Wine and Food

Ayler Kupp, Riesling Auslese, 2012, Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier, White-wine from Germany

6 points

The first nip is a different note than many other Riesling from this area which is very close to the famous vineyard Scharzhofberg at the river Saar. It is a little bit tart and, it appears creamier and has more petrol. This Riesling is perhaps also a little bit less mineral although the soil is shist. Due to a bit more modest mineralitiy there is a different balance among Riesling’s typical fruitiness and freshness. The fruits are less citron but a bit more mature as apple and gooseberry but also some exotic flavors. The wine sparkles a bit on one tongue which is refreshing and has a very long reverberation. Although it is an Auslese this wine is dry and even a little bit fumy if you can say so.

The wine has a typical color of Riesling: yellow with some green.

Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier translated into English means Episcopalian Wine Estate Trier. I already wrote about the rule of wine in the region of Mosel, Saar and Ruwer around Trier in my review of Peters Scharzhofberg: https://avdwineandfood.wordpress.com/2015/05/11/peters-schwarzhofberger-riesling-spatlese-2007/.

This wine estate is a merger of three former wineries of the Catholic Church. Since fruits of the body are prohibited for priest, monks and bishops it seems they were focused a lot on the fruits of the gardens and hills. Communion wine requires less quality than many of the wines of Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier deliver.

 Ayler Kupp is the name of this famous vineyard on a pithy top of a hill near to the village called Ayl. The steep slope vineyard faces southwest which let the grapes mature in a nice long sun rich autumn. This is not a Mosel Riesling as already mentioned but Saar wine which I described a bit as mentioned before when I wrote about the Scharzhofberger.

The difference of this vinery in comparison to other great wine makers is the structure of cooporation: it does not belong to one individual or a singl family. This doesn’t mean that all people working there wouldn’t be less committed or inspiring. Due to the very high quality of all their wines as well as the global presences you will understand that there is fantastic work, experience and passion behind each single wine. Perhaps this vinery spends a little bit more efforts in the cellar than other wine makers at least this Ayler Krupp is a bit smoother than some other similar wines. As always vintage is important, too and 2012 was a solid and good one. Coming back on the cellar there is a short video about the impressive cellar on the webpage of the vinery:

What it shows as well is that many of their wines are storable for decades! Since most of the these wines are rather affordable this is great perspective!

It is worth to visit them on their webpage which is really one of the best homepages I know: http://www.bischoeflicheweingueter.de/