Wine Blogging Wednesday #45 – Old World Riesling

Once again it is that time of the month. The time for all good wine bloggers to devote their analytical skills and palates to the Wine Blogging Wednesday vinous theme. This month’s theme as presented by Tim Elliott of Winecast is Old World Riesling… the noble white grape as grown and vinified in the old world countries of Germany, France, and Austria. For this task I chose from my wine unit a wine I picked up in December from Colonial Spirits in Acton, MA., namely the:

2005 Langwerth Von Simmern Hattenheimer Nußbrunnen Riesling Kabinett

Weingut Langwerth Von Simmern has been making wine in the Rheingau region in Germany since 1474, according to their web site. That’s a LOOOONG time – can’t get much more Old World than that! The Rheingau region is situated just north of the Rhein (Rhine) river right before it bends southward towards Baden. The Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen vineyard is described on the web site:

HATTENHEIMER NUSSBRUNNEN
1,6 ha 8-12 degrees southfaced	The deep, sandy to loamy soils of this southfacing hillside bring forth racy to full-bodied wines that are rich in aroma. Our estate owns ca. 40 % of this excellent vineyard, a source of distinctive Riesling wines.

2005 was a great year for Riesling in Germany, according to all reports. This wine is also a very pleasing example. It has 11.5% alcohol and is rated as a Kabinett, which means the grapes were picked at ‘normal’ ripeness. On the label is the “Grosses Gewachs” hawk-like symbol which is used as a quality indicator for wines from the Pfalz and Rheingau regions in Germany, meaning the vineyards are relatively low-yield. The wine is also marked Gutsabfullung, which indicated the wine was bottled by the producer.

Light lemon in color, the wine exhibits a racy acidity with actual bubbles emanating to the surface of the glass initially. The flavor is off-dry with a sweetish citrus impression and mouth-watering fruity floweryness. The nose is flowers and petrol, but not obnoxiously petrolly as some Rieslings I’ve tasted. It went well with my Trader Joe’s Chicken Gyoza potstickers and veggies (WITH the tangy TJ’s General Tsao sauce). It’s really quite delicious.

I found later that this great wine was chosen as a Daily Wine Pick at Wine Spectator, where it received a 90 point score, which sounds entirely fair.

I thought I would include a pic of my fave wine bottle opener. Happy. Happy has sideburns and think’s he’s Clint Eastwood:

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