Hain Piesporter Trocken Riesling 2023 – Flavors: Lemon zest, oil, honeyblossom, apple, Structure: Good texture solid med maybe med+ with excellent acid, dry not hardcore bone dry, Pairing: Redfish Tartar 8, soy/mirin dressing clashed slightly a more neutral citrus dressing would have been a 10, Other Notes: Very expressive, fruit forward. My favorite entry level Riesling so far. Sometimes mosel riesling has a smell of concentrated or dried red apple(like a fuji or pink lady maybe), this had that as well which was not expected for this price. Malic acid was very present but in a way that made everything taste like a sour apple lemon candy(like those hard candies?), not harsh at all. Score: 90. Price 13.50 euro
Alain Robert Ammonite Vouvray(CB) 2022 – Flavors: Crystal, Lemon, Melon, Clove _ Structure: High Acid not lazerbeam with medium texture_ Pairing: Cauliflower vadouvan yoghurt, 7/10 sauce was slightly to creamy and oily for how pretty and delicate the wine was. _ Other Notes: Very well-behaved, loses some Chenin character to the oak and may improve a lot with some age to integrate oak a bit and show more “Cheninness”. Score 91.5 Price 21 Euro.
Edit: Want to add that this is a great wine to introduce people who love barrel fermented Chardonnay to other grape varieties and regions. Like a sort of middle step between Oak dominant and terroir driven wines.
Bodegas Frontonio Microcosmico Garnacha Campo de Borja 2022 – Flavors: Strawberry, Raspberry liqueur, red cherry_ Structure: Light tannin, powerful clean fruit aroma and medium acidity. Not jammy at all, slightly stemmy but not much._ Pairing: Bonemarrow, 7/10 slightly more acid would have carried it through the richness but flavor and tannin-wise it was perfect_ Other notes: Very expressive with bright fruits and only a small hint of stems which adds dimension but remains clean, strikes an excellent balance between concentration and acidity. Beaujolais wishes their carbonic was always this clean. Absolutely perfect for refreshing red on its own or with cured meats on the leaner side. _ Score: 90.5. Price 18.95 euro
Cossetti Clemente & Figli La vigna Vecchia Barbera d’Asti 2021- Flavors: Blueberry,Red Cherry, Spice(clove, cedar), light mineral(Chalk) _ Structure: Very good balance between Acid, Concentration and Texture. Tannins present but not aggressive probably medium or less. _ Pairing: Nutmeg Sausage Epoisses sauce 7/10, clearly a losing battle considering the dish but somehow held up well and complimented the cheese. Honestly it paired better with the components than the meat and sauce matched with eachother 😛 _ Other Notes: Fruit red and blue fruit elegantly supported by light spice and cedar character from oak, with a bit of a typically italian sweetwood(zoethout) touch. A light mineral or chalk note on the finish really carried all the flavors through the end for a clean finish. Acid was so perfectly in balance that it supported all the other flavors. Had no business being this good at this price, the ageing in botti was noticeable due to the blueberry fruit note imo and the addition of a small % in barriques really added a welcome hint of spice that made the wine three-dimensional. Good barrel aged Barbera reminds me of Northern Rhone Syrah for some reason and this did as well. _ Score: 92 Price 15.95 Euro
Heinrich Blaufrankish Burgenland 2019- Flavors: Black Cherry, Blueberry, Liquorice, something savory or slightly gamey like grilled rare meat and black pepper? _ Structure: A bit Concentrated, slightly ripe, lowish acid maybe medium, don’t recall tannins. _ Pairing: Sausage Epoisses sauce, didn’t really come through 3/10 _ Other Notes: Well made wine that clearly shows some longer maturation and interesting development. Peppery and savory backhround flavors. Somehow just didn’t pop for me the way the other wines did, I kind of feel like it didn’t get a fair shake because it was the last wine of the night and it was paired with Epoisses sauce that did not match well. I feel it deserves a revisit because it is certainly interesting and it is a flavor profile I generally love. Maybe it was just a tad too ripe for my taste._ Score: 88 Price 18.95 Euro
Perfect_Diamond7554
Summary: The Riesling and Barbera really had no business being that good for those prices, both were new for me and will become house wines. All the wines were interesting and unique. The Vouvray has a bit too much oak imo for the delicate flavors but was still good, excellent alternative for Chardonnay at a dinner party everyone would like it and at 21 euros it is quite a bit better than most Chard for that price. The Garnacha was great with food but imo doesnt need to be had with food at all for maximum enjoyment, if you like red fruit candies in the form of a well made wine then this is really lovely. Carbonic done with elegance and style. Heinrich just missed the boat for me as I am not a fan of ripe wines and it was ever so slightly too ripe, quality and sophistication is undeniable though and will revisit.
This really shows what value for money you can get from a good wine store where the employees know their stuff and have had some time to get to know your palate. I might seem pretty liberal with my scores but actually I am generally quite stingy, these wines all just hit the mark for me. Maybe I slightly overscored the Riesling because it is so cheap but I honestly dont think so. Also I know scores are 90% BS but I like them for my personal record 😛
gwynnisgod
Do you shop at De Gouden Ton?
BVladimirHarkonnen
I was introduced to that Heinrich Blaufränkisch some years back at a tasting, didn’t know much about the style but it was a great intro!
4 Comments
Hain Piesporter Trocken Riesling 2023 – Flavors: Lemon zest, oil, honeyblossom, apple, Structure: Good texture solid med maybe med+ with excellent acid, dry not hardcore bone dry, Pairing: Redfish Tartar 8, soy/mirin dressing clashed slightly a more neutral citrus dressing would have been a 10, Other Notes: Very expressive, fruit forward. My favorite entry level Riesling so far. Sometimes mosel riesling has a smell of concentrated or dried red apple(like a fuji or pink lady maybe), this had that as well which was not expected for this price. Malic acid was very present but in a way that made everything taste like a sour apple lemon candy(like those hard candies?), not harsh at all. Score: 90. Price 13.50 euro
Alain Robert Ammonite Vouvray(CB) 2022 – Flavors: Crystal, Lemon, Melon, Clove _ Structure: High Acid not lazerbeam with medium texture_ Pairing: Cauliflower vadouvan yoghurt, 7/10 sauce was slightly to creamy and oily for how pretty and delicate the wine was. _ Other Notes: Very well-behaved, loses some Chenin character to the oak and may improve a lot with some age to integrate oak a bit and show more “Cheninness”. Score 91.5 Price 21 Euro.
Edit: Want to add that this is a great wine to introduce people who love barrel fermented Chardonnay to other grape varieties and regions. Like a sort of middle step between Oak dominant and terroir driven wines.
Bodegas Frontonio Microcosmico Garnacha Campo de Borja 2022 – Flavors: Strawberry, Raspberry liqueur, red cherry_ Structure: Light tannin, powerful clean fruit aroma and medium acidity. Not jammy at all, slightly stemmy but not much._ Pairing: Bonemarrow, 7/10 slightly more acid would have carried it through the richness but flavor and tannin-wise it was perfect_ Other notes: Very expressive with bright fruits and only a small hint of stems which adds dimension but remains clean, strikes an excellent balance between concentration and acidity. Beaujolais wishes their carbonic was always this clean. Absolutely perfect for refreshing red on its own or with cured meats on the leaner side. _ Score: 90.5. Price 18.95 euro
Cossetti Clemente & Figli La vigna Vecchia Barbera d’Asti 2021- Flavors: Blueberry,Red Cherry, Spice(clove, cedar), light mineral(Chalk) _ Structure: Very good balance between Acid, Concentration and Texture. Tannins present but not aggressive probably medium or less. _ Pairing: Nutmeg Sausage Epoisses sauce 7/10, clearly a losing battle considering the dish but somehow held up well and complimented the cheese. Honestly it paired better with the components than the meat and sauce matched with eachother 😛 _ Other Notes: Fruit red and blue fruit elegantly supported by light spice and cedar character from oak, with a bit of a typically italian sweetwood(zoethout) touch. A light mineral or chalk note on the finish really carried all the flavors through the end for a clean finish. Acid was so perfectly in balance that it supported all the other flavors. Had no business being this good at this price, the ageing in botti was noticeable due to the blueberry fruit note imo and the addition of a small % in barriques really added a welcome hint of spice that made the wine three-dimensional. Good barrel aged Barbera reminds me of Northern Rhone Syrah for some reason and this did as well. _ Score: 92 Price 15.95 Euro
Heinrich Blaufrankish Burgenland 2019- Flavors: Black Cherry, Blueberry, Liquorice, something savory or slightly gamey like grilled rare meat and black pepper? _ Structure: A bit Concentrated, slightly ripe, lowish acid maybe medium, don’t recall tannins. _ Pairing: Sausage Epoisses sauce, didn’t really come through 3/10 _ Other Notes: Well made wine that clearly shows some longer maturation and interesting development. Peppery and savory backhround flavors. Somehow just didn’t pop for me the way the other wines did, I kind of feel like it didn’t get a fair shake because it was the last wine of the night and it was paired with Epoisses sauce that did not match well. I feel it deserves a revisit because it is certainly interesting and it is a flavor profile I generally love. Maybe it was just a tad too ripe for my taste._ Score: 88 Price 18.95 Euro
Summary: The Riesling and Barbera really had no business being that good for those prices, both were new for me and will become house wines. All the wines were interesting and unique. The Vouvray has a bit too much oak imo for the delicate flavors but was still good, excellent alternative for Chardonnay at a dinner party everyone would like it and at 21 euros it is quite a bit better than most Chard for that price. The Garnacha was great with food but imo doesnt need to be had with food at all for maximum enjoyment, if you like red fruit candies in the form of a well made wine then this is really lovely. Carbonic done with elegance and style. Heinrich just missed the boat for me as I am not a fan of ripe wines and it was ever so slightly too ripe, quality and sophistication is undeniable though and will revisit.
This really shows what value for money you can get from a good wine store where the employees know their stuff and have had some time to get to know your palate. I might seem pretty liberal with my scores but actually I am generally quite stingy, these wines all just hit the mark for me. Maybe I slightly overscored the Riesling because it is so cheap but I honestly dont think so. Also I know scores are 90% BS but I like them for my personal record 😛
Do you shop at De Gouden Ton?
I was introduced to that Heinrich Blaufränkisch some years back at a tasting, didn’t know much about the style but it was a great intro!