TN: 2020 Weingut Keller Vom Muscheligen Kalk (Germany, Rheinhessen)

  • 2020 Weingut Keller Vom Muscheligen Kalk - Germany, Rheinhessen (8/22/2021)
    Geranium, peach, lime zest, underripe elderberry, crushed sea shells, and a hint of gunpowder smoke. Broad and creamy on the palate on entry, but is then focused down by a saline and pectin-laden mid-palate with grapefruit and white peach pith. As that unwinds, all the wine’s layers started to separate from each other, becoming sharp and distinct before elegantly fading away to give way to a slightly spicy and saline finish. T.5.6 to T2 to T22 and back to T2 again in a sip. A skilfully executed rack focus, creating and releasing tension in an enchanting way. Incredibly versatile wine. One that can be enjoyed by those looking for something simpler and refreshing, but with plenty of layered flavour for those who may want to probe further. AP 07 21

ABV: 12.5%
Closure: DIAM 10
Stem: Grassl Liberte
Decant: 30min
Assemblage: 30% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Blanc, 30% Pinot Gris, 10% Silvaner

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T-what? Rack focus?

I think this sounds good, but I am not exactly sure.

T-stops are the film equivalent to f-stops.

Rack focus is a cinematography term used to describe when focus changes from one subject in a scene to another to highlight details now previously shown in a scene. If you’ve ever watched a scene in a movie where not all of it is in focus and then the other elements come into focus, that is a rack focus. The act of changing the focus or depth of field in a shot is called focus pulling.

The closest analogy I had to how this wine dynamically showcased its characteristics was in cinematography terms so I reached for those.

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Gotcha!

Have you considered a career as a professional wine critic?

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No kidding! What an incredibly prolific and thought provoking note! Thanks for posting!

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I’m incredibly flattered. Thank you!!!

That thought has certainly crossed my mind. I think many of us here have at least once imagined in some form or another what being a professional critic would be like.

Much of my tasting notes are impressions I gathered by sitting down and focusing on the one or two wines in front of me for an extended period of time, usually over the course of an entire evening. Seeing how it starts and evolves in the glass over time. Realistically, my impressions on wines would be much more limited if given the time constraint of the usual critic. There’s also a limited amount of wines that one could do in that format. So I don’t quite thing I’m cut out for it. Though I do hope to travel to wine regions more in a post-covid future to interact personally with producers that captivate me. That’s something I haven’t done much of that I hope to rectify.

  • 2020 Weingut Keller Vom Muscheligen Kalk - Germany, Rheinhessen (9/16/2021)
    Popped and poured a small glass straight off the fridge. Tight and not very expressive at that point. Into the decanter it went then. It needed lots air and to warm up. As it breathed and warmed up in the glass, it started to show some of the same aromatics as before: crushed seashells, geranium, peach, gunpowder smoke. Had to chew on quite a bit to unfurl the texture and layers of the wine on the palate. They were all there, but not as elegantly displayed. It was like watching a movie you’ve seen previously, but at a lower resolution. Everything is there as you remember, but the granular details are fuzzier. Halfway through the evening, the resolution seemed to improve, but never reached the level the level of clarity in the previous bottle. Left 1/2 of the bottle to revisit the next day.

ABV: 12.5%
Closure: DIAM 10
Stem: Grassl Liberte
Decant: 1h
Assemblage: 30% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Blanc, 30% Pinot Gris, 10% Silvaner

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As others have said I LOVE your style of note writing, please write more! This is one if those wine every time I have it I think why don’t I buy and drink it more.

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Ended up not tasting it the second day as I had other dinner plans that evening, but rather on day 3. The bottle was sealed with a Repour and opened up about 4 hours prior to tasting.

Like many whites, the cold is the enemy here. Chill it too much and it looses its texture, but when it’s at the perfect temp, it’s round and smooth like a marble, but bite into it and then CRUNCH! It splits in half. You’re left with this really interesting contrast. One side of it is smooth and round; the other is craggy with coarse texture on the sides of those ragged edges.

Thank you Rodrigo - sounds right up my alley.

This is not a wine that I’m familiar with from Keller, but years ago Klaus-Peter and Julia made a Weißburgunder und Chardonnay Trocken that was quite impressive and reasonably priced. The 2005 was both delicious and a bargain compared to Weißburgunder GGs of the same quality. Sadly, I never saw in it any subsequent vintages, although this may have been because the MA importer of Keller at that time stopped representing Keller circa 2009 to focus on other producers who were less established and made more affordable wines.