I have recently begun making a little foray into the world of German Rieslings. A couple of weekends ago, my small work wine group had Rieslings as a theme (will post notes when I get time). Based upon that dinner and the other Rieslings I've had, I seem to prefer Kabinett and Spatlese, but not so sure about Auslese (the sweetness just isn't my thing). So, I'm wondering is there a rule of thumb for what happens to the sweetness level of Auslese (BA, etc.) as they get older? Does it increase? Decrease?

TIA

Any change is minimal, though they may dry out a bit when they get very old.

My (minimal) experience has been that the sweetness stays, but over time that sweetness becomes less sugary, if that makes any sense. Lots of young rieslings strike me as if they were loaded with white sugar -- that seems to go away with time. Of course, YMMV.

The sugar content is what allows the wine to age for such lengthy periods of time as well as the usual high acidity of German Rieslings. As the wine gains in complexity and tertiary aromas the sugar content remains relatively the same. It's the acidity that drops off a tad which gives the perception that the wine could be sweeter when in fact it is the same.

Thanks Board-O, Brashley and Maze for the information.

I guess for now I will limit my purchases of Auslese, etc. and stick with Kabinett and Spatlese. I think in time my palate might change as five years ago I probably wouldn't have enjoyed Spatlese that much.

If you're planning on aging them, stick to Spatlesen. Like you, I prefer Spatlesen over Auselesen.

It isn't going to get sweeter, that is for sure. If anything the sweetness will fade a bit depending on the wine but in most cases it is minimal. Riesling changes in a different way really. Here is something I posted 5 years ago:

quote:

The following is my opinion based upon my palate. Aging German Riesling is not like aging Bordeaux. Although there can be a dull phase which Auslese Riesling will go through from say years 2-6, it is never as severe as what Bordeaux goes through. Furthermore, you don't have to deal with overpowering tannins in Riesling like you do in Bordeaux. Lastly, the metamorphosis that Riesling goes through is very different than the change which occurs in Bordeaux. In Bordeaux, the wine integrates and it is almost widely accepted that aged Bordeaux is more pleasurable than an immature bottle. Drinking a young German Riesling is like drinking Spring in a bottle. It is fruity, minerally, spritzy (often) and has a lighter body and texture. Drinking aged German Riesling is like drinking Autumn in a bottle. It is heavier, more complex and the fruit is less tropical. It is not altogether clear to me that the latter style of German Riesling is always better than the former.

VM

If you want some info on drinking windows, here is something that Terry Theise wrote a few years ago that I like:

quote:

Here are my rules-of-thumb, with all the usual provisos It presumes on good Riesling from a good grower and a good site in a good vintage.

KABINETT: peaks from 4-6 years (if it’s true Kabinett and not declassified Auslese) and shouldn’t fade till about age 15. Again, it’s not an abrupt demise, but rather a deliberate twilight slide. That said, I have in mind that 1961 Kabinett I drank at Schmitt-Wagner a couple weeks ago – 42 years old and going strong.

SPATLESE: peaks from 7-10 years and shouldn’t fade till about age 25.

AUSLESE: peaks from 12-15 years and shouldn’t fade till about age 35.

BEERENAUSLESE: peaks from 25 years or so, and shouldn’t fade till about age 50.

TBA: I know you’ll hate to hear this, but these wines aren’t designed to fit into a human lifetime. Unless you started buying TBA when you were, like, seventeen, every bottle you have will outlive you. I drank a bunch of 1953 TBA this year (in honor of my ghastly birthday) and several of them had more improvement ahead of them. So, peaks anywhere between 35 and 55 years, and shouldn’t fade till the Red Sox play the Cubs in the series – and the Cubbies win.

VM

Loads of exceptions to that simplistic quote.

The definition of peak is not a constant among tasters. It depends whether you prize the wine for its delicious crisp fruit or its secondary petrol characteristics, or somewhere in between.

The time a wine needs is also vintage-specific. The 1983s needed a lot more time in the bottle than did the 1976s.

I can think of numerous wines that don't fit that quote. Most of the 1976 Ausleses were still perfectly drinkable, but fading, by the time they were 20 years old.

I've had Beerenausleses that showed their best at 15 years and TBAs that were prime at 15-20 years. The 1983 BAs are still improving.

Thanks for those re-posts VM -- very helpful.

I doubt I'll be drinking too many of my Rieslings in the peak windows that Theise suggests just because whites make up such a low percentage of the wines I have -- so when I need a white I'll probably just be picking what I think might be drinking "the best." Slowly but surely I'm building up a little stockpile of Rieslings as one can usually find some pretty decent deals as long as not trying to fill up a cellar with Prum or Donnhoff. I've found that in the case of Rieslings, for me ignorance is sometimes bliss as I've found some nice wines at good prices because I don't know enough to have a producer or region bias.

I have two bottles of Riesling in the cellar. One of them is a 750ml bottle of 1979 Jos. Christoffel Jr. (Christoffel-Prüm) Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese. Anyone have any thoughts on maturity/condition? I was (now dependant on responses here)going to open this soon, as it is a 30 year old (birth year) bottle.

Cellar Fiend.....I drink a lot of older prum. I would drink those up pretty soon. Even under the best storage conditions, its time.

eyesintime,
Classic German QmP wines were, along with Bordeaux my first serious wines beginning in the 60s.

The former was fuelled by an old sales retiree from the House of Hallgarten who would deliver mixed cases of the great einzellagen; usually Spatlese and Auslese but occasionally BA and TBA too - the latter sometimes in halves.

The joy of these wines was that with rare exceptions they were enjoyably drinkable from the start [although I can’t recall committing infanticide with any BAs or TBAs] but would live for ages – developing all the while and presenting a different but still great experience 5, 10, 20 years on.

I still cellar and drink some of my favourites but my wife, who used to drink nothing else, doesn't enjoy them anymore so they are a less frequent delight - although the low alcohol means a bottle finished solo over a reasonable period is not too excessive.

You already have lots of good advice but approaching your post from a slightly different angle here’s something you might consider trying.

When more and more 'trocken' wines started coming on to the market years ago I never found one that I liked enough to drink/cellar but in the last few years that has changed.

If your taste is telling you that Spatlese is as far down the residual sugar road you want to go and Kabinett might be your generally preferred level let me suggest you try a dry German Riesling from e.g. Keller. He does excellent classic QmPs too but his dry wines were the first that showed me these can be really enjoyable.

I have since found others of course. Not in any sense as a replacement of a first and continuing love of the classics but as something worth, IMO, experiencing if you really enjoy the grape.

Keller's 2007 Riesling von der Fels is one of my current dry favourites [an earlier vdF was first] and has the merit, as a suggested 'try it and see wine', of being very affordable for the quality since Keller's exceptional Grosse Gewachs wines are pretty expensive. I wonder what others think?

quote:

Originally posted by chrisinroch:
Cellar Fiend.....I drink a lot of older prum. I would drink those up pretty soon. Even under the best storage conditions, its time.

TY.