A retirement dump party

John M

John Meier
A good friend is retiring and moving to New Mexico. We've been drinking wine together for nearly three decades and the only way we could think to mark the occasion was to open several bottles that he had reason to think had suffered from poor storage. No reason to move bad bottles to New Mexico! So we opened and checked various bottles that I understand were eventually dumped the next day. Two Cornas, one St Joseph, and a couple Brunnellos. As we labored through we did find two good bottles causing us to stop looking for bad ones. I am not much for writing notes, but for the record ...

Petit Cheval 2000 Maybe I would like this more from a less ripe vintage, but I enjoyed it, particularly when I was able to find the Cab Franc poking through.

Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru 2002 Gosh this was completely lovely. Color like a translucent sour cherry with a fruit and floral nose. Really elegant fruit flavors with a bit of underlying earthy aspects.

My friend's job was to find wines to dump. It was my job to provide some wines for desert. I brought two auslesen but didn't note the AP numbers. Sorry.

JJ Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 2001 Absolutely brilliant. This was a great vintage for Prüm and I wouldn't have guessed this was a 20 year old wine. Apples, pears, and grapefruit. Wonderfully balanced, bright, and spritzig.

Zilliken GKA 2005 Also brilliant and from a great vintage for Zilliken. Darker than the Prüm and less subtle. Mango, apricot, apples and burnt sugar. Definitely has the acidity to balance the sweetness.

I understand I can come visit my friend in New Mexico at any time, as long as I bring some Prüm, Zilliken, etc.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Sounds like fun. And thanks for the notes, I think I have some of that Prum (or maybe I have 2005 Prum).

If you do have the 2001, I would open it. It's in a great place right now.
 
originally posted by John M:
If you do have the 2001, I would open it. It's in a great place right now.
OK, I checked: I have 05, 11, and 15.

Petit Cheval, you say... who the heck buys that on a regular basis?
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
originally posted by John M:
If you do have the 2001, I would open it. It's in a great place right now.
OK, I checked: I have 05, 11, and 15.

Of these, I would open the 11's first. 15 has been awkward for me recently and I think 05 will continue to improve. That said, it is really rare for me to open Prüm and be disappointed.

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

Petit Cheval, you say... who the heck buys that on a regular basis?

Not me. At that price point I could get Egon Müller's Kabinett. And much as I love Herr Müller's wines, I don't buy that on a regular basis!
 
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