Salil Benegal, Keith Mattrick, and myself converged at David Buekers house for a night of riesling and other stuff. Most of which was very very good!
We started the festivities with a bottle of 2008 Ansgar Clsserath Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Kabinett that Salil had opened the night before. Most of us found it too dull and flat. I wondered how much that had to do with its 24 hour exposure to air, but Salil insisted that it had been a sulfur bomb the night before anyway. So not much pleasure to be had either way. And we moved on to better pastures.
We sat down to the first course of paneer cooked in two different spice blends with two different versions of joy. The 2005 F.X. Pichler Riesling Smaragd Kellerberg and the 2007 F.X Pichler Riesling Smaragd Kellerberg. Over the next few hours both of these wines would change faces (and change places in my internal ranking) several times. At first the 05 showed better integrated texture but also a bit of heat on the finish. However, that heat became less worrisome with air and over time the lovely firm texture became more and more enjoyable. The 07 was easier to like at first because of the loose and juicy frame. At times it seemed a bit too young and simple in comparison to the 05, but then with air it also began to show its delicate intricacies. Very very nice.
Somewhere in the midst of this mini Pichler-fest, Laura had requested some residual sugar and 2001 Dnnhoff Schlossbckelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Sptlese was poured into her glass. There was certainly nothing wrong with this wine and one could appreciate the firm juicy fruit but one could also appreciate that it will be a lot more expressive in the future.
A similar verdict was given to the NV Jacques Lassaigne Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Vignes de Montgueux which was a textbook example of yeasty dough smells in champagne. They were flying out of the glass in intense ways and they didnt stop. Ever. There was some nice fresh fruit involved and a refreshing slice of mineral cut, all of which made it fun to drink. But it seems to want to age into something else.
At this point we switched to red wine with the main course and I was very pleased with the showing of 1995 Bernard Baudry Chinon Cuve Signature. A few years ago I had a lovely string of these bottles that were in a perfect spot for my palate and I was wondering if they had started to pass that point. Luckily this bottle had not. There was plenty of rippling fruit with a nice gentle maturity and evolution but still plenty of vigor and life. It even stood up pretty well to the 2000 Louis Jadot Chambolle Musigny Amoureuses, which was no small feat because this wine was gorgeous. Firm, confident, sexy, seductive, and perfectly framed in the mouth. At first it seemed slightly dumb on the nose but one sip of that gorgeous mouthfeel convinced me that all was well in the world. And then it even gained the aromatic sparks with air. Nice nice nice.
At this point things started to get a little fuzzy but for some reason Salil was desperate to open the 2000 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Sptlese GK Auction #8. I had very fond memories of the non-GK 2000 Auction Sptlese, but from 3 years ago. This would not revive those memories. I dont think anyone was terribly excited by the murky (pool water was the favorite descriptor) mess and we began seeking other things.
Somewhere in here we had some delicious cheeses but then given all the wine wed been drinking, it seemed like a good idea to switch to beer. So there was plenty of pleasure to be found with the flavorful nutty and easy-to-like 2008 Het Anker Gouden Carolus Cuve Van de Keizer. Not the most intense or most complex Trippel but damned easy to drink.
So, with the goal of reversing that dynamic, I opened the 1988 Moulin Touchais Cteaux de Layon which had a funky dirty artificial sweet note that made it very difficult to drink. It was also drowned out by dessert which was all the better for us.
But, we were not sated. And the final act of the evening went to the 2005 Rheinhold Haart Piesporter Grafenberg Riesling Sptlese, which might have been a candidate for longer cellaring but had signs of seepage around the capsule and therefore demanded to be opened. This was very refreshing after the sweeter beer and Layon. It was also brisk which might have been somewhat surprising for 2005 but I understand that speaks to the exposure of the vineyard. It was certainly not underripe or anything, and had plenty of fruit, but also plenty of refreshment and a nice (if not profound) way to end the highly-enjoyable evening.
We started the festivities with a bottle of 2008 Ansgar Clsserath Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Kabinett that Salil had opened the night before. Most of us found it too dull and flat. I wondered how much that had to do with its 24 hour exposure to air, but Salil insisted that it had been a sulfur bomb the night before anyway. So not much pleasure to be had either way. And we moved on to better pastures.
We sat down to the first course of paneer cooked in two different spice blends with two different versions of joy. The 2005 F.X. Pichler Riesling Smaragd Kellerberg and the 2007 F.X Pichler Riesling Smaragd Kellerberg. Over the next few hours both of these wines would change faces (and change places in my internal ranking) several times. At first the 05 showed better integrated texture but also a bit of heat on the finish. However, that heat became less worrisome with air and over time the lovely firm texture became more and more enjoyable. The 07 was easier to like at first because of the loose and juicy frame. At times it seemed a bit too young and simple in comparison to the 05, but then with air it also began to show its delicate intricacies. Very very nice.
Somewhere in the midst of this mini Pichler-fest, Laura had requested some residual sugar and 2001 Dnnhoff Schlossbckelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Sptlese was poured into her glass. There was certainly nothing wrong with this wine and one could appreciate the firm juicy fruit but one could also appreciate that it will be a lot more expressive in the future.
A similar verdict was given to the NV Jacques Lassaigne Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Vignes de Montgueux which was a textbook example of yeasty dough smells in champagne. They were flying out of the glass in intense ways and they didnt stop. Ever. There was some nice fresh fruit involved and a refreshing slice of mineral cut, all of which made it fun to drink. But it seems to want to age into something else.
At this point we switched to red wine with the main course and I was very pleased with the showing of 1995 Bernard Baudry Chinon Cuve Signature. A few years ago I had a lovely string of these bottles that were in a perfect spot for my palate and I was wondering if they had started to pass that point. Luckily this bottle had not. There was plenty of rippling fruit with a nice gentle maturity and evolution but still plenty of vigor and life. It even stood up pretty well to the 2000 Louis Jadot Chambolle Musigny Amoureuses, which was no small feat because this wine was gorgeous. Firm, confident, sexy, seductive, and perfectly framed in the mouth. At first it seemed slightly dumb on the nose but one sip of that gorgeous mouthfeel convinced me that all was well in the world. And then it even gained the aromatic sparks with air. Nice nice nice.
At this point things started to get a little fuzzy but for some reason Salil was desperate to open the 2000 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Sptlese GK Auction #8. I had very fond memories of the non-GK 2000 Auction Sptlese, but from 3 years ago. This would not revive those memories. I dont think anyone was terribly excited by the murky (pool water was the favorite descriptor) mess and we began seeking other things.
Somewhere in here we had some delicious cheeses but then given all the wine wed been drinking, it seemed like a good idea to switch to beer. So there was plenty of pleasure to be found with the flavorful nutty and easy-to-like 2008 Het Anker Gouden Carolus Cuve Van de Keizer. Not the most intense or most complex Trippel but damned easy to drink.
So, with the goal of reversing that dynamic, I opened the 1988 Moulin Touchais Cteaux de Layon which had a funky dirty artificial sweet note that made it very difficult to drink. It was also drowned out by dessert which was all the better for us.
But, we were not sated. And the final act of the evening went to the 2005 Rheinhold Haart Piesporter Grafenberg Riesling Sptlese, which might have been a candidate for longer cellaring but had signs of seepage around the capsule and therefore demanded to be opened. This was very refreshing after the sweeter beer and Layon. It was also brisk which might have been somewhat surprising for 2005 but I understand that speaks to the exposure of the vineyard. It was certainly not underripe or anything, and had plenty of fruit, but also plenty of refreshment and a nice (if not profound) way to end the highly-enjoyable evening.
