W. E. Frank Pettenthal Riesling Grosse Lage

Tasted blind as part of the wine pairing at the excellent The Drunken Butler , London. We guessed it was a steely, modern but from old world chardonnay, probably a chablis... Again a bit funky like most of the wines the ( a top guy worth striking a conversation) owner/sommelier/exec chef. The acidity should have given this away and also Nicoletta's mention of a faint petrolliness. In any case a very solid wine, full of charm, citrus and mineral . …

Wow, this is really an amazing Pettenthal from W.E. Frank. The bouquet needs a 1-2 hours to really go through the roof, but than it does. Stone fruit mixed with this wonderful minerality, i guess this is what you call terroir. Medium bodied, but with a lot of intensity and length. Again, it reminds you of some highend northern rhone Condrieu with less fat, but similar floral aspects. Maybe it has even more precision. Another great wine from W.E. Frank!

Quite different than the 2015, this excellent Orbel comes totally crisp with just 10,5% alcohol. Bouquet of stone fruit, slate and some distant creaminess. I could see a link to a Grand Cru from Chablis for the pure minerality and saltines. It will be interesting to see, how this Orbel develops. I will keep my remaining bottles to find out. There is a lot potential for the coming years.