Colder

T

Thor

Thor Iverson
Kirlyudvar 2005 Tokaji Sec (Hungary) Broad, waxy, and complicated. Theres a certain fatness here, but its a dry fat, expressed more as lingering tactility than plushness. Hues and tones range from brown to tan with streaks of grey, and theres a hefty dash of mineral salt to the finish. This is awfully good. (5/09)

Kesseler 2004 Lorcher Schlossberg Riesling Kabinett 009 05 (Rheingau) Fruit salad (mostly peach and pineapple, with some crisper stuff lurking), yet not lurid, just approachable. Sweet cream, a few liquefied rocks, but definitely more about its fruit than its minerality or structure. Acidity is more apparent later on. Big. There might be (some) future here. (5/09)

Heinrich 2003 Zweigelt (Burgenland) Despite the year, the wines youthfully delicate aromatics have firmed up to something more Bordeaux-like and masculine with age. But theres been a simultaneous Balkanization of the wines former cohesiveness, and while nothings yet out of balance, I dont think that state of affairs will last forever. Grey-black dust has been revealed by the splits and seams, though it was perceivable from the beginning, and the fruit-sweetness has faded. Aging this dubiously-ageable wine was an interesting experience, but I cant say the result has been improvement. Just change. (5/09)

Egon Mller 2007 Scharzhof Riesling 1 08 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) An odd mix of youth and maturity in its fresh, pretty fruit and its creamy texture and quartzy minerality. Perhaps a bit too ephemeral; the wines there, and then its gone, and the desire for a second bottle never really arises. Perhaps the sin is overt inoffensiveness. (5/09)
 
originally posted by Thor:
ColderKirlyudvar 2005 Tokaji Sec (Hungary) Broad, waxy, and complicated. Theres a certain fatness here, but its a dry fat, expressed more as lingering tactility than plushness. Hues and tones range from brown to tan with streaks of grey, and theres a hefty dash of mineral salt to the finish. This is awfully good. (5/09)
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Tokaji, sec?
'Never heard of it.
What else can you tell me about this genre?
Best, Jim
 
Jim,

Go see the guys on Folsom St. They will hook you up. It's owned by the same guy as Huet. Good stuff.
 
Other than this and a couple of wines from the same producer tasted at Terroir SF, not much, other than I'm exceedingly intrigued. This may be a one-producer fandom, though, pending tastes of someone else's work. SFJoe will certainly have some of the goods, as should others.
 
In 2007 I used to drink quite a bit of a wine I bought from Budapest airport when I flew with Malev regularly to the NE. It only cost 10 or so for a 500ml bottle and it was already 16-17 yo when I bought it!

Vinarium Hungaricum Tokaji Szamorodny (i.e. "as it comes" i.e. nothing added to the wine, as in no Asz added, i.e. dry) 1990

Nutty, spicy and floral nose - oily even! Fascinating and quite unique and very fresh despite all these heavy elements. The palate is spicy and fruity but very dry and acidic. Lovely stuff.

I think only one or two other dry Tokajis have come my way otherwise but they were similar in style only they were current releases so didn't have the mature magic this 1990 had.

I recently tasted (as opposed to drank) some Heinrichs and found much to like. Pure fruit, good structure. I thought I would try to find more.
 
originally posted by Thor:
Egon Mller 2007 Scharzhof Riesling 1 08 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) An odd mix of youth and maturity in its fresh, pretty fruit and its creamy texture and quartzy minerality. Perhaps a bit too ephemeral; the wines there, and then its gone, and the desire for a second bottle never really arises. Perhaps the sin is overt inoffensiveness. (5/09)
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It was wonderful at the estate, for what it is, at the end of last summer. Possible shipping sickness/damage?
 
originally posted by mlawton:
It's owned by the same guy as Huet. Good stuff.
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Only partly true, no? It's a joint venture of Tony Hwang and Szepsy IIRC with Pinguet now helping make the wine -- and Huet is owned Hwang and Pinguet... or have I missed something?

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by John McIlwain:
Dry FurmintOne could also consider the Zoltan Demeter "Kakas" bottling. It's absolutely lovely.

Best,
John
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Kirlyudvar 2005 Tokaji Sec
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By coincidence I brought the 2006 of this to a party up Oakville Grade in Napa last night. It was very well received by a crowd of chefs and winemakers. I think it's a big improvement over the 2005, though I also loved that wine.

Zoltan Demeter is the full-time winemaker at Kirlyudvar, though he also has his own project, where he's doing great stuff. Szepsy is no longer involved at Kirlyudvar, he and Hwang had creative differences and Hwang bought him out. Kirlyudvar controls ca. 100 ha of prime vineyards in Tokaj, it's quite a remarkable place. The cellars are the old royal ones, and very beautiful. Pinguet actively consults and visits several times a year.

Szepsy makes a very tasty dry furmint in his own cellar, but I don't know if I've seen a bottle in the US.

Furmint has a bit of structural and aromatic analogy to chenin that makes Pinguet a logical consultant. It can have some of the same phenolics to the finish, which makes me very curious about how these dry wines will age.
 
I should also say that this was part of an experiment to test the boundaries of our French guests. We served them (almost) no French wines over the course of their stay, save a pair of aged Foillards and an '89 Trimbach CFE VT (restaurants were a different story, especially in Montral), but I was curious how they'd react to styles unfamiliar to them.

They reacted to the Californian and South African wines pretty much as other French guests have: good, tasty, too alcoholic (even one of Steve Edmunds' wines was "like whiskey," though admittedly it did show its alcohol more than usual). New Zealand found favor, as it has in the past; something there really seems to reach French palates, at least among our friends and family. But the most fun was with other European wines, which of course are mostly unknown to them...they loved the Ordoez Mlaga #1, they really loved the txakolina, they were shocked that the German wines were any good (they live in rural Lorraine, but Germany's a blank slate to them -- no pun intended) (and I didn't even serve them anything really good), they were surprised that there were red wines in Austria, etc.

And then there were the outliers. The Kirlyudvar was the woman's favorite wine of the trip. Her husband, who's a proto-wine geek (and with a friend buys and bottles a demi- of Coteaux du Layon every year) but wouldn't go as far as joining a wine forum, favored the Radikon Ribolla Gialla and the Coenobium "Rusticum", the two weirdest wines I poured.

I suppose were I a French winemaker straining against the strictures of the INAO, this result would both please and frustrate me.
 
Fun having cocktails with your guests, too, Thor.

---

Heidi Schrock (Austrian side of the Neusiedlersee) makes an awesome dry Furmint. Lots of star anise, herbal (tarragon?), and quince. She's in the Theise portfolio.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by Thor:
Egon Mller 2007 Scharzhof Riesling 1 08 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) An odd mix of youth and maturity in its fresh, pretty fruit and its creamy texture and quartzy minerality. Perhaps a bit too ephemeral; the wines there, and then its gone, and the desire for a second bottle never really arises. Perhaps the sin is overt inoffensiveness. (5/09)
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It was wonderful at the estate, for what it is, at the end of last summer. Possible shipping sickness/damage?
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To be honest all the line up from Egon Mueller failed me to impress at the tastings in London, from several bottles along this year, at the auctions in Trier (this is for what my impression is worth but it's shared among several of friends). Not sure he got 2007, too bad as the vintage is superb across the Mosel.
 
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