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The Bischöfliche Weingüter is a group of three Catholic charities funded by growing fine wine: the Bischöfliche Priesterseminar, a Catholic training college for priests, founded in the 7th century with vineyards given in an endowment of the electoral prince Clemens Wenceslaus in 1773; the Bischöfliche Konvikt, a hostel for priests (1841); and the Hohe Domkirche, the Cathedral of Trier, (1851, with roots going back to the 2nd century AD. The Cathedral's involvement in viticulture can be traced back to the 13th century.) You can also buy the wines from the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium (another charity; this is the Grammar School in Trier where Karl Marx was educated) from their website or by post.
Gervasiusstrasse 1,
54290 Trier
The Bischöfliche Weingüter send wine to Britain.
Credit Cards are accepted.
Delivery costs €27.60 per case.
Saar
2006 Ayler Kupp Riesling Spätlese
Bischöfliches Konvikt
RZ: 73,2 g/l, Sr. 8,1 g/l, Alk. 9,2 % vol. (the label claims 9% alcohol)
Pale gold. Slightly muted nose at present (March 2008), rather soft acidity with good fruit but highish alcohol, fullish body with good sweetness, not altogether balanced. Possibly slight signs of rot. Quite pleasant but certainly not great. This wine does improve after the bottle has been opened for a little while, however, with a noticeable improvement in the already good fruitiness.
16-17/20
Saar
2006 Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett €8.40
Hohe Domkirche
A very 'grapey' nose, which may well betray signs of slight rot, a major problem in the 2006 wines. Rather full-bodied, though not 'big', with a dryish flavour probably due to the highish alcohol. At 9.5% alcohol this wine would be close to spätlese ripeness even if it was completely dry, which it isn't, so it seems logical to conclude that this is a declassified spätlese, or very possibly even an auslese. This wine isn't particularly well balanced, with lowish acidity, quite high alcohol, and medium sweetness. If you like wines with fairly high alcohol you may like this one, it isn't too bad at all, but is not really my thing.
16/20
Saar
2005 Ayler Kupp Riesling Auslese €13.00
RZ: 71,4 g/l, Sr: 8,1 g/l, Alk. 8,9 % vol.
Mid Gold. Good flowery nose, but slightly lacking on the palate, albeit with reasonable fruit. Nothing 'wrong' with this wine, it just doesn't stand out at all. It's perfectly acceptable, but there's nothing that makes me want to open another bottle. A bit bland.
16/20 Will last for 3-5 years.
Saar
2005 Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese. €14.00
Hohe Domkirche
Pale Gold. Rather closed on the nose at present. The acidity hits the palate first, closely followed by the sweetness, the fruit hits about a second later, and it's very good, and typically Saar, with lots of apples with hints of pears, peaches, and mangoes. Very elegant indeed, though there's a slightly dry element throughout, possibly from the slightly high alcohol level of 9.1%. I can't help thinking this wine would have been even better at say 8-8.5% alcohol. There may well be quite a bit of botrytis in this wine, but if so it isn't ahowing yet. Very good value.
18/20
Saar
2004 Dom Scharzhofberger Riesling Brut €10.00
'Dom Scharzhofberger' is one of the brandnames for Sekt (sparkling wine) produced by the Hohe Domkirche, and yes, it's 100% Riesling from the Scharzhofberg vineyard.
Mid Gold. Obviously a Saar Riesling from the first sniff. Surprisingly good fruit on the palate, fairly elegant. The tiny bubble size confirms that this wine is indeed 'Flaschen Gärung' or bottle fermented. While this is very different from Champagne, it's really quite good on it's own terms. Think of a good sparkling 'Halb-trocken' (semi-dry) wine from the Saar, and you won't be far wrong.
17-18/20
Saar
2004 Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese €8.90
Hohe Domkirche
RZ: 51,2 g/l, acidity: 7,9 g/l, Alc: 8,8 % vol. (The bottle claims 9.0% alc.)
Tasted in April 2006.
Considerable steely acidity (more than the chemical analysis would lead one to expect, even from a vineyard such as the Scharzhofberg), gives this wine a backbone of austere elegance. Good fruit and reasonable concentration. This is a wine of great authority.
Drinking now, will improve for 5-10 years.
17/20
2004 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese €8.70
Bischöfliches Priestesrseminar
RZ: 57,8 g/l, Sr: 8,2 g/l, Alk: 8,5 % vol.Tasted in April 2006
Perhaps not quite as concentrated as I would have hoped, this wine does have a degree of the spiciness and complexity for which this vineyard is renowned. Great elegance, poise and balance, traces of exotic fruit (pineapple, mango) especially on the nose. Very fine.
Drinking now, will improve for 3-5 years.
18/20
2001 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese €11 approx.
Bischöfliches Priesterseminar
Tasted from 2003 to 2006
Very elegant, considerable fruit, with noticeable apple-acidity so typical of the Mosel. Quite firm, with a wonderful bouquet.
Will improve for 2-5 years.
17/20
I don't think this wine is still available.
2001 Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese €11 approx.
Bischöfliches Priesterseminar
Tasted from 2003 to 2006
Very elegant, slightly more fruit than the Treppchen above, but otherwise very similar. Firm, yet rich.
Will improve for 2-5 years.
17/20
I don't think this wine is still available.
Ruwer
2001 Eitelsbacher Marienholz Riesling Auslese GoldKapsel €24.50
Bischöfliches Konvikt
RZ:100,8 g/l, Sr: 9,5 g/l, Alk. 7,4 % vol.
Pale gold with hints of green.
Lively, flowery nose.
Very fresh, clean, little or no botrytis, excellent fruit, good concentration and minerality, with slate much in evidence.
Elegant, delicate yet very rich and quite forthright wine, still with all the subtlety for which the best wines of Eitelsbach are renowned. Although the acidity is quite high, it is all fruitiness, and not excessively hard. This wine strikes a near-perfect balance between lusciousness and acidity; between slatey minerality and fruitiness; and between delicacy and forthrightness, and as such it is very much in the older style of low alcohol fine German wine, as can be seen from the chemical analysis. Fans of the more modern style of wine with higher alcohol, lower residual sugar and lower acidity such as the recent wines from Karthäuserhof may not rate it as highly, but 30 years ago this would have been regarded as one of Germany's finest wines.
Excellent now, but will improve for 3-5 years.
19/20
Note: a second bottle (Jan 2007) had a much less flowery nose, but was otherwise very similar
Ruwer
2001 Kaseler Nies'chen Riesling Auslese GoldKapsel €25
Bischöfliches Priesterseminar
Tasted July 2006
RZ: 99,0 g/l, Sr: 9,3 g/l, Alk. 7,5 % vol.
Pale gold. Very pleasant, but not great. Good but fairly soft acidity, sweet with good but not massive fruit, good minerality and good balance with little or no botrytis, this wine is of a very similar style to the 2001 Eitelsbacher Marienholz GKA above, but for me doesn't really have the magic of that one. Very good, but not great.
17/20
2001 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese GoldKapsel €24.00
Bischöfliches Priesterseminar
Tasted December 2006
Rz: 80,5 g/l, Sr: 8,6 g/l, Alk. 7,9 % vol.
Pale Gold. Very 'winey' nose, not really floral, with herbaceous notes. Quite sweet and luscious, with fairly good but rather soft acidity. Quite full-bodied for a Mosel, with fairly good balance, reasonable concentration with fairly good minerality and fruit, this is a very good, but not truly great wine.
17/20 Probably at it's best now.