Martin Müllen, Kröver Letterlay, Riesling Spätlese, 1994

A nicely aged Riesling can be a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, for those not blessed with a proper cellar storing wine for a decade or two is a risky venture. This makes buying aged wine directly from the winery very interesting, especially when the wine comes at a reasonable price. Of course, there is also the risk that they are trying to dump rubbish they couldn't sell on you, but for €12.90 and coming from a good winery I thought I could take my chances with this half-dry late harvest Riesling from the Moselle:

Martin Müllen's Riesling greats you with a bouquet of kerosene, paraffin and menthol, with honeyed petrol notes - a text-book nose for aged Riesling. Add to that a tongue sensation of dried fruit, walnuts and lychee for a wine that is still fruity, but feels almost dry through its age. 'Vicks VapoRub', exclaimed one of my drinking companions, almost in excitement. Well rounded, substantial but not heavy, the Riesling had a lot going for it and, despite feeling drier than I had hoped for, was very enjoyable.

This is not a wine for everyone, for sure, and I a suspect Mrs Munich Winerambler would have called it an 'old stinker'; but it was a fine old stinker, if you ask me, and also at a fair price.