vineyard land—typically on the desirable sites that provide the best combination of sunlight, soil type and altitude. The best Mosel Rieslings—dry or sweet—express marked acidity, low alcohol, great purity and intensity with aromas and flavors of wet slate, citrus and stone fruit. With age, the wine’s color will become more golden and pleasing aromas of honey, dried apricot and sometimes petrol develop.
Other varieties planted in the Mosel include Müller-Thurgau, Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), all performing quite well here.