I have five nice Alsatian and German whites and no clue when to drink them, or with what, to enjoy them at their best. Advice please!

-2002 Louis Sipp riesling
-2002 Darting gewurztraminer kabinett Durkheimer Nonnengarten
-2004 Studert Prum Maximiner riesling kabinett
-1995 Dr. Zenzen Sonnenhofberger riesling spatlese
-2003 Dr. Pauly Bergweiler Bernkasteler Badstube riesling auslese

100 bonus points for anyone who can say all those names out loud without taking a breath!

Tonight we're having nice filets of sole lightly breaded with parmesan, pepper and lemon, would any of the above match well with that?

Also, how would they in sweetness, on a scale of 1-10, say, with a typical dry white being 1?

I've never heard of the Alsacian. Guessing the level of sweetness of it is a crapshoot.
The 1995 Spatlese should be drinking pretty nicely right now.
I would wait longer on the others.
Regarding your pairing, the thing that throws me off is the parmesan...

Although I don't know the individual wines you listed, I can offer you some explanations...

Kabinett wines are normally (there are exceptions) dry, light wines. They are meant to be consumed young.

Spatlese is a synonym for "late harvest". They are sometimes dry but usually have some residual sugar.

Auslese wines are very late harvest, although usually not affected by noble rot (that would then be a BeerenAuslese or TrockenBeerenAuslese). These wines are almost always sweet (a 3-4-5 on the sweetness scale).

As for the pairings, I like some residual sugar with fish, but it is a personal taste...

The owner of a good winery in Mosel-Saar-Ruwer gave me and my wife a good concise explanation of how riesling ages. He said that in their youth, riesling features the sugar and acidity of the fruit more prominently. As they age, the fruit characteristics gradually recede and the mineral, wet stone and other "terroir" flavors come to the forefront.

Without knowing those specific wines, I'd say the 2003 (being from a record heat wave year plus being an Auslese) is likely to be very rich, thick and sweet. I probably wouldn't have it with food in its youth -- either wait several years or have it as a dessert or afternoon wine. All the others should be pretty good and versatile with food now, hopefully with some modest sweetness balanced by acidity and minerality.

quote:

Originally posted by bman:
I have five nice Alsatian and German whites and no clue when to drink them, or with what, to enjoy them at their best. Advice please!

-2002 Louis Sipp riesling don't know this producer, so sweetness is a mystery
-2002 Darting gewurztraminer kabinett Durkheimer NonnengartenGood producer, and should be starting to drink well, for a kabinett, sweetness level between 2-3 but may feel higher, but there will be no acidity
-2004 Studert Prum Maximiner riesling kabinett too young, acidity will be sharp and out of balance with sweetness, which should of 2
-1995 Dr. Zenzen Sonnenhofberger riesling spatlese great drinking now. good age, sweetness should be a 3
-2003 Dr. Pauly Bergweiler Bernkasteler Badstube riesling auslese too young, and very rich. sweetness should be a 5 maybe 6 (TBA for me is a 10)

100 bonus points for anyone who can say all those names out loud without taking a breath!

Tonight we're having nice filets of sole lightly breaded with parmesan, pepper and lemon, would any of the above match well with that?stay away from riesling. Sauvignon blanc or a pinot grigio maybe better

Also, how would they in sweetness, on a scale of 1-10, say, with a typical dry white being 1?

You can drink the 1st 4 now if you like. If you don't drink the 2004 kab in the next 6 months, hold it until 2008. Open the Auslese in 5+ years.

Oh and never stay away from Riesling. However, I would not match any of these particular wines with your dinner.

VM

Thanks for all the good advice guys. We'll go with the Alsatian tonight, based on said good advice.

I'd still appreciate further comments if anyone has any to offer.

Good Advice - READ!

Dear bman,

In the all the reading I have done, I've noticed that experts seem to recommend Asian food, specifically items with some spice, such as curry - Chinese food is said to go great with Alsatian Gewurtztraminer (hopefully that last word is spelled right)

Bman,

I do not know who recommended those German wines to you but please do not think that they are indicative of the quality of German wines when you drink them. In my opinion, except for the Auslese, they are below average wines from average producers. Not wines that I would consider buying and I buy a lot of German wine. Next time you come to Chicago I will hook you up with some great German wines from my cellar.

VM

When i was in Alsace 2 years ago i was advised that the vast majority of good Alsatian wine is designed to be consumed within 5 years of bottling.

I'm not saying that they won't age beyond that, but just that the Alsatians prefer to drink their own wines young.

VM - Thanks for the offer, I hope I can accept it one day!

I generally base my purchases of wines I don't already know on WS or Parker points, Decanter or Jancis Robinson scores, and/or recommendations from people here. As my wife is not crazy about German or Alsatian whites, and I already spend more than I should on other wines, I tend to buy these wines rarely and cheaply. And we get a limited selection here, I think.