Tasting Note:

(Apparently slightly corked. A little hard for me to pick up)

Eyes: clear, med lemon, legs
Nose: clean (but I guess not then), med intensity, youthful, citrus, mineral, lemon, lime, petrol
Mouth: medium-dry, med body, high acidity, low alcohol, med- length, high flavour intensity, citrus, mineral, lemon, lime
All in all: I had this as good quality, especially because of the great balance between sweetness and acidity, but apparently this was corked.

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 7]

The first sniff by the instructor was followed by a warning – I thought it was just a false alarm, and I still couldn’t fully pick it up after the good-as-gone red light, but apparently this poor little German Riesling was slightly corked. I guess a little irony is worth mentioning here: a wine like this is, of course, good quality, but it was chosen because this wine in particular needed quite a lot of “meddling” to get to where it is. High sugars and low alcohol means a couple of things: added sulphites will be less effective with some being bound to sugar particles, so as a result, more sulphites need to be added. Careful filtration is also a must, because stray yeasts can royally screw things up. And so on, and so on as high as those blue slated slopes go. German Riesling isn’t expensive for no reason, you guys.

I’m treading on broken wine glass here, because I’m afraid any description will be inaccurate here, but I will say that the sugar-acid balance was great. That’s probably the first thing I look for in German Riesling. The characteristics I picked up on were more Mosel-like, opposed to the juicier, rounder Rheingau – more mineral driven, and crisp. Then again, I’m not sure.

Fuck you, 2,4,6-tricholoroanisole.

Producer: St Urbans-Hof Okfener Bockstein
Designation: Kabinett
Region: Germany
Sub-Region: Mosel Pradikatswein
Variety: Riesling
ABV: 8%
Vintage: 2010
Tasted: May 22, 2013
Price: $30