TN: 2004 Müller-Catoir Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Riesling Spätlese

Charles_Weiss · April 4, 2020, 2:16am

2004 Müller-Catoir Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Pfalz (4/3/2020)
Somehow I hadn’t tasted any of the 5 bottles I bought in 2008.
The cork was fully saturated but no leakage and the color was reassuring and at first sip this is an “Oh Wow!” wine.

Quite sweet, probably more than any Spatlese of this age from the Mosel that isn’t Goldkap would be. The acidity must be considerable to give such freshness and refreshment even with this much RS, but doesn’t beg for attention.
Luscious. Peach stands out, ripe and juicy but a delicate peach; I guess this is what people mean by the descriptor white peach. There’s a little bit of apple, lemon, just a hint of brown spice, and a whole lot of things I can’t begin to describe.

No honey to suggest Botrytis, and certainly no bitterness.
As ripeness levels rise and people tout Auslese and even some Spatlese wines as “baby BA” this is more like a more moderate Eiswein.

It was delicious on its own before dinner, stood up to a medium spicy Taiwanese pork dish for dinner, and is shining again as an after dinner sip of contemplation.
Drink or hold.

Greg_Mitrakas · April 5, 2020, 1:44pm

That is a great note Doc!!! Nice that you have more in the cellar too!

David_Bu3ker · April 5, 2020, 2:03pm

Sounds delicious. Reminds me to pull and HGS-era Catoir soon.

Marshall_Manning · April 5, 2020, 5:35pm

I’ve always liked the Muller-Catoir wines, but have hardly ever bought them for some reason? Just picked up some mixed '11/'12 Mussbach Kabinetts for $12 at auction, and the first '11 I tried was delicious and in the zone.

P_L_owet · April 5, 2020, 6:01pm

Charles,
Totally agree that this wine is balanced and delicious. Drank our 2nd and last bottle earlier this year. Wish we had more.

I was wondering if other 2004 German Rieslings (mostly Mosel and Nahe) were also showing at peak. We opened JJ Christoffel Urz Wurz Spatlese this week. Disappointing — not enough acid, too sweet, and sorta boring.

Look forward to other comments about the vintage.
Regards,
Peter

David_Bu3ker · April 5, 2020, 6:25pm

Peter,

2004 is a poor vintage for the Christoffel estate. Generally though, 2004s are drinking quite well mostly across the board.

Charles_Weiss · April 5, 2020, 7:42pm

David,
Do I recall correctly that 2001 was his last year?

Peter,
Looking back at my notes many of the 2004s (mainly Spatlese) are quite sweet and rich, mostly drinking well but likely with further improvement with shedding of adolescent (too old to be baby) fat. This would include the Muller-Catoir in question though it has so much acidity that the richness is no problem.

Greg,
Please remind me to bring one sometime.

David_Bu3ker · April 5, 2020, 8:11pm

Yes.

Charles - it’s been too long. Let’s find a way to get together after all this mess is done!

P_L_owet · April 6, 2020, 3:52am

Thanks, David, for the feedback. I really enjoyed the Christoffel 2001s, and then even though the 2002s and especially 2003s were sold at steep discounts, they were surprisingly good. Guess the 2004s were a bridge too far. After this wine, not looking forward to opening our 3 bottles of 2004 auslesen.

Thanks, Charles. A bottle a while back of Prum 2004 didn’t seemed overly sweet. Didn’t realize it might be a trait of this vintage. Worked just fine with the M-C; not so much with the Christoffel.
Regards,
Peter

Nathan_Smyth · April 6, 2020, 6:48am

A few years ago, the basic 2004 Donnhoff QBA Riesling was a 100 point wine [for all of about $14.99].

I doubt that I’ll ever again cross paths with an off-dry Riesling which could even hope to be quite so perfect as that.

David_Bu3ker · April 6, 2020, 11:56am

2004 is a poor vintage for the Christoffel estate. Generally though, 2004s are drinking quite well mostly across the board.

Thanks, David, for the feedback. I really enjoyed the Christoffel 2001s, and then even though the 2002s and especially 2003s were sold at steep discounts, they were surprisingly good. Guess the 2004s were a bridge too far. After this wine, not looking forward to opening our 3 bottles of 2004 auslesen.

Looking back at my notes many of the 2004s (mainly Spatlese) are quite sweet and rich, mostly drinking well but likely with further improvement with shedding of adolescent (too old to be baby) fat. This would include the Muller-Catoir in question though it has so much acidity that the richness is no problem.

Thanks, Charles. A bottle a while back of Prum 2004 didn’t seemed overly sweet. Didn’t realize it might be a trait of this vintage. Worked just fine with the M-C; not so much with the Christoffel.
Regards,
Peter

2002 was actually a very good vintage at Christoffel. 2003 is odd everywhere, and highly personal taste dependent. The steep discounts were due to gray market activity, not any inherent issues with the wines. 2001 at Christoffel was one of those comet moments, and because Hans-Leo essentially disappeared from the stage after that there was no chance of a repeat.

DougS · April 6, 2020, 4:38pm

The few '04s I’ve had in the past couple of years have been in the zone. Grunhaus Spatlese and Schaefer Domprobst Auslese (375 mL; #5, I think) come to mind immediately.