Weiser Riesling Spätlese “Weiser-Künstler” #5 Enkircher Ellergrub 2006
Thanks to Rainer, who visited this Traben-Trabach winery on the advice of Daniel Vollenweider. 2006 appears to be only their second vintage. The young couple is using their last names (Künstler being her maiden name) for their top Spätlese, something like their private Gold Capsule designation. Pale golden-yellow-green colour. A little CO2. A touch of botrytis to faintly viscous tropical fruit. A blackcurrant superripeness top note (rare in 2006) to sweet pineapple and medium apple. Smoky, lightly grey-peppery minerality. Nice medium body, ripe but refreshing acidity. Less mid-palate density and length than e.g. Vollenweider’s Gold Capsule Spätlese, but a tasty, attractively minerally and sweetly fruity wine. Rainer plans to keep an eye on this winery, and it is easy to see why. Seemingly fatter and more glyceric, as well as minerally after a few days in the fridge. Rating: 88(+?)
Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia 1990
Thanks to my parents, their last bottle, unfortunately (another wine I once bought for them, making sure they would not drink it without me). Deep ruby-black with barely a garnet hue and virtually no orange at the rim, this looked more youthful than earlier bottles (the cork was perfect, too, no stains on its sides whatsoever). As Rainer was quick to point out, this remains the finest Rancia we know (Felsina is my mother’s favourite Chianti producer, especially again now that Fattoria Valtellina is no longer in existence), even if not all bottles were quite as racy and precise (some were tarrier with oak). More mature on the nose than on the palate. Berry bush aroma, a ginger freshness to quite sweet black cherry and dried tomato. Complex and not too tarry at all (my mom prefers the new oak-free Berardenga Chianti bottlings, whereas my dad and Rainer and I like them all). Nice, almost pretty cinnamon and cedar oak. A firm backbone of lightly (classically) austere and lightly (far from offensively) oaky tannin, which Rainer was quick to point out is neither astringent nor drying for a 1990 at all. Lovely acidity. Rather long on the finish. No longer resitant to oxidation beyond the first hour or two. Even so, this was one of the handful finest bottles of Chianti I have ever had. Rating: 94-
Tenuta dell’Ornellaia (Marchese Lodovico Antinori) Ornellaia 1997
65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, aged 12 months in French oak, 50% of which new. Thanks to my parents, who opened this for Rainer and me, a wine I last had six years ago and which now seems in full bloom. Full lightly purple ruby-black. Bell pepper, sweet Merlot pipe tobacco and plum and Cabernet Sauvignon blackcurrant jam. High-grade Christmas spice box oak. Has density and a full body, warmth of fruit and a very smooth finish (this virtually melts on one’s palate like an oily square of milk chocolate). Increasingly Californian on the nose, and a bit honeyed. Faint petrol top note. More filling, less mouth-cleansing than the 1990 Rancia, despite some camphor to the licorice stick tannin. “Ultra-elegant” is what Rainer called this, but then he later quipped “like a blonde.” Well-made, quite opulent, but a combination of ripeness, virtual absence of minerality and wine-making style that literally puts me to sleep. Drank at least as well the next day, after it had sat in the decanter for over 12 hours, the 1997 remains my favourite Ornellaia. Believe it or not, everyone at the table, with the possible exception of my father, preferred the Rancia. Let me try and be fair: the quality is undeniable, it was a privilege to re-evaluate the 1997 now that it has entered a plateau of maturity (early or “blossoming” maturity is my favourite phase) but to be honest, I will not miss it if I never get to drink this again (seems preferable sometimes to treasure a memory of something relatively positive, than retry and spoil it) – nor any wine like it. I have a new theory, which is that there is wine, just like foodstuff, which is invigorating, versus food and wine that sucks the very life out of me (e.g. hors-sol tomatoes), thus makes me feel like I should avoid it (i.e. not the same as to say it smells or tastes bad!). This is somewhere in between, not too bad in this regard, if perhaps closer to the latter than the former. Rating: 93
Clemens Busch Riesling Auslese Long Gold Capsule #17 Pündericher Marienburg 2006
From half bottle thanks to Rainer. Says “Lange Goldkapsel” on the label, but the capsule itself is anthracite-coloured! Unusually clean if strong, brown-bready botrytis for the vintage, viscous honey backed by racy, aromatic acidity. Slightly Aszú-Eszencia-like apricoty peach, banana in maple syrup and peanut. The underlying minerality and just barely exotic fruit show impressive depth. Long finish. Slightly heavy-handed at first, probably an Auslese with the must weight of a TBA, but the mid-palate density of a BA, but balm-mintier, more precise and livelier with airing. Loire Chenin Blanc-like overripe strawberry top note. “Elegant for Busch”, Rainer said, half in jest. 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