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Weingut Karl Erbes
Würzgartenstraße 25
54539 Ürzig/Mosel
Tel: 06532 2123
www.weingut-karlerbes.com - and this website even has an English section.
This weingut sends wine to Britain and many other countries.
Delivery to Britain costs €14 for a case of 18 bottles, and is very fast.
Payment is by Bank Transfer or credit card.
2009 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett €7.00
Alc. 8.5%
Extremely pale - almost colourless. Flowery nose, but not as overwhelming as the two spätlesen below. Excellent appley acidity, with good balancing sweetness. Judging from this and the alcohol level I assume that this is a de-classified spätlese, but not by a huge margin. The acidity and fruitiness combine to make this a very refreshing, elegant, and lively wine, though it is still fairly light, not in the 'big' style of some spätlesen. The fruitiness isn't as concentrated as the spätlesen below, but still above average. It also has fairly good minerality, but not enough for me to recognise this as an Ürziger Würzgarten if tasted blind.
19/20 Will probably improve for five years, but is very good now.
2009 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese 'Kranklay'
€9.50
Alc. 7.5%
'Kranklay' is one of the many pre-1971 wine law vineyard names. Previously the use of these names was banned, but many wineries now seem to be using them again to distinguish between different parts of large vineyards - see here. You can also see a picture of this section here - 'Kranklay' is in the central and upper part of the picture.
Very pale gold. Excellent flowery and fruity nose, though not quite as good as the 'standard' ÜW Spätlese below. However the fruit on the palate is at least as good as that one, and this one has better minerality, possibly aided by being slightly more spritzig. In 2008 the 'Kranklay' wine had less minerality, but this is the reverse. However they're very similar, but perhaps not as similar as 2008. This one is for me clearly the better of the two, but not by much.
19/20 Wonderful now, will last for many years, but I'm not sure if it will improve.
2009 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese €8.50
Alc. 7.5%
Very pale gold. Moderately spritzig. Overwhelmingly flowery and fruity nose. Equally overwhelming fruit on the palate, though with limited minerality. Incredibly concentrated flavours, but sadly if tasted blind I wouldn't have recognised this wine as an Ürziger Würzgarten due to the limited minerality, though it is very good indeed.
19/20
I'm sure this wine will improve for many years.
2009 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese €12.80
Pale Gold. Not very spritxig, and the nose isn't as overwhelmingly flowery and fruity as the Spätlese above, but with probably even better fruit on the palate, and certainly more exotic. Considerably richer and sweeter, but still with good acidity (totally natural) but not massive minerality. Nonetheless, this is a very elegant and fine wine, at a very reasonable price. However, there is a very slightly dry aftertaste that isn't totally pleasant, but this is very slight.
19/20 Will improve for at least five years.
2009 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese* €13.50
Alc. 7.5%
Slightly sulphurous nose at first; this clears after an hour or so to leave a moderately fruity nose. Pale Gold. Exceptionally rich and sweet - I'd guess that this is a de-classified Beerenauslese, though I don't have the full chemical analysis - with stunningly concentrated fruit (mainly yellow and red fruit such as nectarines and strawberries) and a very long finish. The acidity is slightly low, but not excessively, but is thankfully totally natural. However there's not much minerality, and I wouldn''t have recognised this as an Ürziger Würzgarten wine.
19/20 Will improve for 10-15 years.
2009 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese** 'Kranklay' €14.00
Alc. 8%
Pale Gold. Rather floral nose, with obvious fruit. Excellent acidity and fruit on the palate - I'm sure the acidity is higher than the 1* above - but still natural. The fruit is at least as concentrated as that one, but perhaps not a (seemingly) mature as that one - slightly more appley. Again very rich and luscious, and again with limited minerality, though higher than the 1* above
19/20 Will improve for at least 5 years, probably far more.
2008 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese €12.80
Very pale gold with hints of green. Ecellent flowery nose. Fairly rich and sweet for a standard auslese, with quite high acidity. However the acidity may be enhanced, but I'm by no means certain. Excellent fruit with a degree of mineral complexity that will probably increase over the next two or three years.
18/20 Needs at least two years.
2008 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese* 375 ml €11.50
Pale gold. Quite good, rather floral nose. Quite rich with good acidity that may be slightly enhanced, but not too much. Moderate minerality with excellent fruit with good develeopment potential.
18/20 Will improve for five years or more.
2008 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese €8.50
Alc. 7.5%
Tasted June 2009
Very pale gold. Slightly flowery nose, though perhaps a little subdued. Very good but not massive fuit on the palate with fairly high natural acidity. Quite a lot of spice even at this early stage, with quite good complexity. It will be very interesting indeed to see how this wine develops over the next few years, especially in comparison with the 'Kranklay' spätlese below.
18/20 Will improve for at least five years.
2008 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese 'Kranklay' €9.50
Alc. 7.5%
Tasted June 2009
Very pale gold with a noticeably more powerful flowery nose than the 'standard' Ü. W. above. Slightly less complexity than that one on the palate, with less spice, but even better fruit. These two are very similar, but there are noticeable differences. As mentioned above, it will be very interesting indeed to see how this wine develops over the next few years, especially in comparison with the 'standard' Ürziger Würzgarten spätlese above. Which one is better? Well, they're different, but I'm not sure I could say one is better than the other.
18/20 Will improve for three-five years.
2005 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese €8.50
Alc 8.5%
Very pale gold. Excellent appley nose, with apples and pears on the palate. Quite high acidity, possibly slightly enhanced, but not excessively if at all. Very racy, a classic Mosel riesling with lots of fruit, but not massive complexity.
Drinking now, will last for another 3-7 years.
17/20
2005 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese €8.50
Alc. 8.5%
Pale gold with slight hint of green. Slightly muted flowery nose, highly spritzig with a lot of spice and fruit on the palate, surprisingly rich with quite a high natural acidity. Very elegant, this wine embodies the many contradictions that go to make up fine German wine: high acidity balancing high residual sugar, rich and sweet yet delicate, thrilling and 'racy', yet with great class and style. I'd guess that this wine is legally an auslese, and a good one at that.
Drinking now, will last for 5-10 years
18/20
2005 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese €9.50
Alc. 8.5%
Pale Gold. Rather 'winey' nose, not especially floral, with noticeable botrytis. Quite sweet for a standard auslese with excellent acidity, probably totally natural. Quite spritzig (slightly effervescent), with a very good balance. Lots of easily recogniseable Ürziger Würzgarten spiciness, making this one of the best Ü. W. wines I've tasted in many years. This wine has an interesting development period after opening the bottle: at first there's lots of spiciness, then after a couple of hours this fades and there's a much increased fruitiness. If you want the spice. drink now, if you want the extra fruitiness wait for another 2-5 years.
A classic Ürziger Würzgarten, and something of a bargain.
18/20
2005 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese** €12.80 375ml
Alc. 9.0%
Pale Gold. Apples and pears on the nose, with apples, pears, mango, etc. on the palate. Fairly rich and sweet with fairly high acidity, probably but not definitely natural, and a nice fruity complexity. Very pleasant, but I suspect this wine may develop the 'petrol/kerosene' nose that some rieslings do. I'd love to know why this happens...
Drinking now, will improve for about 5 years.
17/20
2005 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese *** €13.50 375 ml.
Alc. 9.5%
Very pale gold. Excellent flowery nose, yellow and red fruit on the palate, quite spicy with some fairly complex minerality, but probably not as intense as the Goldkapsel below. Very sweet and rich with good balancing natural acidity, but just a shade below the Goldkap overall.
Drinking now, may improve for another 3-5 years, and last for several more years after that.
19/20
2005 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese *** Goldkapsel €14.00 375ml
Alc. 9.5%
Very pale gold. Rather closed on the nose at present (late 2008), but a lot of action on the palate, with yellow and red fruit, lots of spice and complex minerality, and a very sweet, long, and fruity finish. The sweetness and fruit seem to increase over 10-20 seconds in the mouth, in fact. This is a very, very, fine wine indeed, and I'll probably buy a whole case of this one. The acidity is in perfect balance, and seems to be totally natural.
Excellent now but will probably improve for up to 10 years.
19+/20
2004 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Eiswein €22.00 375ml
Alc. 7.5%
Mid Gold. Good fruity nose, with peaches, pears, etc. on the palate. Almost certainly entirely natural acidity, and surprisingly advanced in its development, this wine is now close to fully mature (Nov. 2008). Good concentration, and good fruity complexity, but not the extreme complexity shown by some other 2004's. I suspect that there's some botrytis in this wine, something I haven't noticed in other 2004's.
Drink within 2-5 years
18/20
2001 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Eiswein €22 375ml
Alc. 8.5%
Very pale gold. Rather 'winey' nose, with quite good fruit on the palate (apples, and later red fruit). Quite rich and sweet with high natural acidity giving an excellent balance, but not the most complex of wines (2001 did not, in general, give wines with massive complexity), this wine is very good, but not quite great. Well worth the price, though - this wine certainly brings a smile to my face. Nice long finish.
Drinking now, will last for probably another 10 years.
18/20
1998 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Eiswein €22 375ml
Alc. 8%
Mid gold, showing slight signs of age. Quite a good nose, and very lively and fresh on tha palate with lots of yellow and red fruit. Quite rich and forthright, yet rather an elegant wine, with good fruity complexity.
Drinking now yet will probably last for another 10 years, and might even improve for another 5.
18/20