Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A fresh style, with a firm structure and light notes of mint and basil behind the flavors of fresh-cut apple, orange and melon. Mouthwatering acidity lingers on the crisp finish. Best from 2014 through 2030. 200 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Scents of talcum, vanilla, Golden Delicious apple and subtly smoky black tea rise from the glass of St. Urbans-Hof’s cask-raised 2011 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Spatlese Zickelgarten, then go on to inform a soft, expansive, delicate palate whose soothing virtues (and abetment by residual CO2) by now represent a familiar face of the vintage at this address. There is a bit greater sense of clarity but also of sweetness to the (likewise admirably long) finish here than to that of the corresponding “regular” Bockstein, and I suspect this will benefit from a bit more time in bottle; but for now, I would prefer to be very conservative and suggest planning to enjoy this by 2020. The estate is now working through recently-established EU channels to achieve official recognition of their monopoly on the former Zickelgarten, but in the meantime, emboldened by the VDP, they have registered this as a “grosse Lage,” and put that name on the “presentation” side of this wine’s label to indicate its distinct and distinctive place of origin within the large Bockstein Einzellage.
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Wine Enthusiast
Whiffs of smoke and earth lend a dusty mineral tone to this lusciously tropical, yet remarkably nuanced, wine. The palate is full of sweet mango and pineapple flavors cut with tart lemon-lime acidity. Finishes long with an elegantly mineral flair.
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.