Reinhold Haart, Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Erste Lage Spätlese, 2007
Not many things in life beat a late vintage Riesling from the Mosel - sweet, yes, but usually well balanced with acidity and mineral that combine to a perfect sensation that is way too elegant and vibrant to be simply considered a sweet dessert wine. On top of that many of these wines are low on alcohol too. My favourite producer of these sweet Riesling is called Haart and based in the old winemaking village of Piesport, with the small family estate overlooking the Mosel river.
The 2007 Spätlese needs a little while to open up (in fact you could argue that it will certainly profit from a few more years in the bottle), starting with a nose of mineral, fresh green fruit with a little lemon-acidity and, most importantly, the herbal and flowery notes that are so typical of the Haart wines. After a while the Haarts feels a little more fruity, mixing sweet peach and apricot with a unique bit of raspberry.
The taste is a typical Haart too, with herbal notes embedded in mineral and coated with a nicely balanced fruitiness with just the right kind of fresh acidic zing. Plus raspberry, very nice raspberry, both bitter and sweet, like raspberry purée. Really nice zingy-fruity finish with the right level of bitterness and tongue-tingling.
Raspberry-yummy-goodness!
ups I did it again
So we just tried this one again and it is still delicious. Mineral in the nose, but not too much, with flowery notes and melon mixed with exotic fruit, pineapple it seems, - but don't expect an in-your-face fruit explosion; this wine is well balanced and delicate. In the mouth there is a blessed mix of fruitiness with a light hint of acidity (think more apple than lemon) and sweet, juicy peach. And exactly the right amount of spiciness to balance that all. Perfect on a hot summer's night. If this late vintage continues to develop like this it will be marvellous for many years to come.
Hit me baby one more time
And again, but this time with fellow wine blogger the Wine Sleuth, who wrote up her impression of this wine. Check out her blog and the notes on a night of German Riesling!