Dr. Beckermann Piesporter Michelsberg Spätlese, 2003 - Fresh and Delightful
Oct 30 '04 (Updated Nov 12 '04)
The Bottom Line Refreshing, well-balanced, light in alcohol, inexpensive, delightful. ...and recommended.
The wine I am drinking today is a fresh, fruity, gulpable German Spätlese that I bought for about $6 per bottle:
Dr. Beckermann Piesporter Michelsberg Spätlese, 2003
The 2003 vintage in Germany is one of the best in years, with a bountiful harvest of ripe, sugar-rich grapes of a quality being compared to those in 1976 and 1959.
This wine is a product of the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer growing region. It is a 9% alcohol by volume wine made from a blend of Riesling and Müller-Thurgau grapes. The fully-ripened grapes were "late gathered" (usually harvested later in the year, during the month of October). Wines of this type are generally sweet and contain more fruit flavor. This is a QmP wine (Qualitätswein mit Pradikät) and is the product of an exceptional wine growing year where no "added sugars" are used during fermentation. Wines with this designation and quality grade are usually priced higher than other German wines.
Piesport is a small wine growing village in Germany's Mosel region. Grapes grown in this area are predominately Riesling but the Müller-Thurgau variety is also grown here. Michelsberg is the area's Grosslage (the largest vineyard in the area).
This is a light wine, but it contains a full percentage point more alcohol than
previous vintages. It pours with a clean, platinum-yellow color and has a faint lime-colored hue.
The nose is soft and fruity, featuring ripe apple, pear core, a delicate floral-honesuckle tone, and a light Botrytis (noble rot) aroma. The flavor is that of freshly harvested fruit: Honeygold apple, pear, apricot and ripe (not tart) gooseberry flavors -- all very smooth and very gentle, balanced with an appropriate amount of fruit acidity with a long, off-dry but not quite honey-sweet finish that makes this wine almost gulpable. Residual Sugar levels are not overly high. I am guessing that this off-dry/bordering-on-sweet wine probably contains 40-to-50 grams per liter of residual sugar.
Price and Availability
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I purchased a 750ml bottle of this wine at Trader Joe's Market for about $6. This wine is imported into the U.S.A. by International Import-Export of Los Angeles, California.
I am not sure about availability of this wine elsewhere in the U.S. I suspect that Trader Joe's Market may be your best bet.
See http://www.traderjoes.com for locations.
Recommendations
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I enjoyed this Spätlese. Best served slightly chilled, but not straight-out-of-the-refigerator cold; 45°F is a nice temperature. Excellent with fruit salad (like: Ambrosia Fruit Salad),
http://www.just-recipes.net/ambrosia_fruit_salad.htm
or With a fruit tart, or... even on its own. I'll stick my neck out a little and recommend it with a grilled swordfish served with mango salsa.
Sure you can find better Mosel Valley selections, like the Dr. F. Weins-Prüm selections by wine master Bert Selbach:
2003 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese
2003 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese
or the wines of Joh. Jos. Prum, like its 2002 or 2003 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese
...that is: if you want to pay 5-to-6 times more per bottle (figure about $30/bottle for a 90 rated Spätlese).
I like Dr. Beckermann wines. This is a good quality wine at a very affordable price. The 2003 Dr. Beckermann Spätlese is a good bargain for those who like the flavor of sweet apples. If you like apple juice, you will like this wine.
Appearance: 4/5
Aroma: 16/20 (misses some fuesal tones I like)
Flavor: 34/40 (fruity, direct)
Finish: 8/10 (lacks a little complexity)
Overall Quality: 21/25 (good)
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My Score: 83 -- 3¾ stars, rounded to 4-stars... for value.
In Germany, every batch of wine is quality inspected and numbered. Details from this bottle:
L A. P. Nr. 2 907021 97 04
Shipped by: Domherrenbergkellerei Gmbh.
D-54470 Bernkastel-Kues
Abfüller RP 907 021 IN D 07 231008
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Member: Tom Carr
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