Still in Napa Still Living the WINE LIFE

I know it's been a while since the last post but livin' the WINE LIFE ain't easy for a pimp. You spend your days smellin', tastin', spitin' and soakin' up all that knowledge. It can be intimidating at times, it can also be very rewarding like the last two days in the Germany/Austria intensive.

One strong attribute to these wines is acid. Acid in wine is that element that brings life to a wine, that makes your mouth pucker, that almost seems effervescent at times. Due to the not so wonderful and normally cool climate in Germany a lot of the grapes picked have a high acid content. This acidity is often covered up by the ripe fruity character of a German Riesling which can give you essence of stone fruits like peaches, apricots, and plums when you taste them but leave an after taste that slightly stings the sides of your tongue.

The high quality German Riesling is classified in ripeness categories called Pradikats. The Germans has a very systematic approach to how they handle every step of the wine making process from classifying the wine based on the time of harvest to the structure of the label on the bottle. Pradikats range from the least ripe Kabinett to the exteremely ripe Trockenberenauslenese & Eiswein that are often harvested on the last few snow covered days of December. In between these Pradikats are Spatlese , Auslese and Berenauslenese in order of less ripe to riper. Ripeness should not be confused with sweetness as the sweetness of the wine is more based on the when the fermentation process is stopped.

One flight we tasted was four Spatlese Rieslings from different vineyards in the same region of Germany (Mosel). I thought of these as my "soft drink flight" as when the ripe stone fruit and tropical flavors left my palate each finished like a familiar beverage.

Here are my brief tasting notes:

1. Alfred Merkelbach Urziger Wurtgarten Riesling Spatlese 2006 (Mosel) $24
Light fruity nose with a sweet lemon, apple flavor and the finish of apple cider made from tart but sweet apples.

2. Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese 2006 (Mosel) $33
Floral nose with some tropical fruits, on the palate the acid is strong but well balanced with Melon, Pineapple, and Apricot flavors. Finish is like sweet lemonade.

3. Carl Schmitt-Wagner Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese 2006 (Mosel) $27
Lower minerality than the others with aromas of pure sweet apple juice. On the palate the sweet apple juice was confirmed along with lemon-lime flavors. The finish was like 7Up or Sprite and the high acid level gave the impression of a slight effervescence.

4. Reuscher-Haart Piesporter Goldtropfchen Rielsing Spatlese 2006 (Mosel) $25
This one is all about concord grape juice. From the nose to the palate to the finish it left you asking yourself "how did they get that concord grape juice into a Riesling grape?".

This is only a small part of two days of study with the amazing Karen MacNeil and 8 fellow wine enthusiasts who shared what I felt was an amazing experience.

WINE LIFE!!!