Schmitt Sohne Piesporter Michelsberg Auslese 2001

Date: 25DEC07

Name: Schmitt Sohne Piesporter Michelsberg Auslese 2001

Label:

Winery: Piesporter Michelsberg

Region: Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

Website: http://www.schmitt-soehne.com/mainframe.asp?lang=de&e1=617

Varietal: Auslese

Vintage: 2001

Price: not known

Appearance: Pale gold to almost clear when held a different angle. A frankly beautiful color.

 Nose: Sharply mineral, evocative of an oil rag in a mechanic’s shop. Very pleasant, though.

Taste: Sweet, honey, with a hint of apricot. I would describe the taste as almost cloying.

Tellings: This is my first white wine to be critiqued, and the second I tasted while in Dallas. This was a delicious wine; I could drink many, many glasses of this and not bat an eyelash until I simply slumped over and slept it off. It was odd to me to get such an oily, mineral nose and then be greeted by such a sweet taste.

I found the label of this German wine very confusing when I tried to sort out the various components to write this Critique. Ever fond of research I came across this website -http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/walter/wine/germany.html - which does a great job of explaining the German system of wines in a clear, easy-to-read manner. Heady stuff, that.

 I will also use the Tellings portion of this Critique to share my notes on a dessert wine I tried at the same sitting, a Muscat Ganelli 2005 from Rosemblum Cellars. The only notes I could muster was that it was very light-colored in appearance – lighter still than the Schmitt Sohne – and, being a dessert wine, very sweet. My wife liked it, and she is no wine drinker.