Martin Müllen - Trarbacher Hühnerberg
A matured Riesling from the year 2009 from the Martin Müllen winery on the Mosel is in our glasses this time. A rollercoaster ride.
There are only two ways to get matured wine: either you leave it in the cellar and wait, or you find a winegrower or merchant who will do this for you. Martin Müllen on the Moselle is one such person. There is a large selection of matured wines for sale directly from the winery. The wine we are having this time, a Riesling, is from 2009 and grows within the Trarbacher Hühnerberg vineyard. The most mature Riesling in this blog so far, expectations are high.
The first association in the nose is yellow, dark fruit and depth. The age is not directly noticeable. Citrus nose, but all in all relatively little happens when smelling. In the mouth some acetone, together with the white stuff between the cracks of a citrus fruit, grapefruit, very powerful with a hard edge right at the beginning. More bitter notes, unripe fruit. Honey remains on the back of the tongue. I’m honest, the first sip was unpleasant, the one right after that not much better. What remains on the tongue then however gives me hope for improvement.
So give the wine some time to breathe. Then over the course of the evening the wine opens up. It becomes fresher, you smell the stone, the typical minerality, some honey sweetness now also in the nose. The crisp edge in the mouth becomes rounder, the citrus bitterness takes a step backwards, the crisp acidity takes over. Elegance and length and a bit of creaminess. Lots of extract, lots of spice, structure throughout the mouth and on the tongue. It’s not easy-Drinking, but it’s also far from boring.
If we had stopped here after the first evening, I would have been glad to have tried it once. But buy it again? No.
On the second day the development of the first evening fortunately continues consistently. Flint in the nose, petrol, typical Riesling fruit, the spice still very complex. Everything now round, harmonious, with exotic fruit, passion fruit, citrus. Much better wine today, long, spicy, complex. Only the acidity, it hits you with quite some force.
I would reorder after the second day immediately. Acidity and spice in a nice balance and the fruit with the stone. Great!
Third evening: The citrus notes take a step forward, the spiciness recedes even further. The wine is long, complex and this weekend, despite the joy of the second evening, simply too sour for me. This may be due to the wine or the weekend or me. This may change with additional years on the bottle. The Hühnerberg is definitely an experience, but once is enough. For now.