For some unknown reason a bunch of us decided to get together to drink as much von Hövel Riesling as we could gather. Mostly supported by Bob Semon’s Cellar Reduction Plan, but also the friendly assistance of Maureen Nelson, Howard Cooper, Cristian Dezso, Chris Bublitz, Ian Fitzsimmons, and myself…
We started with the lone kabinett, the 1997 Oberemmeler Hütte Kabinett which I actually liked quite a bit. It was brisk and brisk and brisk and maturing but still had enough ripe round juicy fruit to keep the palate entertained and I thought it was a perfect way to begin the evening. Others found it boring and it certainly was not a Star Wine. But it was a relaxing way to ease into the offerings.
Many of the other flawed palates at the table liked the 1994 Oberemmeler Hütte Spätlese very much. There was some debate over whether this was a Gold Capsule, because it literally had a gold capsule and it tasted like a lot of botrytis. For my palate, that botrytis was tinned and dirty and un-noble, but others seemed to find more ‘creamy pleasure’. You’ll have to ask them why.
There was also some juicy easy roundness to the 1997 Scharzhofberger Spätlese but with the slatey underpinnings that made it fun to drink mindlessly, although once other bottles were opened I found it a bit simple.
There was more debate over whether the gold capsule on the 1995 Oberemmeler Hütte Spätlese meant that it too was a Gold Capsule wine. We never really solved that debate but we did all agree that the dirty spritzy botrytis was not pleasant to drink. There was some discussion about whether the spritz was evidence of a bad bottle but even once that calmed down it was just not very good.
The most atypical wine of the night was the tropical rich 1999 Oberemmeler Hütte Spätlese. Some thought this was too exuberant for the Saar but I disagreed. It was opulent and creamy in comparison to everything else but it still had a fresh light underbelly and the directness of the Saar was evident. I thought it was fun, although obviously a unique beast.
For my tastes, the 2001 Scharzhofberger Spätlese and the 2001 Oberemmeler Hütte Spätlese were probably two of the wines that showed the best. They were both ripe, firm, lively, and regal, a full-package combination that made me happy. Naturally the overall consensus was that von Hövel’s Hütte wines are generally better than the Scharzhofbergers. But Howard made the intelligent point that in a special year like 2001 when Scharzhofberger gets the ripeness and acidity that are necessary for great wines, the profundity of the terroir is evident. And I can sort of see that. The 01 Hütte Spätlese was tons of fun because it was just so lively, tingly, and fresh, yet deep. But the Scharzhofberger was no slouch either and showed plenty of fresh acidity yet with that extra layer of firm complexity. Why choose? Drink them both, as we did…
But we were also moving on to the 1997 Oberemmeler Hütte Auslese which was fresh lively and fun. So easy to drink and such a salty sunny package that married well with my Alaskan Halibut. To my palate it tended simple as did the other 97s, but would have provided lots of pleasure if I drank it alone with a casual meal.
The 1994 Scharzhofberger Auslese was wrong and bad and flawed and not drinkable. But we had other wine…
The 2001 Scharzhofberger Auslese and the 2001 Oberemmeler Hütte Auslese were difficult to drink at first. Firm and hard and tight and closed in comparison to the 2001 Spätleses but to my palate these opened up and were fun to drink with just a bit of air. They both showed their respective terroirs, to the extent that the Scharzhofberger was firm and curranty and the Hütte was salty and fresh. All with a bit more reserve than the Spätleses but with such firm focused regal precision, as well as plenty of flesh, that I was enjoying myself and kept going for re-pours.
But we were onto dessert/cheese and the 1990 Oberemmeler Hütte Auslese sparked talks of that other special focused vintage. This was a very nice bottle that was golden and maturing and taking on the firm tactile sensations of age. But still with plenty of salty liveliness to cleanse the palate in-between sips. We were getting a bit ‘tipsy’ at this point but there was some discussion over whether this could get any better or was peaking. I don’t know the answer to that but it was obviously a unique pleasure compared to the other wines on the table.
Unfortunately, we were waiting for an elevated experience with the 1990 Oberemmeler Hütte Auslese GK but it was CORKED!
So we had to console ourselves with the 2003 Oberemmeler Hütte Eisewein, which was not too bad. Plenty of tropical fun and creamy richness, perhaps not as much acidity as other Eiswein years (but how did they even get this much in 2003?) but none of us complained and this went very well with my bites of the carmelized onions and cheese. Plus the glass that I finished by itself. It was easy fun.
In the end, I was most excited by the 2001s and the 1997s for an easier version of fun. But it was also nice to have everything lined up with good cheer and good debate. Until the next time!
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