WTN: St. Urbans-Hof Riesling 2003

[Bruce Hayes]

QbA, Estate Bottled
Weingut St. Urbans-Hof
MSR
(I misplaced my notes on this, so WTN are from memory)

Bright yellow, with green tints, in the glass.

Petrol, honey on the nose.

Medium weight, good acidity, lemon, lime, tangy green apple, floral, beeswax, slightly off-dry, lightly honeyed, floral, rich, intense, refreshing, round in the mouth

Mouthwatering, green apple, lightly honeyed on the long finish.

A delicous and complex wine.

Purchased at $15.95 (Canadian)

[Bill Hooper]

Thanks for the note. Great winery that gets a lot of respect in Germany (as far as Moselaners go), but seems to fly under the radar in the western hemisphere. It seems that a lot of folks are popping 2003s with good results lately. I haven't had one in years.

Cheers,
Bill

[Bruce Hayes]

[quote="Bill Hooper"]seems to fly under the radar in the western hemisphere. {/quote]

To its credit, the LCBO (government-run Liquor Control Board of Ontario) seems to bring in quite a bit of prodcut from this winery.

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for the note. Great winery that gets a lot of respect in Germany (as far as Moselaners go), but seems to fly under the radar in the western hemisphere.

Not at all - they have good distribution in the USA, and get quite a lot of play. Nik Weis also makes regular visits to America.

[Bill Hooper]

Ok, but they aren't usually mentioned in the same breath as the other top producers of the Mosel -at least not on wine boards (Pruem, Schaefer, Christoffel, Adam, Mueller, S-O, Haag, Haardt, Zilliken, MG, Van Volxem etc.) They certainly belong in that group and are often far less expensive. My perception is that there are only really a couple of producers that the majority of wine-geeks get really excited about, but that is probably distorted by what I see posted.

Cheers,
Bill

[Bill Hooper]

I just looked up the US importer and it is listed as HB Selections and Sullivan Public relations, both located in NY. Maybe the NYC and New England markets are well represented, but I've never heard of those importers. The only other winery that they represent with which I'm familiar is Peter Zemmer in the Alto Adige.

[Jon Leifer]

St Urbans Hof and Urban rieslings by Nik Weiss have pretty good placement here upstate NY, both at retail and at restaurants, also have ordered them from Capitol Grille wine lists in Pennsylvanis..

[Rahsaan]

Ok, but they aren't usually mentioned in the same breath as the other top producers of the Mosel -at least not on wine boards (Pruem, Schaefer, Christoffel, Adam, Mueller, S-O, Haag, Haardt, Zilliken, MG, Van Volxem etc.) They certainly belong in that group and are often far less expensive.

I don't have enough experience to know, but while SUH may be a top producer of Ockfener Bockstein, they certainly don't seem to be the same level as Mueller for general Top of the Saar honors. That might not be a fair comparison because who is at the same level as Mueller. But you did say 'top'.

For PG I don't think there's any question that Theo Haart's wines are finer than those of SUH, at least in my experience. Whether that is land or winemaking or both I don't know. But in the US, SUH's PG is considerably cheaper than Haart's, and the price seems logical in my opinion.

That said, in my own mental categorization, SUH is a fine producer for delicious and sometimes excellent, good value wines. But as odious as rankings are, I wouldn't put them in my 'top' tier.

[David M. Bueker]

Bill,

As much as I like SUH, and Nik Weis, I can't place them in the top tier based on most of what I have had. Now if we start talking about the wines from the Leiwener Laurentiuslay I might come around to your position. The LL wines do show up in the USA, but not nearly as often as those from the Bockstein and Goldtropfchen.

I would actually push Nik to place the LL wines front and center in order to provide a central focus for the winery that is not in an area already identified with other producers.

[Andrew Bair]

Bill -

I agree with others have said about the distribution of the SUH Wines in the Eastern US. David is also right that the Leiwener Laurentiuslay wines are much less common over here than those from Bockstein and Goldtropfchen. I've only ever had one of the Laurentiuslays (a 2005 Spätlese Feinherb). David makes a good point about this being a site that American distributors should make more of a point to emphasize in the future.

For that matter, I have never seen any of their wines from Schodener Saarfeilser Marienberg, Wiltinger Schlangengraben, or Mehringer Blattenberg. I've read that at least Schodener Saarfeilser Marienberg is supposed to be a very good site.

Finally, I would agree that the SUH wines are very reliable and very good as far as value, if not in the top tier of the MSR. (As far as your top tier, my personal preference would be for Karthäuserhof and/or Knebel over Christoffel, but I'll certainly agree with your other choices.)

[David M. Bueker]

I bought some 1990 Wiltinger Schlangengraben Kabinett in New Jersey a few years ago. Good stuff.

[Andrew Bair]

I bought some 1990 Wiltinger Schlangengraben Kabinett in New Jersey a few years ago. Good stuff.

Thanks for letting us know.

[David M. Bueker]

Nik Weis regularly does tastings for the NJ/PA chapter of the German Wine Society, and a particular shop in Hainseport, NJ (run by the SO of the person who runs the GWS) can be counted on to get not only the Ock Bock and Pies Gold bottlings, but some of the less commonly seen items as well (e.g. 2005 and 2006 Leiwener Laurentiuslay bottlings).

[Andrew Bair]

David -

Thank you for the information again. Sounds like this may be a good store to visit if I am ever in that part of New Jersey.

[Jon Leifer]

David: bought a case of the 2011 Urban by Nik Weis tonight,,First enjoyed this wine at the Capitol Grille in Philadelphia 2 years ago while celebrating our daughter's graduation from Drexel ... We had dinner the following week with Mark Squires, Beth Sheligo and her SO at Kanellas which is BYO..

[Rahsaan]

David: bought a case of the 2011 Urban by Nik Weis tonight...

I thought the 09 was solid for big family occasions.