After reading the glowing recommendations from Vino Me of the 2001 German Rieslings I thought I would give some of them a try. For some reason there seems to be pretty good availabilty here in Miami. Here are the ones I've tried and rated. All of them were tasted blind.....

Staatsweinguter Kloster Eberach Kabinett Rheingau Rauenthaler Baiken ($11.69).....
This had a scent of apple and peach. It was quite tart and acidic and had a slight taste of kiwi fruit. It was also quite dry with a slightly bitter aftertaste. I think this might improve in the next 3-5 years (87)

Christoffel, Urziger Wurzgarten Spatlese ($12.69).....
A very light floral scent. Had a taste of lime and was quite tart. It was light bodied and a bit acidic and it had a crisp but slightly bitter aftertaste. I tried this a couple of days later and it improved quite a bit. Also was quite good with food. I remember reading something Tsunami wrote a while back about the Christoffel's that I agree with. It's a good wine but it just didn't "move me". (89)

Willi Haag, Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Spatlese ($12.69).....
This was a very dark color, just like apple juice, and had a strong scent of green apples. A heavier, creamier style that looked and tasted more like an Auslese. Had a sweet peach aftertaste. Would make a good dessert wine or would be a good apertif. (90)

Zelbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spatlese* ($13.99).....
Smelled like an unoaked chardonnay. Slightly acidic but still very sweet and delicious. Had a hint of butterscotch taste. The best way I can describe this is it smelled and tasted like a sweet, unoaked chardonnay. (91)

Meulenhof, Erdener Treppchen Spatlese ($10.79).....
Hard to pick up a scent but just a slight scent of lime. Tasted of green apples and a slight bit of vanilla. Very focused and crisp taste and quite well balanced with a mineral aftertaste. Was excellent with a variety of foods. I think it will also improve with age. (91)

Selbach-Oster, Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese ($12.69).....
Very light floral scent. A taste of lime and citrus. Very tangy and well balanced. Had a very long sweet aftertaste. Delicious and mouthwatering. (93)

Meulenhof, Erdener Pralat Auslese ($17.99).....
Had a very strong sweet scent of apples. Taste was very sweet and creamy and I swear I tasted some oak in this one. Very full bodied. I think this one needs some more time in the bottle but is excellent. (93)

Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Auslese* ($15.29).....
Had a very light floral scent and a slight scent of green apples. It looked more like a Spatlese. It tasted of green apples, lime and peach. Very tangy and tasty. It seemed to have layers of flavor. It had a very long, sweet, lingering aftertaste that coated my mouth. I wanted more with every sip! It was mouthwatering and absolutely delicious! This is probably the best white wine I've ever had. (96)
(Tsunami, if you read this and have any information on the vineyard or this wine I would appreciate it since it wasn't even mentioned in Wine Spectator and I thought it was an incredible wine!)

I was also able to find 3 bottles of the J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett for $13.49 although I haven't tasted it yet.

For some reason the prices seem to be good here in Miami (which is rather unusual) and needless to say I have stocked up on the Selbach-Oster Auslese (I bought all 3 cases I could find) and the Meulenhof Spatlese and Selbach-Oster Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese which I thought were great QPR's. Thanks to Vino Me for the inspiration to try these wines and I was able to buy them and try them before the Wine Spectator issue came out although not all of these were rated in the magazine anyway. Hope everyone is enjoying these wines as much as I am. The tasting has been a lot of fun!

Emilio

Emilio,
Sounds like a wonderful little tasting! Your prices are awesome too. I was particularly interested in your reviews on the Zelbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spatlese and the Meulenhof, Erdener Treppchen Spatlese. These are wines that I am thinking about ordering.

Emilio,

Thanks for the compliment but to tell you the truth I am quite jealous. It seems that you have tried better 2001 German wines than I have. I have not been able to bring myself to open some of my highly rated Spatlese and Auslese yet.

Your list of wines is impressive and the prices are even moreso. Did you try all of these wines at the same time? That would have made for a great tasting and learning experience. It is always informative to try wines side by side.

Here is some information written by Terry Theise (the importer for Selbach Oster) about the Zeltinger Himmelreich (interestingly he did not give it any +'s):

"2001 Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Auslese*
Good ol’ Johannes; he couldn’t bear to blend this away, whatever the commercial logic. I
wonder if you know what this feels like. Imagine him standing in the cellar, tasting the wine,
remembering everything about the site and the growing season and the harvest, and then
tasting something not just good but characterful, unique. Something with personality. And
he responds to it with a particular type of pleasure, akin to the joy of seeing a beloved face. So this wine exists. The fruit is more forthright in the Himmelreich manner, and the fact
it was done in steel makes it bright and primary, but there’s all the `01 mineral you could
desire and it’s just way fun Auslese at an entry-level price; so charming.
SOS: 2 (between nine and twenty seven years)"

Thanks for the notes. They were fun to read.

VM

Had a couple wines, one of yours and one very similar to yours, with similar notes:

Staatsweinguter Kloster Eberach Spätlese Hochheimer Domdechaney (EUR 12.95 or so)

Same Weingut, very different vineyards (mine abutting the town of Hochheim am Main; yours on a slope fairly high above the Rhein where the Staatsweingut is located). Also Spätlese versus Kabinett. Nevertheless, also kiwi fruit and peach taste, also quite acidic. Not at all bitter though. On the other hand, rough in appearance...particles in wine, sugar crystals and slightly spritzig. I'd give it a couple years at least.

Christoffel, Ürziger Würzgarten Spätlese - I had this open for two days in the fridge with just the cork in, no vacuum seal. It improved considerably in that time. First impression was that it was weak for a spätlese, and not quite balanced (too acidic), but its balance improved and overall flavor grew dramatically. I can't make sense of the 50-90 scale, where 85 seems to mean barely recommendable and 91 means buy at any cost. But if I were to venture I would give this an 89 with room for improvement over time.

Emilio, nice notes. The Selbach-Oster's are probably the sleepers of the vintage, but I can't find any here. I can't believe the prices you are paying. Most of these wines don't are sold out as futures on the west coast.

The Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten's need a lot of time. Even the Kabinett needs at least 2 hours in the decanter before it begins to open up. Tanzer's German expert and Theise thinks that Christoffel is the most impressive estate of the vintage and Parker (Rovani) gives rave reviews to all Christoffel's. Tsunami has been the contrarian to the 2001 vintage, so he is being consistent. The best 2001's need a lot of air time. Most are better the next day. The only ones that have not improved the next day are the Meulenhof's. They are nice now, but I don't think the spatlesen will go beyond 5-7 years, shockingly low for this vintage.

R2-D2....
I would say order up! It's hard to go wrong with these wines.

Vino Me....
I tried these wines 4 at a time. I don't like to try more than 4 at once because I think it distorts my tasting of wines number 5 and beyond. I do feel very lucky to have found all these wines and at what I thought were very good prices. I'm not sure why the availibility is so good here in South Florida but I'm not complaining!
Thank you for the note from Terry Theise about the Selbach Auslese. It was just what I was looking for and it made me smile because it was one of those wines that made me say "WOW" when I tasted it (which doesn't happen that often) and the note about Johannes was a perfect description of this wine. I thought it was something really special!

GATC....
I agree with you that the Selbach-Oster's might be the sleepers of the vintage. I'm not sure why you can't get any on the West Coast and there are plenty here. Maybe you need to come to Miami to do some wine shopping!
Thanks for the tip about the Christoffel. Next time I open one I will let it decant for several hours before drinking it. Although I think I'll let these age for a few years before I open another one. Disagree with you on the Muelenhof's though. With all these wines, I tasted them over the next 3 days and while they all held their own the 2 that I thought improved the most were the Christoffel and the Meulenhof. Granted the Christoffel showed a much better improvement but I thought the Muelenhof was the next best after a few days and really held it's "zip" (for lack of a better word) and was a even more focused and balanced then when first opened. Well, I guess that's part of what makes this so fun. Everyone has they're own tastes.

Emilio

Emilio, if possible, get your hands on some of the '01 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese or Auslese. The Spatlese is the best I've ever tasted, better than virtually all Ausleses I've ever tasted.

Just one more sip.

Seems like they were all shipped to the U.S. because here in Frankfurt (and at the winery itself) they are completely sold out and impossible to get.

cbmac

Emilio, if the Meulenhof's worked for you, that's great. I'm pretty amazed at how the wines are evolving the past 4 months, so it maybe shutting down. They are pretty good buys at around $15 for spatlesen. I bought a case of the UW and ET so I have plenty of time to see how they evolve.

GATC,

I've got plenty of both also so I'll be looking forward to reading your TN's on these two in the next several months/years. Of course I will post TN's as I open them also. I've got enough and can get more of the Meulenhof's, and at less than 11.00 a bottle, that I'm thinking of serving it at my wedding reception in May!

Board-O,

I would love to get my hands on some of the J.J. Prum Spatlese but I can only get the kabinett here.

$11? Amazing how low the prices are in Miami. I've posted most of my tasting notes 2-3 months ago elsewhere. If you see the Monchhof UW spatlese ($18.99 for me, $21.99 in Chicago), I would try some. Probably the best showing of all of the 2001's that I've tried next to the Muller-Catoir Haardter Burgergarten 2134 ($31.99-$39.99 for me). I bought a lot of the J.J. Prum WS spatlese and auslese. Way too young to drink for me, but I guess if you decant it for 4 hours, it should be good. In 10 years, I would think that BS would switch his ratings for the GH auslese (99) and WS auslese (96).

The Meulenhof spatlese I'm getting for $10.79 with the case discount. In fact all the wines I listed above were the prices I paid with the case discount with the exception of the Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spatlese* at $13.99 because I just bought a single bottle. I will look for the Monchhof Spatlese but I know I haven't seen it so far. At this point I'm pretty well stocked (if not overly so) on Rieslings but it's hard to stop buying at these prices!