This Friday from 6-8pm, try our wine of the week, Weingut von Hovel Oberemmeler Hutte Riesling Spatlese 2007.

As any wine geek will tell you, riesling is to the wine world as jazz is to the music world.  Not everyone likes jazz but if you do, you tend to be passionate about it.

Recently we tasted a german spatlese riesling that rocked our world.  Guessing the price, we were spot on – a $30+ bottle, typical for a late-harvest riesling from a prestigious producer in the Mosel.  But then the importer corrected himself.  The wine had just gone on sale with the price cut by a third.  Excited, we ordered 10 cases.  But it was not to be, the wine had already been sold.  Not to be denied, we persisted, calling the importer over and over.  And persistence paid off.  The importer redirected 10 cases from another state just for us.

Yes, we know riesling is not for everyone.  And just as lovers of Miles Davis’s Be-Bop era might not get ‘Bitches Brew’, just because you love a dry kabinett riesling does not mean you’ll enjoy a spatlese.  All we can say is this bottle blew our mind.  Forget that it got top scores across the board from international wine critics.  Just try it with a salty, spicy dish like szechuan, indian or thai.  The wine absolutely sings with lush, clear tones of peach and tropical notes, mainly pineapple.  Just under the surface flows a subtle current of lime followed by a finish of spry acidity that perfectly balances the succulent sweetness.

Weingut von Hovel Oberemmeler Hutte Riesling Spatlese 2007 $20.50 (regularly $30+).  To order, call us at (718) 797-9463.  We deliver in the immediate area every day and outside our neighborhood on Mondays and Thursdays.