Two Exciting Wines

2009 St. Urbans-Hof Bockstein Kabinett Riesling

I discovered two spectacular wines over the holidays -- a German Riesling and an Australian Shiraz -- thanks to the Wine Spectator list of top 100 wines of the year. I am beginning to think that Riesling is where it's at (no offense to the excellent Chardonnistas of California and Burgundy). The diversity of style and flavor from one Riesling maker and region to another is huge, much more so than Chardonnay, in my opinion. Riesling seems to be more food-friendly, too, probably because they usually use minimal oak during vinification, so the natural fruit flavors are front and center. Grapes are food, after all, and oak is not.

St.-Urbans-Hof Riesling Kabinett Mosel Ockfen Bockstein 2009 (ranked #57 Wine of the Year, rated 92, $19)

Probably the most delicious Riesling I've ever tasted. The first thing you notice with this wine is its intense clarity. Hold a glass of this juice up to candle light and it glitters like white gold. Then comes the bright scent of ripe peaches and lime. The wine itself has an explosive, rich flavor, full of fruit with just a hint of residual sugars and elegant minerality.

Winemaker's notes from wine.com:

"Ockfener Bockstein" which is a steep valley slope with unobstructed southern exposure. The soil consists of hard slate stones, which, in fact, leave a grayish blue powder residue when handled. This is indicative of the solubility of the soil, which allows the vine roots to absorb mineral nutrients quickly and easily during the growing season. As a result the wines of Ockfener Bockstein are especially lively and minerally in character. A forest at the top of the slope retains water which is released into the sub-soils of the vineyards during dry periods, mitigating vine-stress during periods of drought. This 2009 wine has elegance, expression and power. The minerality is almost sparkling. The acidity is ripe but still crisp. The flavours are complex, ripe and well developed. This wine promises to be the most age-worthy of the decade.

Check out a photo of the steep-sloped Ockfener Bockstein vineyard in the Mosel Valley where these grapes are grown:

Two Hands Shiraz Barossa Valley Bella's Garden 2008 (ranked #2 wine of the year, rated 94, $55)

Two Hand Shiraz Barossa Valley Bella's Garden 2008

First I have to thank Drew Ellsworth and the guys at the new wine store in Salt Lake City for setting aside this bottle for me. I loved this wine. It's a deep, red color with rich, powerful dark fruit flavors, and it paired elegantly with the herb-stuffed cornish game hens we had for dinner a couple of nights ago. But it also stands on its own as an "event wine" and has enough complexity to provide liquid entertainment all evening as it changes in temperature and opens up.

CLICK HERE for a video of Wine Spectator's Harvey Steiman introducing this wine:

The name "Two Hands" is explained in red script on the bottle's label. It says:

the sun shines
the vineyard grows,
the grapes ripen,
the hands cut the bunches,
the hands crush her skin,
the hands craft her juices
So now two hands
can open the wine
and she can shine in all her glory.

And she did...