Dinner with the Buekers and the Benegal:
St. Urbans-Hof 1990 Wiltinger Schlangengraben Riesling Kabinett 19 91 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) Dusty, as if tasted in an old, wind-blown tunnel. Biting green apple. This is good, and I enjoy it (there isnt a lot of 19-year-old kabinett in my drinking queue), but Im not sure I wouldnt have liked it more a few years ago, because the bones are definitely showing. (4/09)
Dnnhoff 2007 Oberhuser Brcke Riesling Sptlese 07 08 (Nahe) Soft and creamy, with tangerine. Pulsating. The full, rich texture isnt really offset by anything else, to the point where it becomes worrisomely plush. (4/09)
Hiedler 2000 Riesling Gaisberg (Kamptal) Marshmallow, peat, and bay leaf. Quite advanced. Long, but soft throughout; whatever nerve this wine once had (and if I recall correctly, it wasnt much) has left the building. I return to it several times over the course of the evening, and again the next day, but all it does is shove more stuffing into the pillow. Drink up. (4/09)
Trimbach 1998 Riesling Cuve Frdric mile (Alsace) The only reason to open this right now is to express your intense affection for pain inflicted by an invisible spirit, because it could not possibly be more closed. Like trying to catch sleet on your tongue, or maybe licking a flow of glacial ice, this wine gives nothing. Instead, it demands: patience, patience, patience. The structure is flawless, and this is going to be a stunner one day (albeit on the raw, sharper-edged side of CFEs), but that day is not today. Nor tomorrow. Maybe starting in about 2015, and continuing on for a decade or two after that? Yeah, that sounds about right. (4/09)
Ferrando 2003 Carema (white label) (Piedmont) Tasted blind, and though I momentarily nose my way into Barbaresco, I get no closer, nor do I do so with much confidence. And I certainly dont get the year right. The reason? Conflict within the wine, and not a minor one. Theres tar, charred brown earth, some but not too much tannin, and a white powder texture. The structures all shoulders and knees, but the fruit seems worn out, as if the wine is headed to a premature demise. I cant figure this out at all, even after the reveal. Drink? Hold? I have no idea. (4/09)
Birks Wendouree 1999 Shiraz/Malbec (Clare Valley) Wine as amaro, and I mean that in an appreciative way. Quite tannic, with the signature eucalyptus note present only in a supporting role. Blackberries at the core, plus a dusting of Tellicherry pepper. Intense. Texturally, like drinking the finely-ground dregs of coffee. As a guess, this wine has decades of life yet to explore. What I love so much about these wines are their unrepentant individuality, even more so than their actual qualitywhich goes beyond iconoclasm to outright indifference to their reception. (4/09)
Fromm La Strada 2002 Pinot Noir (Marlborough) Corked. (4/09)
St. Urbans-Hof 2005 Piesporter Goldtrpfchen Riesling Auslese 026 06 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) Minted peach blossom, plus thick orangesicle laden with vanilla. Reticent at its core, but delish around the perimeter. Theres no real value in drinking this now, considering the potential upside as it develops some muscle and flesh. (4/09)
Passive-passive quote of the evening: Id like some salad. If no one else is having some, tomorrows fine. Laura Bueker
Peyraud Domaine Tempier 1994 Bandol Cuve Spciale la Tourtine (Provence) Bretty, for sure, plus the usual mourvdre horse of a different earth. Very aromatic, which seems to go hand-in-hand with those qualities in these wines. Dark dried fruit (or perhaps dried dark fruit) and a lovely graphite texture that really emerges on the finish. Tastes fully mature, but these wines seem to hang on a lot longer than one expects once they reach this stage. (4/09)
Paul Cluver 2007 Weisser Riesling Noble Late Harvest (Elgin) 375 ml. Dense. Spiced honey and thyme. Powerfully sweet, but with the balance and underlying precision to support it. Really impressive, perhaps even surprisingly so. Im eager to see whats in this wines future. (4/09)
St. Urbans-Hof 1990 Wiltinger Schlangengraben Riesling Kabinett 19 91 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) Dusty, as if tasted in an old, wind-blown tunnel. Biting green apple. This is good, and I enjoy it (there isnt a lot of 19-year-old kabinett in my drinking queue), but Im not sure I wouldnt have liked it more a few years ago, because the bones are definitely showing. (4/09)
Dnnhoff 2007 Oberhuser Brcke Riesling Sptlese 07 08 (Nahe) Soft and creamy, with tangerine. Pulsating. The full, rich texture isnt really offset by anything else, to the point where it becomes worrisomely plush. (4/09)
Hiedler 2000 Riesling Gaisberg (Kamptal) Marshmallow, peat, and bay leaf. Quite advanced. Long, but soft throughout; whatever nerve this wine once had (and if I recall correctly, it wasnt much) has left the building. I return to it several times over the course of the evening, and again the next day, but all it does is shove more stuffing into the pillow. Drink up. (4/09)
Trimbach 1998 Riesling Cuve Frdric mile (Alsace) The only reason to open this right now is to express your intense affection for pain inflicted by an invisible spirit, because it could not possibly be more closed. Like trying to catch sleet on your tongue, or maybe licking a flow of glacial ice, this wine gives nothing. Instead, it demands: patience, patience, patience. The structure is flawless, and this is going to be a stunner one day (albeit on the raw, sharper-edged side of CFEs), but that day is not today. Nor tomorrow. Maybe starting in about 2015, and continuing on for a decade or two after that? Yeah, that sounds about right. (4/09)
Ferrando 2003 Carema (white label) (Piedmont) Tasted blind, and though I momentarily nose my way into Barbaresco, I get no closer, nor do I do so with much confidence. And I certainly dont get the year right. The reason? Conflict within the wine, and not a minor one. Theres tar, charred brown earth, some but not too much tannin, and a white powder texture. The structures all shoulders and knees, but the fruit seems worn out, as if the wine is headed to a premature demise. I cant figure this out at all, even after the reveal. Drink? Hold? I have no idea. (4/09)
Birks Wendouree 1999 Shiraz/Malbec (Clare Valley) Wine as amaro, and I mean that in an appreciative way. Quite tannic, with the signature eucalyptus note present only in a supporting role. Blackberries at the core, plus a dusting of Tellicherry pepper. Intense. Texturally, like drinking the finely-ground dregs of coffee. As a guess, this wine has decades of life yet to explore. What I love so much about these wines are their unrepentant individuality, even more so than their actual qualitywhich goes beyond iconoclasm to outright indifference to their reception. (4/09)
Fromm La Strada 2002 Pinot Noir (Marlborough) Corked. (4/09)
St. Urbans-Hof 2005 Piesporter Goldtrpfchen Riesling Auslese 026 06 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) Minted peach blossom, plus thick orangesicle laden with vanilla. Reticent at its core, but delish around the perimeter. Theres no real value in drinking this now, considering the potential upside as it develops some muscle and flesh. (4/09)
Passive-passive quote of the evening: Id like some salad. If no one else is having some, tomorrows fine. Laura Bueker
Peyraud Domaine Tempier 1994 Bandol Cuve Spciale la Tourtine (Provence) Bretty, for sure, plus the usual mourvdre horse of a different earth. Very aromatic, which seems to go hand-in-hand with those qualities in these wines. Dark dried fruit (or perhaps dried dark fruit) and a lovely graphite texture that really emerges on the finish. Tastes fully mature, but these wines seem to hang on a lot longer than one expects once they reach this stage. (4/09)
Paul Cluver 2007 Weisser Riesling Noble Late Harvest (Elgin) 375 ml. Dense. Spiced honey and thyme. Powerfully sweet, but with the balance and underlying precision to support it. Really impressive, perhaps even surprisingly so. Im eager to see whats in this wines future. (4/09)