All wines tasted blind, execpt of course for the two bottles I brought! :-)
We started with three whites and some finger food.
2007 Oberemmeler Hütte Riesling Spätlese, von Hövel
This was a young, fresh start, with notes of yellow pears, slate, wet asphalt, lime and a note of cold snow. Very elegant and fine. A salivating nose.
The taste is fresh, racy and steely with notes of pear ice cream, grape, lime and some elder berry. Light as a ballerina. The acidity is a perfect match to the sweet fruit. Very, very good, but I would love some more years on it.
91p (tasted 2012/02)
2002 Schlossböckelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Spätlese, Dönnhoff
This is more like it! This has some additional years, and it is deeper and the young notes has been replaced with hauntingly beautiful scents of lemoncream, mature yellow apples, oilcloth (I ponder some seconds on if this could be a Chenin Blanc) and moist earth. Just lovely. Very, very deep.
The taste follows the nose with loads of dry honey, dried orange peel, moist earth and sweet, sweet yellow apples. The finish goes on for over a minute. This has an aristocratic feel about it. Some maturity. Great!
95p (tasted 2012/02)
2004 Dalsheimer Hubacker Riesling Spätlese Fuder 26, Keller
A fine, elegant, tight nose with notes of slate, grape, lemon and grey, hard pears. This feels young still. Very good. With air a lovely smoky scent appears.
The taste is fresh, elegant and fine with notes of grey pears, peach, grape and sweet minerals. The same smoky note as on the nose. This is good but in the end of the taste the sweetness and acidity are somewhat unbalanced. But very good all the same.
88p (tasted 2012/02)
On to the reds then - we tasted through them before we ate a medium spicy chicken wok.
2001 Valiniére, Leon Barral
It wasn´t a good start... What the f...k is this? A big, vulgar nose with not a fruit component in sight. But if your thing is rubber, rasberry candy (without one rasberry in them), rotten wood and a outhouse that have stood in the sun all day, this is for you. Volatile notes. Some sweet licorice after a while. It´s deep, but not in a good way.
The taste is hard, fiery and mean with notes of rubber, the same rasberry candy as on the nose, and lots of dry wood. This is for stripping away paint with, not to be drunk. I haven´t tasted this before, but it wasn´t cooked, it wasn´t corked, it was just bad, really bad...
58p (tasted 2012/02)
2005 Côte-Rôtie La Turque, Guigal
Ooooh noooooooo, we all cried out, when it was revealed that this nice but far from great wine was revealed. The nose is very good, with sweet blackberries, ski wax, dark fudge and wet earth. Sweet and nice. But only medium deep. Didn´t evolve that much either in the glass.
The taste on the other hand was tight, seedy and coarse with fiery tannins and locked up fruit. And it had been in the decanter for a few hours and we had it in our glasses for hours, but still, hard and angular. The finish is long but the primary note here is sawdust...
85p (tasted 2012/02)
2006 Jaffurs Sta Rita Hills Syrah
According to Miran, this is unobtainable, and still, here it is in the glass! Thanks! The nose just explodes from the glass with gorgeous notes of violet candy, dark chocolate, sweet rasberries, meat and a band aid note that adds to the complexity. Very deep, focused and sweet.
The taste is big and brawny with lots of chocolate covered rasberries, sweet licorice, violet candy and vanilla oak flavours. A very, very long finish, where the alcohol (15,2%) is somewhat noticable. A great piece of work, but it is slightly more impressive than hedonistic good. Becomes better when it have had some time in the glass, so this could turn of great, if you could get hold of it...
91p (tasted 2012/02)
2004 The Relic, The Stendish
Aaaaaaah, if I could fit my head into the glass, I would! Awesome notes of hand pounded meat, violets, the sweetest blueberries and blackberries imaginable and a perfumed note that flows over the whole structure. Soooo deep. Powerful and light at the same time!
The taste is as big and brawny as the one before (maybe even bigger) but this folds it all togethet with ease. The fruit, tannins, acidity and alcohol just becomes one. Notes of chocolate covered rasberries, licorice, peppared meat and wet, warm earth. Very, very long. Just a great wine in all respects. Tried this for a couple of years ago, and to my recollaction is hasn´t budged at all. This is a keeper!
97p (tasted 2012/02)
1992 Dominus
This was one of my bottles, so I knew what it was when I put my nose in the glass. And what a lovely nose that greets me! A mature, rounded, sweet and gorgeous nose with notes of fresh stables, old leather, cigarr ashes and loads of pencil shavings. Very, very yummy.
The taste is equal round and mature with perfectly rounded tannins and sweet, sweet black currants, and notes of cold coffee, roasted root vegetables, autumn leaves and old leather. This is in a perfect drinking window.
93p (tasted 2012/02)
Well, Miran thought that wasn´t enough and proceeded to open to more white wines. And focused had shifted...
2007 Diatom Clos Pepe Chardonnay
I haven´t been impressed with the Chardonnays from this producer before. Bu this was another creature. The nose is more restrained, albeit sweet and big, with notes of yellow apples, mathcbox, summer flowers and vanilla pod. Deep and yummy. Has a big structure but keeps it tight and focused all the same.
The taste is big, steady and warm with notes of yellow apples, almond paste, smoke and sugared candy. Very long. A nice warmth in the finish. The previous bottles from this producer has been flabby, but this keeps it all in, and is a great example of a Californian chardonnay.
92p (tasted 2012/02)
2007 Varner Home Block Spring Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay
If the Jaffurs is unobtainable, this is the unicorn of Chardonnay, if I understand Miran right. Too bad, since this freaking glorious! We were certained that this was a grand cru burgundy, in fact I would have betted on it... The nose is a dream, with elegant, focused, sweet yellow fruit, with just the right amount of butter fried nuts, minerals and a touch of new wood. The smoky notes just adds to the complexity. Very, very deep.
The taste is young, tight and fresh as a daisy with gorgeous yellow fruit, notes of matchbox, nuts, fudge and a touch of vanilla. A salty, mineral note that complements the sweetness perfectly. This is an epic chardonnay! Too bad I never get to buy some...:-(
96p (tasted 2012/02)
And to end the evening I had brought something sweet.
Porto de mais de 40 anos, Agricola e Comercial Dos Vinhos Messias
A cool, mature, soft nose with notes of white raisins, milk chocolate, pan fried nuts and old barrels. A touch fleeting, but nice. The sweetness is of that old, rounded character, which is very nice.
The taste is more concentrated and with more backbone than the nose. Notes of cold sugared coffe, pan fried nuts and black raisins. There is still some tannins that leave a mark, although not that big, in the finish. Rather long. Very, very good.
It is from Portugal, it taste like an old port, but what it is? I have no idea....anyone with a clue, let me know!
88p (tasted 2012/02)
I did make use of the spitoon but since it was so many hard-to-spit wines, the saturday was a tad heavy...:-)
No comments:
Post a Comment