If you could go back in time and collect one German riesling consistently over the years...?

Yeah yeah, I know I’m ripping off the Bordeaux thread. Out of boredom and curiosity, thought I’d ask the veteran German wine geeks here the same question but with a twist.

If you could go back in time and collect one German riesling of each style (dry, off-dry, sweet), year after year, what would they be? Can answer for any or all three. Excluding wines that have gained a cult following and are highly allocated (Keller GGs, Egon Muller, etc).

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You’re the German guy, right? I think you know the answer to this.
For myself, probably JJ Prum: practically AGELESS.

I would have stockpiled Riesling made by Hans Gunter Schwarz at Muller-Catoir.

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I can think of a lot of wine regions in the world where I wish I had bought more wine from certain producers - for example, I bought some Mugneret-Gibourg when it was reasonably priced but wish I had bought a lot more. Same with 2014 Ramonet. I wish I had purchased 1996 Monte Bello and Leoville las Cases.

But, with German Riesling the producers I have the most wine from are JJ Prum, von Schubert (Maximin Grunhaus), Zilliken, Reinhold Haart, Selbach and Schloss Lieser. I am pretty happy with these and really don’t have too many regrets.

Maybe I should’ve been more specific. I was referring to one single bottling, not producer.

Regrets, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention…

When you buy far too much you end up not having many regrets.

Maybe some Koehler-Ruprecht RR Trockens.

Donnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Eiswein

While the Eiswein tops my list, I’ve been so enamored by all the wines from Oberhauser Brucke, I’d happily go back in time and load up on whatever’s available.

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Two of the greatest Auslesen I have tasted are 1983 JJ Prum GKA and 1989 Abtsberg #96. I did not buy any of the Prum and have long since drunk my #96. I wish I had more. Another group of wines I drank up long ago that I wish I still had were 1989s from Staatsdomaine in the Nahe. It was the last or near the last vintage I believe from this producer and the wines were fabulous. I would have a hard time narrowing this down to one wine - Niederhauser Steinberg Kabinett, Niederhauser Hermanshohle Spatlese and Auslese, Schlossböckelheimer Kupfergrube Spatlese or Auslese, Traisener Bastei Auslese, loved them all.

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It would not have mattered. We don’t like rules. :wink:

Welcome to ‘Wine Berserkers’, where the users are opinionated and the rules don’t matter! :wink:

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Keller Abts E. Droool.

*Damn, just read the rules. Prum WS Aus then.

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I’m going to go with Willi Schaefer, but that’s where the choice becomes difficult between the two Spatlese and the Graacher Dompobst Kabinett.

Willi Schaefer Domprobst Kabinett. Probably my favorite Mosel Kabinett and it has escalated in price quite rapidly. Was $25 a bottle as recently as 2015 and now close to $40. I have some but not enough. (Also, in general Kabinetts are the most difficult to backfill because they get drunk sooner.)

Do you know of places on earth where this is not true?

Brian, I read the rules. J.J. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett. I wish I had cases.

Easy:
Well dang no Egon, that’s tough: tie between Julian Haart Goldtropfchen and Willi Schaefer Wehlaner Sonnenuhr Kabinett
Willi Schaefer GD Spätlese #5
Willi Schaefer GD Beerensuslese
Uli Stein St. Aldegunder Palmberg Terressen Spätlese trocken
Not enough bottles drunk of Auslese and TBA to pick one.

Close seconds: Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Spätlese.

And all the children are above average.

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I don’t want to hijack this thread, and if you all want I can start a new thread, but I have different question pertaining to this question (for the same audience).

Where do you find yourself buying the majority of your Riesling?

I am really looking for a wine shop that has Riesling diversity.

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And you can forget about adults–we don’t have any! [dance-clap.gif] [berserker.gif]

For off-dry and sweet, I’m with David. I would have loaded up on Schwarz-era Muller-Catoir sweet and halbtrocken so that I wouldn’t have reached today’s state of affairs. I’m down to very few bottles. I would have focused on 1988-1990, 1993s to 1998s, and 2001. That’s a call that is really hindsight because I bought and drank so many in the moment and over the years until supply became scarce, and it’s not enough. (An aside, but this would have included buying more Scheurebe as well.) We could start listing vineyards but if forced to chose one, it’s probably Haardter Burgergarten.

Another obvious choice for me is J-J Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten from Hans Leo before his retirement after the 2001 vintage at all Pradikat levels.

For a grower family with continuity, I can’t say a Prum or Schaefer wine except to say I blew it on 2001 Prum and I started buying Schaefer consistently a little later than I would have liked. So I’d say Reinhold Haart Goldtropfchen Spatlese. After tasting the 2001 a couple years ago, the only vintage I ever bought on release, I wish I had bought a few of those every year.

One last thought on sweet wines. I would have more systematically tracked down numbered cask Auslesen from von Schubert.

On the dry side, I’m not sure. I’m still learning to appreciate dry German wines, especially those grown on slate. If you exclude Keller, I may have bought more Hermannshohle Trocken / GG from Donnhoff or Schafer-Frolich Felsenberg once Tim came on the scene. (I have plenty of Donnhoff sweet wines.) Back in the day, it was not easy to find dry German wines systematically at retail in the US.