jamie goode's wine blog: A dry Kabinett from Fritz Haag

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

A dry Kabinett from Fritz Haag

Riesling Kabinett can vary in style. These days there are some that taste as rich and full as Spatlese. They should be quite fresh, and in a just off-dry style. Now this one is at the more austere, dry, minerally end of the spectrum - it's a Kabinett trocken, which means that it's fermented for longer, reaching 11.5% alcohol as opposed to the usual 8 or 9, making a more-or-less dry wine. This style isn't seen in the UK that frequently: we tend to prefer it if the high acidity that grapes grown in this part of the world possess is balanced out by some sweetness. Although this isn't my favourite ever Kabinett, I think it works quite well, and the dryness makes for a less pretty, more food friendly style.

Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett trocken 2005 Mosel Saar Ruwer, Germany
The nose shows some sulfur dioxide, and is really minerally and tight. Not revealing too much at the moment. The palate is crisp and fresh with some reticent limey fruit and nice minerality. A very light, quite acidic style that has lovely purity and freshness, but not the depth you might expect from a slightly sweeter wine. Give it a few years and this may put on a bit of complexity: with the level of sulfur dioxide present, it isn't going to keel over any time soon. 88/100 (from French and Logan, part of a mixed case of 05s purchased a while back)

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5 Comments:

At 3:26 AM, Blogger Salil said...

Surprising - dry Kabinett from 2005? A lot of the Kabs I've had from that year have tasted like baby Spatlesen (no complaints though, they're incredible with slightly spicy food).

BTW, I notice a bottle of a Babich Syrah in the background. When do we get the tasting notes on that?

 
At 3:45 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

The Babich is brilliant stuff - it's only failing being that it lacks a touch of concentration - but it's really fresh and peppery. Tesco £7.99

 
At 1:19 AM, Blogger Paul Tudor said...

Interesting.

I have tasted a number of Fritz Haag wines over the years, but found them out of balance in terms of sweetness.

Perhaps this wine has the balance right? Unfortunately it does not make it all the way out here to the colonies...

 
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