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Vereinigte Hospitien,
Krahnenufer 19.
54290 Trier
www.vereinigtehospitien.de
Member - VDP
One of the oldest charities funded by winemaking on the Mosel. The name literally means the 'United Hospices'. Several hospices in Trier were ordered to unite by French dictator Napoleon. They export wine to individual customers throughout Europe, delivery to Britain costs €32 per case, and payment is by bank transfer only.
Saar
2004 Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese €9.50
Tasted April 2006
RZ 52.5 g/l, acidity 9.0 g/l, Alc. 8.0 %
Pale gold, good fruit on the nose, apples grapefruit, pears on the palate, with good slatey minerality, which gives it a very pleasant complexity. This wine makes an interesting contrast with the 2004 Scharzhofberger spätlese from the Hohe Domkirche: this one is somewhat fuller, richer, sweeter, and perhaps better-balanced, and also fruitier and more concentrated. The acidity, although higher according to the chemical analysis, is softer and less steely. Indeed, the acidity is too soft for my taste, and I would not have recognised this as a Saar wine.
Will improve for up to 5 years.
18/20
2004 Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese €9.20
Tasted April 2006
RZ 57.2 g/l, acidity 8.7 g/l, Alc. 8.0%
Pale Gold. This wine is quite nice, but I'm not at all convinced by the acidity, which is rather sharp, and has the flavour of lemons and limes, not at all like the wines from this vineyard I remember. Indeed, I wouldn't have even vaguely recognised this as a Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, and I'm pretty much convinced the acidity has been added, which has been legal in Germany since 2003. I first tasted this wine around 6 months ago, and it was firm in the extreme. It's somewhat softer now, but still rather sharp. I can't help thinking the acidity is artificial.
17/20 - you may wish to rate this wine higher or lower, depending on your views on adding acidity to wine.
2004 Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Auslese €18,50
Tasted Dec. 2006
RZ 73,6 g/l, Säure: 10,0 g/l, Alc. 7,5 % Vol.
Very pale gold. Excellent flowery nose with apples and pears, and lots of apples and pears on the palate - excellent fruitiness. Again, the acidity is less than convincing and seems to have been added. It may have been the extra few months in bottle, but this did seem to be somewhat better integrated than some other Vereinigte Hospitien wines, but it still seemed rather artificial, but very pleasant nonetheless. However I certainly would not have recognised this as a Piesporter Goldtröpfchen wine, as it had very little of the easily identifiable slatiness that these wines used to have.
Drinking now, will probably improve for 3-5 years.
17/20 - again, you may wish to rate this wine higher or lower depending on your views on naturalness in wine, but it IS very pleasant.
Saar
2003 Serriger Schloß Saarfelser Schloßberg Riesling Auslese GoldKapsel €19.80
RZ: 98,8 g/Ltr. Säure: 6,6 g/l Alkohol: 7,0 % Vol.
Pale gold. Pears on the nose, with apples, pears and mangos on the palate. However I'm not entirely convinced by the acidity, which has a noticeable hint of limes. While I've tasted limes in wine many times before, I'm not at all sure this flavour is natural. 2003 was the first year that it was legal to add acidity to German Prädikat wines, and I suspect that this is what I can taste, especially in view of the fairly low acidity and the character of the vintage.
Drinking now, will improve for maybe 5 years. Very pleasant, but slightly artificial tasting.
17/20
Saar
1993 Scharzhofberger Riesling Eiswein €77.00 / 375 ml bottle
Tasted April 2006
RZ 194.7 g/l, acidity 16.8 g/l, Alc 6.0 %
Deep gold, noticeable botrytis on the nose, with peaches and mangos. Peaches and mangos on the palate, with much honey. Very long finish, and despite the high acidity there isn't a trace of sharpness about this wine. Stunning.
Caution is necessary with this wine: there was a tell-tale streak coming from under the capsule, which I removed completely to confirm the leak had come from this bottle. The wine became fully oxidised within a few hours, and was undrinkable after that. If you buy this wine it may need another 20 years, or could be dead before you even open the bottle. This is very sad indeed.
20/20