Since Rainer had missed Albino’s “birthday party”, Albino und Andrea invited him (and me – yippie!) for a wonderful "leftovers" dinner.
Úri Borok (Vince Gergely) Tokaji Eszencia 2003
We were welcomed with a glass from the same bottle I reported on last Wednesday. All Rainer said was that he could not ever buy apricots dried anymore since real ones never taste quite as surreal as the ones one „gets“ here. A minute later he said the same about iced tea ;^)
Instead of writing another TN on the same, let me just add an excerpt from a mail by our friend Ambrus:
A few notes about Vince's Eszencias. He measured their sugar content by a refractometer. His refractometer goes up to 72% - meaning 72% dry matter content by weight (so called weight/weight% as opposed to weight/volume%). This means that one kg of liquid measured by the refractometer at 72% contains 720 grams of dry matter. One litre of such a must weighs 1,36kg - that means a must weight of 360 Oechsle, 61,2 KMW or 72 Brix. According to official standards, such a must contains approx. 832 grams of sugar per litre. Right after harvest Vince measured the 2000 Eszencia with the refractometer, and found that it was above 72. He measured both 2003 Eszencias right after harvesting each, too. Either of these two were above 72 as well. You wrote somewhere earlier that "the sugar-free dry extract of high octane Esszencia is usually around 10% of the total extract". Assuming this to be nearer to the truth than the official standards, the result would be around 881 grams of sugar per litre. Either way, each of these three Eszencias must have contained more than 800g/l sugar right after the harvest, although it's perfectly feasible that they contain somewhat less than 800g/l now, since they might have absorbed some water from the air even in the carboys when shortly opened for tasting... I have measured the density of a sample from the top of the first lot of 2003 Eszencia - the result was 1,332 (=332 Oechsle). It might well be that at the bottom of the carboy it was even denser (Vince told me the sugar started to crystallise at the bottom, like in honey). But even if the whole lot diluted to the density I measured, it still contains at least 762 grams of sugar per litre. This wasn't really important, of course, but I thought it would be nice to let you know that a refractometer reading of 72 means much more sugar than 720 grams per litre.
Indeed, one cannot drink numbers, but it seems to me important to realize two things: these wines tend to have equally high acidity, an additional reason not to drink too much of them – I remember Albino almost went into a sugar shock once during the 1999 vintage in Tokaj, literally, having gulped down a litre or one and a half within a few hours whilst treading grapes! Also, there is no need to open bottles only if one has enough guests: an open bottle will keep fresh in the fridge for a very long time, not just Eszencia from the heavily oxidized Socialist era style. Especially great ones like this. Rating: 100
Some time later last night, after the Dunn and before retasting a last glass of Guigal’s 1991 La Landonne (had suffered a bit), Albino suddenly looked up and said: “Regardless of how much residual sugar that Eszencia holds, bet I’ll get it frozen using the liquid nitrogen I got outside in no time.” – Thank goodness Erik wasn’t here, he might have taken his word for it...
Heribert Kerpen Beerenauslese #23 Wehlener Sonnenuhr 2003
Half bottle thanks to Rainer. Full yellow gold, soft green hue. Rather concentrated, thick and sweet for a Kerpen (perhaps not quite as exceptional as his 2005 Graacher Domprobst BA in this regard), intriguing herb top notes, nicely clean faintly bready botrytis, fairly oily-viscous medium apple and candied pineapple, medium minerality, fairly long. Rating: 91+
Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 2002
Thanks to Rainer. Aged in 75% new oak, Vicard Nevers M+ plus some Alliers, in other words, much oakier than our favourite vintages from the early and mid-nineties, and yet, not nearly as oaky as so many wines today. Sterile filtered but no fined. Opaque ruby-purple, lightly watery purple at the rim. Intense iodine once again (Rainer said he would like to have a Dunn with Oysters one of these days). Really no different from last time, cool and precise, refreshing and quite intense: iodine, sea salty minerality, intense clove, a touch of tobacco, medicinal eucalyptus, some macerated violet, rosemary, lively core of racy grape peel and blackberry. Quite full body, quite long, not rustic at all for young Dunn, fruity aftertaste that is perhaps a bit less complex than the wine’s mid-palate impact. As much fun as this is to taste now, it is tempting to say it is one to drink or hold. It seems likely it will close down some day, though. Rating: 92+/93?
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti