Great White Hope

It's been a while since the last post. Work, house repairs and the 'flu has gotten in the way. So finally, a few interesting wines to try. Riesling is the great white hope, and to test it, we had the Hohe Domkirche Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese 1983 and Weingut Tobias Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Auslese 1983. Yes, both wines from the Mosel, at a quarter of a century of age. If Riesling ain't the great white hope, I don't think any other white variety can do it as consistently.

The wines, yes, were remarkable. The Scharzhofberger, a Wilson Neill purchase at $24.50, had all the hallmarks of a classic, almost overmature Mosel. Quite golden in appearance. Cream custard, honey, toast and a touch of complexing oxidation. Glorious on nose, but the palate showing more oxidation than preferable. However, great weight and completeness in the mouth, fading in aromatics as the wine warmed up in glass. The Piesporter, a Hancocks buy at $38.64, expensive two decades ago, was lighter in weight and intensity, and initially a little disappointing, as Piesport produces some of the weightiest Mosel wines. But pale in colour, this grew to become a fresh marvel of the Mosel. Classical aged Riesling that will hold still. SWMBO picked this as the best of the two, straight away. Amazingly, both wines had plenty of sugar, but perfectly poised with the zingy acidity. The acidity was a feature of both wines.

There's a few more of these German Rieslings a quarter of a century old, to try. Great white hope - yes.