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St. Ludwin Bernkatseler Kurfürstlay Riesling Kabinett 2014

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[note--vintage on label is incorrect.] Lightly golden hue with aromas of vanilla, sweet fruity oil (classic Riesling BTW) perfumey, tropical fruit compote with cremé bruleé and a large dose of honey.

Palate--A veritable dive into juiced lemons, limes, guava, and clover honey on a somewhat watery feeling texture.  There is an acid weakness which detracts from an otherwise glorious, fruit filled melange.

Now--wine geek stuff: How to read a German Wine Label--It is really quite informative and tells you a great deal about the wine.  St. Ludwin is the name of the winery or estate where he wine was made. Bernkastle is the region (much like our AVA's in this country) where the grapes were grown located on the Mosel River.  It is perhaps the most highly recognized and best region of German wine. Kurfürstlay is the actual vineyard from which the grapes were harvested.
The name of the grape is Riesling and Kabinett is the "pradikat" or "title" of the particular wine which relates to both a quality level and level of sweetness.
There are five titles in German wines which range in both price, and sweetness and ability to age.
These titles from lowest to highest are:
Kabinett
Auslese
Spatlese
beerenauslese
trochenbeerenauslese

As you move up the "title" of the wines they go from "off dry" to very sweet and very expensive!
There are non-title wines called QBA wines which stand for "Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete”  These are very inexpensive wines but not to be ignored!

At any rate, I paid $18 which is a bit over-priced but it is a nice example of the region, the title and the grape.  Look for these and do not confuse super fruity with being "sweet." A lo of people who think they hate sweet wines will tell me this is way too sweet for them when in fact the wine is bone dry meaning there is no residual sugar. But a well made wine that is supper fruit laden will taste "sweet" to the uninitiated.  Raise a glass of one of the most under appreciated wine in the world!

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After a few year hiatus from my "real" wine blog, you can now find my reviews at the winecask.blogspot.com  I started this blog many years ago and was ranked the #8 wine blog on the world wide web.  I am a regular guy with a very limited wallet so I drink what you drink with rare exceptions. So scoot on over there, follow me if you want short, no non sense wine info.  Raise a glass!

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