Weekend wines

[twaldmann]

A few wines from last weekend:

starter wines:

NV Jacques Lassaigne Colline Inspirée Montgueux (magnum): Bright acidity, & enjoyable, but will improve w/ time. Not sure this is worth the extra tariff compared to the basic cuvée, but maybe w/ some more time, I'll change my tune.

served with seared scallops, fresh peas & mint

2000 Weinbach Riesling Schlossberg Cuvée Ste. Catherine "l'Inedit!": lovely floral nose, just the right amount of richness. This is in a really good spot right now. It seemed like the ideal wine for the scallops, until....

2006 Alzinger Riesling Smaragd Loibner Steinertal: Holy crap. Complexity, nuance, structure, subtlety, tension. Amazing wine. Easily my favorite of the night. Perfect pairing w/ the scallops. I saved a bit in my glass & it was better still 3 hours later.

1999 Charvin CdP: Beautiful, elegant nose. Decent structure. Still not at it's apogee, but very enjoyable.

1999 Pégaü CdP: Typical Pégaü- garrigue, animalistic, leathery nose. Great acidity. Well-integrated tannins. Still young, but delicious.

1999 Beaucastel CdP: Big, brooding, meaty. Very young. Needs time, but should be a very good Beaucastel

1999 Font de Michelle Cuvée Etienne Gonnet CdP: Kind of simple compared to the other three. Not nearly as much structure. I've never been a fan & this bottle didn't do anything to change my mind.

2006 Rayas CdP: I was excited to try this, since I have zero experience w/ Rayas. It was decanted about 3 hours before serving. Was fairly ripe & hot to me. There were underlying pretty floral notes, but I had to search pretty hard to find much that I liked here. Maybe it was unfair expectations, but I found this disappointing....

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

Now we're talkin'

 

[Salil Benegal]

Alzinger Steinertal Riesling is one of those wines I wish I had bought a lot more of. Absolutely incredible stuff no matter what the vintage.

 

[Cliff]

A great set of wines. Thanks for the update. I just had a 2001 Alzinger Loibenberg that was similarly impressive. I think it's in a perfect spot right now.

 

[twaldmann]

originally posted by Salil Benegal:
Alzinger Steinertal Riesling is one of those wines I wish I had bought a lot more of. Absolutely incredible stuff no matter what the vintage.

I have to confess my ignorance of Austrian wines. It's rather impressive.

My local wine shop had a few of these (maybe 5 or 6 bottles?) & nobody knew what they were or why they even brought them in. I took one home when it was on closeout for maybe $30 per bottle. It blew me away & I bought the remaining 3 bottles. I'm hooked & have been on the hunt for more Alzinger ever since.

 

[SFJoe]

originally posted by twaldmann:

My local wine shop had a few of these (maybe 5 or 6 bottles?) & nobody knew what they were or why they even brought them in.

Sounds like Lou Kessler's place.

 

[Florida Jim]

originally posted by SFJoe:

originally posted by twaldmann:

My local wine shop had a few of these (maybe 5 or 6 bottles?) & nobody knew what they were or why they even brought them in.

Sounds like Lou Kessler's place.

Nah, all the good bottles from that place are in his cellar.
Best, Jim

 

[Rahsaan]

originally posted by twaldmann: I took one home when it was on closeout for maybe $30 per bottle. It blew me away & I bought the remaining 3 bottles. I'm hooked & have been on the hunt for more Alzinger ever since.

Good luck repeating that price deal!

And if you find it again, feel free to shoot me an email.

 

[Jonathan Loesberg]

All those CdPs. Welcome to the best place in the internet to be dissed for loving those wines. Be strong. If I can take it, you can take it.

I agree with you entirely about that Font de Michelle. Oaked, weird and Kacherized. To think he used to bring in Clos Mt. Olivet.

 

[Jay Miller]

originally posted by twaldmann:

originally posted by Salil Benegal:
Alzinger Steinertal Riesling is one of those wines I wish I had bought a lot more of. Absolutely incredible stuff no matter what the vintage.

I have to confess my ignorance of Austrian wines. It's rather impressive.

My local wine shop had a few of these (maybe 5 or 6 bottles?) & nobody knew what they were or why they even brought them in. I took one home when it was on closeout for maybe $30 per bottle. It blew me away & I bought the remaining 3 bottles. I'm hooked & have been on the hunt for more Alzinger ever since.

Be sure to hold onto some. They age beautifully.

 

[Lou Kessler]

originally posted by SFJoe:

originally posted by twaldmann:

My local wine shop had a few of these (maybe 5 or 6 bottles?) & nobody knew what they were or why they even brought them in.

Sounds like Lou Kessler's place.

Ok, correct again, but everyone has milked enough from my most egregious error in inventory enhancement. I finally realized I was not perfect.
Attended a litle wine and food soiree yesterday at Mark Anisman's place and I brought a 04 Hirtzberger Rote Tor Smaragad that was really excellent. We were all impressed with a wine from an overlooked vintage that appeared to have time left in it's development.

 

[MLipton]

originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
All those CdPs. Welcome to the best place in the internet to be dissed for loving those wines. Be strong. If I can take it, you can take it.

I agree with you entirely about that Font de Michelle. Oaked, weird and Kacherized. To think he used to bring in Clos Mt. Olivet.

I can agree with you in part on that. Oaked, yes, but weird? In the eyes of the beholder, of course. The Gonnet Bros. are quite up front about the oaked cuvée and do produce an un-oaked cuvée classique, too, but even the Cuvée Etienne Gonnet has never struck me as overextracted and blowsy in the way that so many other "luxury" cuvées can be. Font de Michelle I find overall to be a decent producer in a more modern vein than, say, Bois de Boursan (another producer at the same price point for me). The Brothers Gonnet have been a lot of fun to talk to when I've visited, though, and I do hold some sympathy for them.

Mark Lipton