Reinhold Haart, Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel, 2006

Reinhold Haart, Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel, 2006

Piesport is a lovely village in the German Mosel Valley. Because of the peculiarities of the German wine law, the name can show up on the labels of very cheap wines from somewhere in the area (Piesporter Michelsberg), or it can be on first class Riesling from some of the Mosel's best vineyards. After having recently indulged myself in the delights of the supermarket wine version, it is now time to revisit the outstanding Goldtröpfchen vineyard version.

"Goldtröpfchen" means little drop of gold, and the Rieslings made by Theo Haart and family in Piesport can indeed be described as such. Today's Haart Riesling even comes with a gold capsule ("Goldkapsel"), indicating that the Haarts were particularly pleased with the quality of what went into this bottle.

A while ago I had foolishly come up with the idea of writing a little less about the Haart wines, having done quite a few reviews, but what I found in this bottle was so stunning it should not go unreported.

First of all the wine just smelled fantastic. There were elements of indulgent richness (caramelised stone fruit for instance), the first faint signs of age (rubber notes and paraffin wax), fresh apple and herb aromas and a deliciously salty dosage of mineral. Light, but with character and well integrated. Letting the wine run down my tongue and throat revealed layer after layer of delight. The Riesling started out rich, then became more juicy with hints of hot spice, then the bitterness of caramelised fruit came up and it all ended in an almost dry minerality that was salty in a savoury way, despite a caramel sweetness. The acidity was very well integrated and kept everything together.

An utter joy to drink.

Comments

Submitted by Alex Thursday, 10/03/2011

After all these positive reviews of Haart wines, I really want to try some myself finally! :P

Submitted by torsten Thursday, 10/03/2011

In reply to by Alex

Personally, I would recommend the Spätlese wines over the Auslesen - at least for wines younger than 5-8 years. From the past vintages, 2007 and 2009 are my favourites, although this one has a nice opulence. Among the dry wines the Wintricher Ohligsberg GG was particularly good. I also like the Kabinetts, but found the "Heart to Haart" less consistent. There is obviously a lot of fantastic stuff coming from the Mosel, and while others do sometimes impress more in this or that respect I just love how effortlessly enjoyable the Haart wines are, if that makes sense.

It would be really interesting to get your opinion as I am perhaps a little biased from a wonderful visit at Haart in 2008.