Bottoms Up
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What is your 100 yaer-old trying to tell you?
We recently opened a bottle of Carl Schmitt-Wagner Riesling. What a gem!
This 2012 Kabinett selection from Herrenberg, Germany is a delicate off-dry white. This special wine from the Mosel is naturally produced using the juice of 100 year old vines that have never been grafted. And, the vineyard was purchased from Napoleon in 1804. With gold coins. Lots of them. Because Napoleon thought the monks were done with it.
While he might not have asked, the Schmitt-Wagner family scored, and at only $20 a bottle, some others might too.The family’s long history with the land and vines translates into pure and expressive juice. The 2012 Kabinett is delicate, light, and has a soft touch of sweetness.
I picked up petrol on the nose (a common aroma descriptor for a Riesling), and the taste was of slight candied fruit and white jasmine. I may have caught a hint of thyme, or maybe I was just hungry.
This is a greater sipper, and it would pair well with light cuisine.Vive la France, erh Deutschland!
-Gina
