SWE Evening #3: Terry Theise Riesling Tasting and More

Writing this post from a BBQ restaurant in Virginia, while drinking a Sierra Nevada pale ale, is not at all fair to Terry Theise. On the other hand, I actually think Food & Wine's "Importer of the Year" (2005) might applaud the audacity of someone writing about his gorgeous Rieslings, while having a beer and dreading the drive home from Washington, DC.  Buy Reading Between the Wines, and you get a taste of the man, who is as interesting and complex as the wines he offers. By the third night of the Society of Wine Educators Conference, I fell off the wagon in terms of posting a daily dispatch. I could blame that on two-ounce tastings of Terry's 20 gorgeous dry Rieslings, but that would be unfair. I just ran out of hours. Please don't miss Terry Theise's wines or his writing. A sample is here. There are so few people who are genuinely thoughtful about life and wine, we should cherish them when we find them, along with the wines they find significant.

• 2007 Goldloch "Grosses Gewächs," Schossgut Diel; Nahe, Germany.  Gorgeous! Subtle woodiness.  Refined texture and creaminess on the palate, without oily viscosity.  
• 2007 Heiligenstein "Lyra," Bründlmayer; Kamptal, Austria.  Great vineyard; complex soil, reflected in the wine.  Incredible texture and luxurious mouthfeel. Terry's description: "exotic, sexy."
• 2009 Forster Freundstuck Spätlese, Eugen Müller; Pfalz, Germany. Minerality, with bracing acidity!  Late harvest, yes (spät), but impression of total dryness. Lovely lavender overtones. In terms of price, this was the bargain of the day!
• 2008 "Tradition," Schoss Gobelsburg; Kamptal, Austria.  Breathtaking!  Gentle but complex; melting but solid.  From an old monastic estate, this is the old Riesling; the real Riesling; the product of making wine intuitively.
• 2008 Heerkretz Grosses Gewächs," Wagner-Stempel; Rheinhessen, Germany. Mozart-like in vitality! While cool, the wine was almost neon in the mouth; hyper-vivid.  Warmer, it became sensuous.  Don't miss.
• 1999 "Steinriesler," Nikolaihof; Wachua, Austria. Fermented in wood and left in the cask until April 2010 (without sulphur).  Extraordinary!  On the gross lees all that time.  Rich, textured, lightly honeyed; parchment-paper on the nose. Mature, balanced, incredible.