ProWein, Day2, Part 1

 Today started with a tasting of a few selected German Rieslings, followed by Piedmont reds.

The first stop was at Schloß Johannisberg, perhaps Germany’s most famous winery. They are mainly known for off-dry and sweeter Rieslings, but I wanted to try the dry Rieslings. The wines are distinguished by the colour of the caps. First up is the 2023 Bronze Riesling. The citrus flavour is nice, but the wine lacks concentration. The 2022 Silver Riesling is better. It has a satisfying fuller mouthfeel of citrus flavours. I then tried the same wine from 2015. This wine was still fresh, quite elegant, with added complexity- the pick of the three.

Then it was over to Robert Weil, my favourite Riesling producer from the Rheingau. The two key wines are the Klosterberg and the GG Turmberg. Both were available from 2024, and clearly a bit young. The Klosterberg is a bit fruity at the moment, whereas the Turmberg already showed its steeliness on the palate, minerality on the finish, and great length.

Finally, for a different expression, a tasting at Reichsrath von Buhl from the Pfalz. The 2022 Ungeheuer, grown on slate, is excellent. It is quite full bodied, as you would expect from a Pfalz wine of this year, but slaty minerality is shining through on the very long finish. The 2022 Pechstein, from black volcanic rock is quite different. This wine is extra dry and salty - quite interesting and good.

Now over to the Italian pavilion, where I happen to start at Vietti, which turns out to be the ProWein highlight. I start with the 2022 Nebbiolo Perbacco. This wine has set the standard for Langhe Nebbiolo in the last few years. And the 2022 does not disappoint. The wine is dry and quite elegant. Perhaps it does not reach the hights of 2019 or 2021, but it is still a top choice for Langhe Nebbiolo. I then tasted one Barbaresco and 7(!) Barolos from the 2021 vintage. The Barbaresco Roncagle is a beautiful wine. It is elegance over power, and a great example of Barbaresco at its finest.

When it comes to the Barolos, where to begin? The blended Barolo was quite attractive. It is quite a dry wine, with excellent definition. It appears a bit reserved and lean now, but the purity of fruit, the balanced structure and the firm tannins are there for this to develop into an excellent wine. The standard of the single vineyard wines was outstanding. It comes down to preference. Mine was the Cerequio from La Morra, and the Lazaretto from Serralunga, both amazing wines. The former stood out for its freshness, minerality, and energy. The latter impressed with its bigger mouthfeel, reflecting limestone drive and iron soil fullness, while retaining elegance all the same - the power and the beauty. Then comes the Rocche di Castiglione with typical dark fruit and a very long finish. The Ravera has a complex palate with some meat character coming through. The Monvigliero from the north includes 60% wholebunch, and showed a little broader in the mouth. The only one which did not impress me that much was the Brunate, which I found a bit blocky. Overall, these wines combine excellent fruit clarity, drive, expression of their terroir, power, balance, and elegance. The Lazaretto is close to perfection. The only drawback: pricing has gone quite stratospheric. If that is a problem, and it would be for most of us, enjoy yourself with the Perbacco.

It would be very hard for the other two Piedmont wineries I tasted from to match this, and they could not. G.D. Vajra has a decent profile, but the 2021 Barolos were not in Vietti’s league. Albe, Coste di Rose, and Bricco delle Viche were fruity and less complex.The exception was the Ravera, which was more concentrated, elegant, and long. This is a wine in the top tier. I also tasted the Serralunga Barolo from their second winery, Luigi Baudana. This was a more concentrated wine, but not overly complex.

I finally tasted an interesting set of wines from Oddero. The 2021 Langhe Nebbiolo from 40 year old vines in La Morra was fresh, with good fruit purity and elegance - a find. The 2022 Barbaresco Gallina, grown on sandy soil, is quite light and soft, with a silky mouthfeel. I enjoyed this. I was less impressed with the 21 Barolo from two vineyards in La Morra and one in Costello. It came up a bit short. The 2019 Bussia Reserva, from a good area of this very large vineyard, was more impressive. The fruit is quite concentrated, and the wine powerful, while retaining elegance - just not quite in the Vietti league.

Phew! This was only part one of day two.

Prowein, Day 1, Part 2

 The afternoon involved tastings of Portuguese and US wines. 

I started with my favourite Portuguese winery, Quinta do Crasto from the Douro river. First came the individual variety wines, the Touriga Nacional, the 2019 Touriga Franca, which was a strong, muscular and complex wine, and the 2018 Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), a big red fruited wine, which was elegant, with a long finish, and my favourite of these three. I then had an opportunity to taste the quite rare field blend wines from vineyards 100 years plus old. The 2019 Maria Theresa was not as big as the single variety wines, but more refined, elegant and very balanced, with silky tannins. This wine was excellent. The 2019 Vina Porte was darker and stronger, with a lot of drive and firm tannins, also a very good wine.

The wines from Quinta do Vallado were also very interesting. The Lady Baga is an interesting wine, unusual and quite rare  for the Douro. It is a lighter wine, and very elegant. Then I tasted the two field blends for the first time. The 2022 Vinha de Curoa comes from a north facing high altitude vineyard. It is a full-bodied wine, but a bit undifferentiated. The 2022 Vinha de Granja comes from a south facing vineyard. It is also a big wine, but quite elegant, with a long finish. The wine has a slightly sweet core.

The third winery was Niepoort. In the past, I have been very impressed with their white wines, which come from high altitude vineyards in the Douro. The 2023 Redoma comes from 80 year old vines. I found it a bit broad. The 2023 Coche was a more interesting wine. The vines are grown on schist. The wine shows tropical fruit. It is elegant with a refreshing finish. The 23 Tiara from granite soil was quite different; very clean and precise. The VV Bairrada was interesting. It underwent 100% malolactic fermentation, and still it was quite acidic. The 2016 Lomba from Dão had an unusual flavour. It was still fresh, and had a mineral character, while a bit reductive at the same time. It was time for a couple of reds. The 2023 Charme has very little skin contact and is fermented with 100% whole bunch. I like the elegance, shall I say charme, in this wine. The 2021 Vinha du Carril is very good and expensive. Kirsch flavours dominate in this darker wine. It is not as big as the equivalent wines from the other producers. It is understated, yet quite complex.

This was an excellent set of very interesting wines from Portugal. Portugal has come a long way.

There has been a lot of discussion in California of producing less ripe wines, with drinkability the main objective. Yet this was not at all obvious from the wines I tasted. Wines from DuMol, Clos du Val and Merryvale were big, ripe, and sugary. The 2022 Merlot from Duckhorn, a simpler wine, at least showed some acidity. The best wines came from the legendary Ridge Winery. The 2022 Cabernet was very pure and quite elegant. The highlight was the 2022 Monte Bello. This wine is way too early to drink with its firm tannins, but underneath was a well balanced, complex fruit profile.

A fascinating first day has come to an end.

ProWein, Day 1, Part 1

 I am sorry about the delay in posting. There was a period when I did not taste any interesting wines, and then I tasted at ProWein, the largest wine fair in the world with about 5000 exhibitors in more than ten large halls. It is an annual event at Düsseldorf, Germany. One can only scratch the surface in this three day event, and I was too tired to post during these days. In order to cover at least some ground, I had to move quickly and did not take detailed notes. So the following posts reflect only summary observations.

In the morning of the first day I tasted Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) from Germany. This is perhaps the most significant development in the wine world right now. It is driven by two factors: climate change and the replacement of German clones with French clones. German clones used to be focussing on yield and are generally not well suited to high quality wines. This replacement has been going on for some time and is now bearing fruit (pun unintended). These developments are significant, because we now have wines of Burgundy quality at a fraction of the price.

Most wines were from the warm 2022 vintage. Not surprisingly then, the most impressive Spätburgunder came from more northerly regions in Germany. GG (grosses Gewächs) wines from the Ahr featured prominantly, in particular Sonnenberg from Meyer-Näckel, Silberberg and other GGs from Kreuzberg, and Herrenberg from Jean Stodden. These wines had good fruit concentration and a lot of energy and drive. Equaly impressive was the 2021 Braunberger Klostergarten from highly regarded Markus Molitor, a complex wine reflecting the slate based terroir.

In contrast, the wines from the more tradional areas associated with Spätburgunder, Baden and Pfalz, had a broader profile in the mouth. The Hölle wine from Thörle, with perhaps the highest profile, was a bit simpler, but with an attractive minerality. 

From the South, I was impressed with the Steinkaul of Fürst and the Steinhalde of Knab, both from 2018.

Jean-Marc Burgaud Beaujolais

 Gamay used to be the most planted red variety in Burgundy. Now it is Pinot Noir, of course. And the success of Beaujolais Nouveau made Beaujolais a popular drink, but rendered Gamay as a not serious, early to drink variety. For quite a number of years, some Gamay producers have staged a comeback. Probably the most serious of these wines come from the subregion of Morgon, and the hill of Côte du Py is the core. So how does the 2021 Jean-Marc Burgaud Morgon Côte du Py stack up? 

This is quite a concentrated wine, with good fruit weight. Red and black cherry flavours deliver quite a fruity profile on the front palate.Then herbal notes come on strong and add a savoury profile. The structure is backed up by firm tannins. This is clearly a wine which can age for 5-8 years.

Score: 93/++