Reinhold Haart, Piesporter Domherr Auslese, 2001
A good Riesling wine of Auslese quality will usually need a few years before it really shows its potential and some of the outstanding ones may need a decade or more to get there, depending on whether you like them fruitier or a little more sophisticated. The other day, the time for Theo Haart's 2001 Auslese had come, and as it was my last bottle we will never know whether it would have been even more delightful had I waited five years more.
The nose is less sweet than you might expect from an Auslese. It very nicely combines floral notes, even honeysuckle, with paraffin wax, an earthy mineral (vaguely reminding me of potato peel) and delicious fruit - mostly peach but also a little kiwi peel.
On the tongue the Riesling hits you with layer after layer of complexity, but all wrapped up so elegantly it always stays fun and never turns into an intellectual exercise. It has freshness, bringing out the honeysuckle again; feels very clean yet also shows off earthy mineral and a hint of potato peel in the finish; sweet peach and more bitter grapefruit engage in a delicious dialogue with fresh acidity. The finish is long, fresh at first and then increasingly minerally.
I really like how Theo Haart always manages to make his wines so very enjoyable.