Wine is Serious Business

Established in 1999, Weingut Vollenweider has been making lovely Riesling from vineyards around Traben-Trarbach. I discovered his wines on shelves in Portland a few years ago, and a visit to his winery was high on my list of things to do while visiting the Mosel valley. Fortunately, Daniel Vollenweider was willing to make time for me to visit his beautiful house and winery for a tasting.

The wines were wonderful, and they exceeded my high expectations for the visit. It was great to try them all side by side, and it was great to converse with him about the vintage and other wine events going on in the area. We had an interesting conversation about the difficult aromatic situation created by spontaneous fermentation in the Mosel. Some of the new releases were downright stinky. This apparently is common, and it disappears after some time, and the wines are fine. Of course, as an import consumer, I’ve never experienced this, because I think it would be next to impossible to move wines through the 3 tier system on the assertion that the stinky nose will become good after you hold onto it for a while. A couple of other wine makers had mentioned it, but his explanation was very clear. I thought it was quite generous of him to let me taste wines that were still affected by that, as it really let me learn what it smells like, and to see that the flavors and mouth feel were still entirely intact. It left me even more impressed with the vintners who are committed to spontaneous fermentation for some of their wines. The wines were truly remarkable, and the flavors in the best wines were positively thrilling to experience. I had a lovely visit, and the few bottles of GK Auslese that I picked up are among my most treasured acquisitions from the whole trip.

These notes are copied from my post on CellarTracker.

2008 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling QbA trocken 90 Points

Tart fruits show on the nose with gooseberry scents mingling with green apples. Something about it hints at the green apples being baked, and a good sense of minerality shows as well. The wine is crisp on the palate. Mineral flavor and green apples dance on the front end, while gentle lemon and gooseberry flavors work together in the middle. A faint hint of peach flavors show themselves late, and the finish dries with a firm touch. 90-

2009 Vollenweider Schimbock Riesling QbA trocken 87 Points

Scents of ginger and apples show here, along with green deep forest scents. Clear apples with the skins intact show on the palate. This had 24 hours on the skins, and it shows. This is a big Riesling. The tannins settle politely into the sides of the palate while great apple flavors settle on the middle and linger gently. The finish is long and dry, and a touch of heat shows late.

2009Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling QbA trocken 89 Points

Gentle on the nose, with yellow apple peels and fruit showing through. These apples show on the palate as well. I really like the mouth feel, and the full acidity is in balance with the structure and flavors of the wine. All elements linger long, retaining that enjoyable balance all the way through. A touch of heat shows, faintly reminding me of the structure of some Austrian wines that I like.

2010 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Kabinett

When Mosel Riesling is fermented with native yest, it’s common for the nose to be very stinky when finished. This character will disappear in time, but in newly released wines, it can be really strong. The nose on this wine was still dominated by the “sponty”, so I didn’t score the wine. This doesn’t do much to the flavors though, so I made notes on them. The fruit has good flavor, and the acidity is lovely right out of the gate. Juicy apples cover the palate, and the nice acidity grows to become quite strong. Even with the nose unavailable, this is quite tasty.

2010 Vollenweider Kröver Steffensberg Riesling Spätlese

When Mosel Riesling is fermented with native yest, it’s common for the nose to be very stinky when finished. This character will disappear in time, but in newly released wines, it can be really strong. The nose on this wine was still dominated by the “sponty”, so I didn’t score the wine. This doesn’t do much to the flavors though, so I’ve included notes on them. Juicy red apples show on the palate along with a touch of fresh oranges. I love how the acid feels on the palate! The juiced flavors linger long, and some apple peels show with that great acidity on the finish. This will be really tasty when the nose clears up.

2009 Vollenweider Kröver Steffensberg Riesling Spätlese 92 Points

The nose on this wine shows a bit of the richer side of Riesling, with elderflower, hone, and white plum scents in the glass. Minerals and acidity give the wine a spritzy feel on contact. Apple flavors mixed with moderate acidity show themselves on the mid palate, and a crazy, juicy, evolution occurs late. Orange juice shows itself, along with tasty apple flavors that linger long. I really enjoy the transition into the finish here. The acidity never rips across the palate, it just slowly dries, feeling light at first, but remaining persistent through the whole experience.

2010 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese 94 Points

When Mosel Riesling is fermented with native yest, it’s common for the nose to be very stinky when finished. This character will disappear in time, but in newly released wines, it can be really strong. The nose on this wine was showing a bit of this character, but it was still so excellent that I felt comfortable scoring it anyway! In addition to the “sponty”, some light but well rounded apple scents were evident. Crisp apples start things out, with a spritzy character coming from the bright acid and some minerality. The acidity is even with great texture through the entire experience. The apple flavors on the mid palate are utterly delicious. Yum! The acidity takes on a touch of lime flavors as the finish runs long. The apple flavors stay amazing through the finish, and a touch of honey shows itself very late. This Riesling is magnificent, and one that lets you sit and contemplate each sip.

2010 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Auslese 93 Points

Pears, ginger, and honey scents appear in the glass. Honey flavors start things out on the palate, with apples backed by full acidity coming in quickly. A touch of rich peach flavors and some minerality appear towards the finish. Here, the peach and apple flavors dance dramatically with each other while the acid rises up to dry fully. I love it when you get to experience drying acidity and richness at the same time without the two interfering with each other! The flavors last for so long that a small glass of this could easily last you 20-30 minutes. It’s lovely! 93+

2010 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 98 Points

The nose is full of botrytis driven honey covering grilled peaches. The sweetness is backed by suggestions of minerality. The color is quite light, but it shows a great depth of character on the nose which begs you to dive in. Limes with a mineral water zip greet your palate, and lovely apple flavors roll in on the mid palate. The mouth feel continually becomes more and more full as the apples evolve again into the honeyed peaches suggested on the nose and the mineral flavors become more intense. This makes the eyes roll back! Despite these powerful flavors, the acidity keeps the experience crisp and mouth watering and all of the flavors run out with fantastic length.

2010 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Beerenauslese 94 Points

The nose is full and rich with peach and pear scents brightened by clover scents. The fruit is totally lovely right out of the gate. It’s juicy and crisp with a touch of acidity showing itself early. Clover honey shows on the mid palate as the wine becomes very rich, and begins to take on some excellent depth. The acidity becomes brilliant later on the mid palate, giving the peaches a great juicy character. This is delicious now, and it will be even better after it has some time in bottle to integrate some more. Yum!

2000 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese

This was a great treat to taste at the winery, and there was a lot of conversation surrounding this glass. I’ve included what notes I could take, but there are gaps, so I didn’t score it. It’s light golden in color, and the age shows itself on the nose with scents of dried apples mixed in with ripe apples, some floral notes, and raisins. It has a feeling of depth to it. It’s gentle on the palate, with elegant apple juice flavors mixed with lemons and a touch of pine sap.