Vinoculation

So onto our digs at the Mosel, a holiday villa at the back of the village of Erden, among the vines.  From our window we can see Erdener Trepchen and Pralat, and also Urziger Wurzgarten further around. We meet Waltraud Schmitges, who is bubbling over with enthusiasm, and invites us to join a tasting with some cycle tourists who are coming by that evening. We are tired but Schmitges is imported into Austraia, so we take a look with both Andreas and Waltraud hosting.

I did take notes this time.  its also becoming clear that wine tasting in Germany takes longer than in Aus - so far everything has been much more tutored which has been really helpful.  And Andreas is also full of passion and enthusiasm over the next two hours!

The first 6 wines were planned, the last few resulted from me showing interest in in higher pradikat wines

09 Treppchen Kabinett Trocken: Made from the lower slopes of the Erdener Treppchen Vineyard. Home made lemonade and minerals. Both spicy and herbal, great flavours.

09 Treppchen Selection Spatlese Trocken: Spatlese character immediate on the nose (yellow fruits), tending to berry weight. Muted at first but builds a bit with time.

09 vom Berg QBA Feinherb: Lemonade nose with some yellow fruits, fresher and more citrussy on the palate. Lovely fresh zippy acids.

09 von der Lay Feinherb: Initially muted but warms to show yellow peach and tomato characters along with a touch of herb and lovely acidity to balance the ripeness.

09 Kabinett von roten Schiefer: South facing vineyard on red slate soils with higher canopy to maximise sun exposure. Bright fresh notes with a whiff of blackberry intensity. Treads the Kabinett/Spatlese line in weight and flavours. Zippy acids are there but don’t quite clean up the palate.

09Treppchen Spatlese*: Rich blackcurrant palate over yellow fruits. A rich, almost plasticine note. Riper and slightly cloying.

09 Rotwein Cuvee 4: 100% Dornfelder: Hand plunged and crushed, barrel and stainless steel fermented. Immediate smell is slightly buttery but then fruit and spice emerge. A lovely fresh fruited wine, mild tannins, lovely summer drinking. A real surprise – somewhat in the shape of cru Beaujolais.

09 Treppchen Auslese**: Dense, almost dutch licorice character. The florals are “open” along with some ripe peach and this is still clean and lovely in its acids.

09 Pralat Auction Auslese: Now then. Here we go. This is a Kramer wine. Do I love it or hate it?  it is confronting, yet I cannot look away. Pure peach and apricot nectar sucked straight from the tin. Nectar in its flavour and texture. Rich and syrupy, and with time starts to show other nuances of honey and citrus. Worth a small investment to see how this shapes up over time. I thin this is a *** Auslese, or Goldkapsel in some peoples language.

09 Herrenberg Eiswein: From the Erdener Herrenberg vineyard, at the top of the slope above Treppchen.  Well hello there darling. You have my undivided attention now.  Go ahead and dance for me. 6%, 300g/l and 12.5g TA. And pure, varietal riesling limes and yellow fruitiness in a crystal clear, racy, wide awake, adrenaline fuelled, mouth tingling attack. Brilliant bright, ripe juicy acidity to balance the intensity. Buy this.

Some nice wines here, and I’m glad we got to taste them.  This really shows some of the varietal characters of the Erden sites, which seem to be bright peachy and citrus notes and sometimes white flowers. The Schmitges wines show these in a ripe expressive way.  I’d be most interested to see what Andreas would do with a parcel from further upriver, say from Wehlen or Graach.

And in part 3 - the visit to JJ Prum and Rienhold Haart.