Trip to Weingut Scultetus-Brüssel in Rheinhessen
The winery of Scultetus-Brüssel is located in the
village of Bechtheim in the Rheinhessen region of Germany. The hosts are the very hospitable and homely
Dieter and Martina Brüssel. The trip itself took place on the afternoon and evening of Saturday 21 August
1999, and was organised by Jim and Sabine Flewin, who have apparently been visiting Mr. & Mrs. Brüssel for
something like 16 years! Jim also helped me a great deal in interpreting the hosts (since my German is
shamefully awful!), and even popping my odd question.
In the tasting room of the winery, tasting glasses, wine lists and bread were duly waiting for us.
The wines were presented in pairs, with Martina, and later Dieter, giving us a brief introduction to
them before they went round the table to pour. No one was rushed during the tasting, and jugs were
provided to empty our glasses (when it was felt necessary!).
I personally found the experience to be very fruitful (and fruity!). Tasting 24 different wines
side-by-side in one evening is by far the biggest wine tasting I've ever achieved! It was great
to have such a spectrum of wines available, and it was very useful to take full notes (even if some
of the people present found it somewhat amusing!). Taking notes was important for my own education,
and I can always refer to the notes next year if I return to Scultetus-Brüssel for
another tasting!!
Wine is always a subjective thing, and the most important thing about wine appreciation is knowing
what you yourself like and dislike, not what you should like or dislike. For me personally, I found
the stars of the show to be the Grauer Burgunder '96 & '97, the Chardonnay '98
(which was better than
the '97 I had had the chance to taste a few weeks previously), the two Gewürztraminers (a
Spätlese and an Auslese), and the Silvaner Eiswein. To my surprise, these
were better than any of his Rieslings, normally the classic great wine of German wine producers.
A mention also has to be made of the Cabernet Sauvignon. Growing and making wine from this great grape
must be very difficult in Germany, and at 3 years old the vines are a little too young to make great
wine (Cabernet usually has to be older than 7 years before it can make great wine), but Mr. Brüssel
has managed to produce a wine of good extraction, oak, spice and classic blackberry fruit, if somewhat
young, closed and austere at this stage. I feel that the Cabernets he produces in the next few years
may surprise more people than this simple note-taker!!
My only regret is that I wasn't able to buy more of his wines before leaving (wrong time of the month!). It was also
a shame that we did not have time to look around his vineyards or be shown around his winemaking setup.
Detailed tasting notes are presented below, in the exact order in which they were tasted.
For scoring, I use the 100-point system as promoted and used by the great wine writer
Robert Parker, where the score runs from 50 (the worst wine imaginable) to 100 (the finest
you could ever experience).
For more background on German wine terms (such as Spätlese, Auslese, etc.)
take a look at the site of the German Wine
Growers Platform (in english) which explains many of the terms and notation used, plus
many other aspects of German wines.
Tasting Notes of Scultetus-Brüssel Wines (21 August 1999)
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Portugieser Rotwein QbA 1998
- Rating: 72
- Notes: Pink/light purple colour. Bright and clear. Closed nose, with some blackberry
and strawberry fruit. Lightbodied wine with slightly sweet palate - very little body and tannin.
Dornfelder Rotwein QbA 1998
- Rating: 65
- Notes: Very light and uninspiring colour (too, well, pink!). Very closed nose with nothing showing
through whatsoever. Vegetal, thin and acidic on the palate.
Spätburgunder Rotwein QbA 1998
- Rating: 65
- Notes: Spätburgunder is the German name of the Pinot Noir grape (famous for making
red Burgundy - hence the name). Another light pink uninspiring one! Rather closed nose offering some strawberry fruit and
slight Pinot Noir characters, if you're patient enough to coax them out. Acidic, thin and vegetal on the palate,
with a nasty aftertaste.
Spätburgunder Rotwein Spätlese 1997
- Rating: 67
- Notes: Basically the above wine with unfermented grape juice added after fermentation (yes, I know!).
Thin pinky colour. Slighlty more open nose than the basic Spätburgunder with some strawberry showing through, but it
smells like, well like it's had grape juice poured into it! Again, light on the palate with an odd unclean aftertaste.
Merlot Rotwein QbA 1998
- Rating: 67
- Notes: This seemed to win some friends around the tasting table, but it didn't shake hands with me,
unfortunately.
Again, a very light colour, but slightly deeper than the earlier offerings. Closed nose, with no hint of any
typical Merlot aromas. On the palate, it was acid, sour, thin and fruitless, with a nasty aftertaste. I doubt
that even bottle age could save it.
Cabernet Sauvignon Rotwein QbA 1997
- Rating: 83
- Notes: Finally, a more serious red wine to taste! This wine is vinified from 3 year old vines, which
is technically too young to make great wine. However, careful vinification and the use of oak cask aging has created
something interesting. Good deep purple extraction. Nice open-knit aromas of typical Cabernet berry fruit with a nice
oak and vanilla backbone. Slight spice too. Dusty dry tannins on the palate, with oaky vanilla. With some time the
fruit will open out. Should improve well over the next 2 or 3 years. However, the biggest let down with this wine is
the price - 20DM a bottle is just too much for the quality achieved.
Spätburgunder Weißherbst QbA (Bechtheimer Heiligkreuz) 1998
- Rating: 76
- Notes: Light blush colour, and not completely clear. Open fruity aromas,
reminiscent of a Spanish Rueda, promised much, but the palate was somewhat disappointing,
with a thin boiled sweets taste up front and over-dominant zesty acidity. Slight sweetness
with a sweet aftertaste.
Spätburgunder Weißherbst QbA (Bechtheimer Stein) 1998
- Rating: 67
- Notes: This is esentially the same wine as above but with unfermented grape
juice added after fermentation (where did we see that before?!). Slightly darker blush
colour than the Heiligkreuz (but no particles!) and a hint of pink. Off-putting barnyard
aromas, coupled with Aunty Anges's home made fruit wine. Slightly better on the palate.
A slightly odd flavour up front, but good concentration and acidity in evidence, but
altogether out of balance and a little odd.
Riesling Kabinett 1998
- Rating: 82
- Notes: Very light gold colour, clear and bright. Nice clean Riesling aromas,
zesty lemon and a slight characteristic pertolly backbone. Open but simple. On the palate,
the acidity is too powerful, rendering the rest of the wine out of balance. However, the
wine does have a certain pleasantness and those young vibrant acids may be tempered by some
bottle age.
Riesling Spätlese 1997
- Rating: 83
- Notes: Light straw colour. Rubbery, petrolly aromas - what you would expect
from a quality Riesling. Good balance with slight spice. Slightly sour aftertaste, though.
Weißer Burgunder Spätlese 1998
- Rating: 87
- Notes: Light gold. Light and pleasantly fragrant aromas, with lemon and
citrus fruits, apples, spices, and an interesting (and surprising) hint of hops!
Delicate and well-balanced on the palate, fruity with a spicy Gewürztraminer-like
aftertaste and good length.
Chardonnay Spätlese 1998
- Rating: 88
- Notes: Light straw colour. Typical apple and lemon Chardonnay aromas.
Open appley flavours with good body and concentration. Good length. Should age well over
the next 2-3 years.
Grauer Burgunder trocken 1997
- Rating: 87
- Notes: Light straw colour. Slightly closed but spicy nose. Spicy palate up
front, with interesting flavours developing: Concentrated fruit, spice, marzipan. Good
zesty finish.
Grauer Burgunder trocken 1996
- Rating: 87
- Notes: Slightly darker in colour than the 1997 (reassuringly!). Slightly closed
nose but more mature and complex than the 1997. Noticably older on the palate, but the zesty
marzipan of the last wine (much loved by this taster!) is not present. Pineapple aftertaste.
Good balance.
Kerner Kabinett 1998
- Rating: 80
- Notes: Light straw colour. Liebfraumilch aromas (which put me off somewhat)
but then that soon opens out into sweet apricots. The apricot theme continues on the palate,
and these's even some tannin. Nice zesty acidity. Erm, ... but it still smells and tastes
a bit too much like Liebfraumilch!!
Grauer Burgunder Spätlese 1998
- Rating: 84
- Notes: Light gold. Again, slighly Liebfraumilchy aromas, but with an interesting
and more complex backbone, including green apples. Sweet stewed fruit up front on the palate,
with a sweet grapey middle and aftertaste.
Bacchus Kabinett 1997
- Rating: 68
- Notes: Light gold. Closed nose with coaxable stewed fruit. On the palate,
sweet and thin, and nothing else!
Scheurebe Kabinett 1998
- Rating: 78
- Notes: Light straw with a hint of green. The nose was not particularly
impressive except for an unusual aroma of sweet fruit and camomile lotion! Sweet and thin
on the palate - not a good combination.
Kerner Spätlese 1996
- Rating: 77
- Notes: Light straw colour. Slightly odd aroma, but with hints of pineapple
and apricot. Sweet Liebfraumilch flavours and a nice apricot aftertaste. Nothing too
exciting.
Riesling Spätlese 1996
- Rating: 84
- Notes: Light gold. Lemon and slight Riesling petrol aromas with a grapey
backbone. Sweet fruit flavour with that petrolly thing behind it. Good balance, but open
and simple. Complexity may develop with time(?).
Gewürztraminer Spätlese 1998
- Rating: 88
- Notes: Light golden. Very Gewürztraminer! Open Gewürz fruit aromas and
slight spice. Nice open sweet apple and berry fruit flavours on the palate. Typical
Gewürztraminer! As good as you'll get in Alsace, I'd say. Good concentration and
length.
Gewürztraminer Auslese 1997
- Rating: 90
- Notes: Light golden. More complex aroma than the (already good) spätlese,
with mature fruit, and a wonderful (and surprising!) combination of freshly struck matches
and bubblebath! Rich raisiny flavours on the palate, with great concentration, balance
and complexity. Good length with spice in evidence. Open and fruity, but at the same time
elegant and complex. Good aging potential.
Silvaner Eiswein 1996
- Rating: 91
- Notes: Rich golden colour. Sweet, rich, concentrated aromas - apricots,
pineapple and exotic fruits. Great! On the palate, richly concentrated flavours -
raisins, apricots, pineapple, exotic fruits, mangos, ... ahhhh.
Sekt - Riesling trocken 1997
- Rating: 75
- Notes: I'm perhaps being a little harsh on this wine at the end, since it
was tasted after two wines which were both great and sweet. However, the wine was of
a light straw colour with nice fine bubbles, open green fruit on the nose, but thin and
uninteresting on the palate (and dare I say a little sulphury!?). My search for good
German Sekt continues!
Contact Neil Jenkins