Fritz Haag - Brauneberger Juffer off-dry
From the Brauneberger Juffer we are drinking an off-dry Riesling from Fritz Haag harvested in the year 2016. This is basically the residual sweet GG.
The Juffer is, as nicely pictured on the label, a steep slope directly opposite Brauneberg, on the other side of the Mosel. The Fritz Haag winery creates several wines from this site. Today in our glasses is a Brauneberger Juffer Feinherb, which means off-dry, from 2016, which is not marketed as a Grosses Gewäch in the VDP, as this classification is reserved for dry wines with grapes growing in a Grosse Lage vineyard. In my opinion however, some residual sugar in Mosel wines has proven to be exciting in the past.
The wine is buttery on the nose, with honey and very ripe, yellow fruit, almost dark yellow and a bit mushy, very dense, with the right amount of flint in the background to keep the tension up. In the mouth it is powerful, very full and round, soft without being boringly smooth. When drinking, some mango comes into the nose, ripe mango, while at the top of the palate the acidity offers a nice counterbalance to the soft creaminess and the yellow fruit. It is also very juicy, so the glass empties quickly.
There was still a glass of chutney made of mango, ginger and roasted cumin seeds on the shelf and we had some cheese in the fridge. Perfect companion to the wine. The cheese lifts the structure and the sweetness, which was not so present on its own, now moves into the spotlight. A great combination, mango in the nose and mango in the chutney.
As the evening progresses, the flint is noticed more clearly in the nose and on the tongue the wine becomes finer and finer, there is more honey than fruit with wet stones and a great spice on the palate. Despite all the associations of fully ripe fruit, the wine is not fat or marmalade. On the contrary: elegant, very bright, clear with slate spice. Superb!