Langwerth von Simmern Hattenheimer Riesling Kabinett Trocken 2007

Firstly, its great to see a German Riesling in a screwcap – thankfully the movement away from cork is gathering steam amongst aromatic white producers the world over – hopefully more of the Alsatians will follow suit & eventually it will become de rigeur for a aromatic white wine to have s screwcap. All those lovely aromatics really deserve a better seal than Portugese bark.
This Riesling comes from the brilliant 2007 German vintage – a year that has had considerable positive coverage all ready & based on this wine I can’t wait to taste more examples.

Light, bright yellow in colour this has some quite a bit of dissolved CO2 floating about in it, emphasising this wines youth. On the nose it shows bath salts, citrus, and grapefruit in a restrained, cool, coiled & pristine way. The palate is delicate with a hit of mid palate lemon, barley sugars and more grapefruit that finishes with sherbety, soft acidity. Its actually quite a simple palate that is attractively drinkable but doesn’t command any further thought. I have no doubt that in the future it will grow in weight and complexity, for the purity is all there, but at the moment its just a nice, no thought required Riesling that leans more to meticulous, drink-me-now, uncomplicated, pure juiciness than any grand ambitions of greatness. It made me think of Pewsey Vale Riesling with its simple, understated drinkability. 17.3+