German Wine Society, San Francisco Chapter, Focus on the Great Estates Series, Maximin Grunhaus (von Schubert) Wine Tasting at the German Consulate, September 20, 2002. The following are my comments and ratings. There were no formal group comments or voting.

1998 Maximin Grunhauser Herrenberg Riesling Qba trocken: Nice nose, but light. Slightly bitter, Somewhat thin. 84

2001 Maximin Grunhauser Estate Riesling Qba:
Very nice nose, classic Mosel. Clean, very enjoyable. Better than most kabinets and some spatleses from other years. 92

1999 Maximin Grunhauser Herrenberg Riesling Kabinet: Petroly nose, tart apple flavor, very closed at this point. Opened up a little as the evening went on, but most thought this wine has started to shut down 85

2000 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Riesling Spatlese: Nose starts out nicely, but turns rubbery. Apple flavors. 88

1989 Maximin Grunhauser Herrenberg Riesling Auslese: Petroly nose, cloudy, complex with fruit and mineral flavors evolving. Some thought that one of the bottles was slightly corked. 90

2001 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Riesling Auslese: Absolutely fabulous nose. Classic Mosel. Apple flavors, hint of tartness comes through the pure sweet flavors. Tremendous acidity balances the sweetness. The greatness of this wines shows through even though most thought that this will be best in 10-30, possibly more. 97+

The program director said that he thought most German Riesling shut down from after a couple of years and don’t open up until around 8 years of age. Dr. Carl von Schubert air freighted the 2001 Abtsberg Auslese especially for this tasting. It was a real treat.

GATC,

That tasting sure sounds fun. I'll bet the consulate is a nice place. Can't help but notice that the 2001's in your tasting shown the best. Do you know how much the Abtsberg Auslese will sell for?

VM

GATC,

Not knowing very much, if anything really at all, about German wines, how much do the Maximin Grunhaus wines usually cost?

Doc

GATC,
nice notes - I recently had a '00 JJ Christoffel Kabinett that was wonderful. This only confirms that I need to explore the wine regions of Germany. . .

BO

Dee Vine Wines in SF will be carrying the 2001 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Auslese for around $36. They will be sending me a price list for the new products shortly. The 2001 Maximin Grunhauser Estate Riesling Qba will probably be around $12-15. I can't see it being more than that. If it is, there will be many in that price range that will be just as good.

I have both the 99 and 00 JJ Christoffel spatleses. They were around $15-17.

I've purchased 2 cases (6 bottles each) of 4 2001 rieslings that should be outstanding. The prices for those (spatleses and ausleses) ranged from $25-$37.