Latest news with #Kabinett
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Wine Of The Month: A Springtime Riesling
A springtime Riesling with a venerated history Schloss Johannisberg Hailing from Germany's Rheingau region, this single-vineyard Kabinett comes from a venerated winery where only Riesling has been cultivated since 1720, earning its claim as the first such winery in the world. Schloss Johannisberg translates to 'castle on St. John's Hill' so named for mentions of Johannisberg vineyards dating to 817 and then later, the site of a Benedictine monastery in the 1100s. By 1720, the entire domaine was planted with Riesling and it is marked as being the first closed (think cloistered) Riesling vineyard in the world. By 1971, after centuries of political and wartime conflict, as well as being coveted by royalty and heads of state, the domaine became an exclusive single vineyard. Wine critic Robert Parker has called it 'one of the greatest Riesling terroirs on the planet wine.' And this year the UK industry magazine Drinks International called it on of its 'Most Admired Wine Brands for 2025.' Vines are cultivated on 50 hectares, on a quartzite hill in front of the Taunus mountains, south-facing on a 45-degree slope (steep!). The weather here is so fair that when the sun is out, says managing director Stefan Doktor, 'we can play volleyball until 10 p.m.' Otherwise, he says the terroir is 'fine and unique, giving a clear definition of the wine.' The 2022 Rotlack Kabinett is a very refined expression with that clarity of fruit and unhampered by any manipulation. Only 20 percent is aged in wooden barrels, produced from the domaine's own oak trees, and the wine is further softened by five months on the lees. The nose is marked by tangy lime, peaches and a bit of welcome petrol—just enough to let you know this is the real deal—as well as ripe stone fruit such as peaches. The palate is slightly off dry. Kabinett is made from fully ripened grapes and is the least sweet (or most dry) of the four levels in the Prädikat scale (the domaine web site includes a helpful color-coded schematic for understanding its quality levels here). The Schloss Johannisberg Kabinett deftly balances the sweetness of ripe fleshy fruit with acid and structure to deliver a finely finessed wine that, despite that refinement, shows energy and intensity. It is fresh, lithe and adaptable to many spring and summer meals, espcially now with those tender green shoots in the market. Or, it's highly drinkable on its own. And, at 11% abv, you can drink all day (but drink responsibly, of course!) Fun fact: At the heart of the winery is the 'Bibliotheca Subterranea,' holding about 25,000 bottles in the 900-year-old abbey cellar. The oldest is from 1748. Doktor noted that Thomas Jefferson once visited the winery in 1793 and though he had a good impression of the wine, noted they were too expensive to buy. You can have this bottle for around $49.
Irish Examiner
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Wine with Leslie: Three rieslings to try, including one you need to taste at least once in your life
Memory is a curious thing, a brief moment can live with us forever. The first sight and smell of a newborn, where we were when we heard a loved one or famous person died, and occasionally our first taste of something remarkable. On a warm autumn evening in 1996 in the rooftop garden of my cousin's apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan I was offered a glass of Joh Jos Prüm Riesling. I had heard of the producer (all wine nerds have), but had never tasted their wines. I can still taste it to this day, the sweet apple, lemon and tropical fruit flavours on the palate and the clean wet slate acidity that balanced the sweetness allowing both sweet and sharp flavours to linger and linger. I fell in love. Prüm wines held their first Dublin masterclass recently where we tasted Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese from different vintages and vineyard sites at varying levels of steepness. I was as thrilled by the lemon-lime cool vintage 2021 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett as by the yellow peach and apple pie intensity of the Graacher Himmelreich Auslese (the 2013 a little more defined than the 2022). Expect to find honeysuckle, jasmine, lime, peach and apple aromas, fleshy stone fruits mixed with sweet lemon on the palate. Note that unlike many rieslings, Prüm wines do not have paraffin or diesel aromas. Prüm wines all have sweetness but also balancing knife-edge acidity making them excellent food wines. Prüm's Carine Patricio led us through the wines and, as an award-winning sommelier, she offered food matches such as Thai, Vietnamese and Sichuan cuisine, Moroccan lamb tagine, sushi, caviar, oysters and various cheeses, especially blue. Three rieslings to try below, I also like the Arthur Metz Riesling in Dunnes at €10. Tûrk Riesling Kremser Weinberge 2020, Kremstal, Austria €16 Austrian riesling is often more elegant and subtle than those found in Germany and Alsace and is well worth exploring (e.g. Diwald, Brandl, Wieninger, Wachau). Floral, citrus, apple aromas with a pristine dry palate that somehow envelopes its flinty fruits in a fleshy floral shell giving the wine texture as well as vibrancy. The Türk Grüner Veltliner range is also recommended. Reduced from €25. Robert Weil Riesling Trocken, Rheingau, Germany €23.95 Weingut Robert Weil was founded in 1874 and were soon supplying all the European courts. In more recent times, they helped drag riesling into the modern world by pioneering dry (trocken) food-friendly wines. This is bone dry with apple, lemongrass and a touch of floral — textured on the palate with a saline flinty character and a pleasing rounded finish. Joh Jos Prüm Bernkasteler Badstube Kabinett Riesling, Mosel €53 JJ Prüm wines from the Mosel are legendary and you need to taste them at least once in your life. From a 40-65% gradient slope on slate soils, this has fascinating honey, peach and wet slate aromas mixed with lime and honeysuckle flowers. Focused and clean palate with lemon candy mixing with Mirabelle plums and any sweetness offset by slate acidity. Stunning. MacCurtain Wine Cellar; Sweeneys; Whelehans; 64 Wines Spirit of the week: Blackwater 'The Full Irish' Small Batch, 48.5% ABV, €55 Blackwater 'The Full Irish' Small Batch Blackwater Distillery are nothing if not creative (e.g. Tanora Gin). This is made from every grain permitted, a blend of 45% pot still, 45% single malt, 10% grain, and finished in Imperial Stout casks from Waterford's Hopfully. Aromas of dark honey and caramel, creamy, nutty, smooth palate with a pepper and spice finish, properly complex and hugely enjoyable. Read More Wine with Leslie: These are my top bottles to pair with your Easter dinner
