So many wines, so little time... I obviously can't post about EVERY wine, but here are my favorites/dissapointments. Sunday... Tasting with Rudi Wiest, the great German Wine importer... had 27 different Rieslings - a tremendous tasting - and yes, I spit (most of them, anyway). Favorites? 2002 Robert Weil Kiedricher Grafenberg Riesling Erstes Gewachs ("First Growth"), Rheingau - this was a stunner. A beautiful oily nose with tremendous minerality, peaches, and tropical fruits. This was like licking a wet stone - one of the best 2002's I've had. The 2004 Fritz-Haag Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett, Mosel Saar-Ruwer - Apply, fruits, melon, lemon peel, slightly off-dry, slatey. A gorgeous young Riesling. These 04's were tremendous... very terroir-driven. Next, the 2003 Robert Weil Kiedricher Grafenberg Riesling Spatlese, Rheingau was one of the few 03's that I thought could be drunk now, or layed down for a while. This was an extremely floral, melony, peachy, semi-sweet, VIBRANT wine that showed some nice minerals, but really needs time.
A quick word about the 2003 vintage in general in Germany and Burgundy (because the question will come up)... It was HOT. Very hot. Lots of water stress on the vines = Concentrated wines. The problem I'm finding with the whites is that in general, it seems that a few winesmakers got very scared of acid levels (which helps act as a preservative), and added excess amounts of SO2 to their wines in hopes of giving them a longer life. Well, all that really seems to have done is to create a reductive/overly-sulphurous nose on a good number of otherwise great wines. Excess sulphur is a fault in my book. It may "taste" fine, but they certainly don't smell like they should - clean, mineraly, and rich. The good news is that the sulfur should eventually come out of the wine - provided it's not in a screwcap (this is the downside to screwcaps - a conversation for a later date) - and the wines will show in all of their glory in a few years. I certainly hope so.
I digress... back to the wine! Three greats to finish the tasting... 1964 Karthauserhof Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Kronenberg feinste Auslese Riesling, Mosel Saar-Ruwer (got all that ?)... wow. What a wine. If people aren't aging their Rieslings anymore, they miss out on wines like this. While the majority of the fruit was gone, there was so much non-fruit, it was crazy! Like drinking a can of diesel (that color!)... deep golden, bright, wet stones, honey, caramel, honey blossoms - a beautiful wine! Also had the 1990 Auslese #13 which was outstanding as well... showing beautifuly with nice diesel, wet slate, apricots, and honeydew melon. Last, but certainly not least, the 1976 J.J. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Beerenauslese, Mosel Saar-Ruwer was thick, rich, and full of life! Figs, apricots, slate, honey, creme brulee, dark- gold/orange in color, and after all this time, a very subdued, balanced sweetness.
Pre-dinner drinks at Daniel Boulud's restaurant bar the the Wynn... Thank you to J... let me know what I can do to help!... 1998 Domaine Leroy Bourgogne Rouge - seeing as how I have already proclaimed by admiration of Madame Bize-Leroy, I will only say this took an hour to open, and was by far the best Bourgogne I've ever had... If only some producers could make premier crus this good. Also tried the 2002 St. Henriot Blanquette de Limoux - first time having a BdL. Neat little wine. Made mostly from Mauzac in the L-R. Off-dry to dry, great fruit for a sparkler (MC). Had a lovely dinner at Alex at the Wynn that evening... fabulous Foie Gras, great Dover Sole. Wine? 2001 Smith Haut Lafite Blanc, Graves - a fabulous wine (but it took a while to show). Mineraly, oily (almost Mosel-like quality), spicy with tropical fruit. The semillion really shows in this wine. Why this isn't classified, I have no idea. 2002 Nicolas Joly Roche aux Moines Savienierres, Loire Valley - great wine. Typical Joly oxidation, great Chenin. 2002 Ecard Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru "les Serpentaires" - fabulous SLB. Earthy, fruit driven-nose. Will be even better in a few years. 2003 Domaine Slumberger Cuvee Catherine Guwurztraminer Vendage Tardive, Alsace - wine of the night. Great viscosity, power, beautiful apricot/ lychee sweetness. A great wine!
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