Riesling for the New Year

From a food perspective the new year started with some pork ribs and sausages braised with sauerkraut, apples, onions, juniper, a little caraway and some apple cider.

More than anything that meal is just an excuse to open a good Riesling.  We did just that.  The wine was a 2007 Markus Molitor, Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, Kabinett from the Mosel region.  The brashness of youth was gone from this wine, and it had settled into its late teenage years when the body tends to mature while the spirit stays young.

Sweet aromas of apples and peaches with some citrus zest led to smooth flavors of golden apples, a barely ripe peach and some sage.  The acid was a slap in the face to start and then the wine mellowed out in the mid palate before a little more acid finished things off in a refreshing manner.  Tremendous length of finish in this wine.

The acidity was dancing with the richness of the pork in this pairing while the sweet sensation of the fruit balanced out the acidity from the sauerkraut.  Delicious meal and a wonderful wine.

2007 Markus Molitor, Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, Kabinett.  8.5% alcohol and $21.