Richter's Mülheimer Sonnenlay Riesling Brut 2008, is a sekt made from riesling. This is a sparkling riesling. The first thing that often comes to mind with riesling is "sweet." While there are many sweet still rieslings (and I assume sparkling as well) this one is brut. Riesling is commonly used to make sparkling wine in Germany but it is less familiar to Americans as a sparkler.
As noted this wine is dry. Brut generally means less than 12 grams of sugar per liter. Extra brut is driest followed by: brut, extra dry, sec, demi-sec and doux. This sekt has fine bubbles and a bit of that oily, petrol-y feel you get from rieslings. There is a hint of bitterness in the finish. It is made from ice wine, grapes left on the vine until they freeze.
This is a unique dry white sparkler. I couldn't name its fruit as I drank. In fact, I finished the whole bottle before I came to any determination. This seems like a pretty solid endorsement regardless. There is perhaps something of the apple in this wine, almost a reminder of some fine ciders. Maybe a hint of some sort of mild stone fruit but fruit isn't this wine's most important feature.
The name "sekt" denotes a sparkling wine from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and occasionally the term is may be applied in sparkling wines from other areas (although perhaps not officially). This wine is labeled "Deutscher Sekt" so all the grapes are grown in Germany.
In many cases grapes are imported to make sekt. Another thing to note about sekt is that much of it is made using the "charmat" method rather than the traditional method (as is done in Champagne). This wine uses the traditional method. There is, by the way, nothing wrong with the charmat/tank method; some fine wines are made using it.
A number of sources say nearly 90 percent of sekts use imported grapes and the charmat method meaning this wine is something of a rare creature in that. It is also a sparkler that stands out in it's price range.
$15-16
As noted this wine is dry. Brut generally means less than 12 grams of sugar per liter. Extra brut is driest followed by: brut, extra dry, sec, demi-sec and doux. This sekt has fine bubbles and a bit of that oily, petrol-y feel you get from rieslings. There is a hint of bitterness in the finish. It is made from ice wine, grapes left on the vine until they freeze.
This is a unique dry white sparkler. I couldn't name its fruit as I drank. In fact, I finished the whole bottle before I came to any determination. This seems like a pretty solid endorsement regardless. There is perhaps something of the apple in this wine, almost a reminder of some fine ciders. Maybe a hint of some sort of mild stone fruit but fruit isn't this wine's most important feature.
The name "sekt" denotes a sparkling wine from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and occasionally the term is may be applied in sparkling wines from other areas (although perhaps not officially). This wine is labeled "Deutscher Sekt" so all the grapes are grown in Germany.
In many cases grapes are imported to make sekt. Another thing to note about sekt is that much of it is made using the "charmat" method rather than the traditional method (as is done in Champagne). This wine uses the traditional method. There is, by the way, nothing wrong with the charmat/tank method; some fine wines are made using it.
A number of sources say nearly 90 percent of sekts use imported grapes and the charmat method meaning this wine is something of a rare creature in that. It is also a sparkler that stands out in it's price range.
$15-16
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