Domaine Martin Schaetzel Riesling Kaefferkopf 1997

Posted on 13 March 2012

They don’t come much sweeter than this. Honeyed, raisiny, syrupy, with a broad intense mouthfeel of apricot jam. But wait a moment? Is this saying vendange tardive anyway on the label? Nope. Oh, but it is from Alsace. That region which never tells you that a wine you buy from the shelf will have 50g of sugar. Ouch.

I bought this wine at the Weincontor shop in Wiesbaden that I’ve already recommended several times. It’s a great place to buy properly mature wine: the amiable owners buy bottles from the producers and then cellar them until they are ready to drink. And best of all, they sell them at the price of a current release. This 13-year-old Riesling was 12.90€ – I wouldn’t believe it if you told me and if it didn’t have the price sticker on the neck.

Of course this style of Alsace Riesling is no more. Dryness is now the order of the day and residual sugar (in the non-dessert wines) is essentially restricted to Gewurztraminer and most Pinot Gris. So this wine is a taste of the past. Of the good old days of Jacques Chirac, Christophe Karembeu and Julie Delpy. Life was good back then but it feels really good to have moved on. The wine in itself is not bad. It actually is very interesting. With all its syrupy sweetness it has good balance, with plenty of evolved botrytis complexity, notes of toast and fumé and there is even considerable tannic power from the extended skin contact.

It just doesn’t taste at all of Riesling and doesn’t tell much about the granitic terroir of Kaefferkopf. Of course 1997 was that very warm vintage. The respected Martin Schaetzel has actually moved away from that supercharged style and his grand cru Rieslings I tasted at a recent biodynamic tasting were dry, upright and mineral. So in essence, a good bottle, but I’m happy it’s gone (in the broader sense).

Disclosure

Source of wine: own purchase.