Reinhold Haart, Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Riesling GG, 2008

For over 700 years the Haart family has been making wine in the Mosel valley village of Piesport. While I have no idea what wine they may have grown in the middle ages, these days it is exclusively Riesling - and most of it is sweet or off-dry. A small percentage of the wines are dry though, and this Great Growth (GG) is the top dry wine from the famous Goldtröpfchen (=little drop of gold) vineyard.

The colour is a clear, strawish yellow, more on the gold-dark side perhaps. The nose features cool mineral, herbs (more on the sage-mint side) and a hint of petrol (that almost disappeared on the second day).

And then there is fruit, and quite a bit of it: well defined peach and stone fruit, green fruit and candied lemon - all with a layer of caramelisedness and a hint of paraffin. Even after two days the empty bottle gave off a really pleasant smell of fruit and mineral that would put quite a few other wines to shame.

On the tongue the mineral makes its return, accompanied by tobacco and nice fruit, a little more on the bitter side perhaps. This impression is enhanced by the lively acidity that goes very well with the mineral, giving the wine elegant substance. There is also a really good, lengthy finish with a menthol-sage echo that rinses crisp mineral down your throat.

A wine with a bit of character and substance, yet not without elegance. I particularly liked it straight from the cold fridge, after a bit of air exposure. Yumm!