WTN: Rheinhessen Großes Gewächs and white Bordeaux

2005 St. Antony Niersteiner Orbel Rheinhessen Riesling Großes Gewächs QbA Trocken (Rheinhessen, Germany) 13.5% - appears very golden yellow, dark, some tiny bubbles suspended within, smell bit closed, tiny bit of stone, some glue or cotton candy, sweet dandelions/weeds (nice hint of sweetness), and just a touch of alcohol sneaking through (which is most likely what the glue/cotton candy thing is), mouthfeel thick, bit heavy, taste faint but sharp fruit, lots of medicinal spice and eucalyptus, finish is a bit weak, faint hint of lime, not much else, at the end of the day, the alcohol felt more forward and threw things out of balance, rather interesting as this is one of the very few wines that I have aged myself (albeit for a very short period)—I first tried it about a year ago and it is shocking how much the wine has changed, though I didn’t take careful notes (at it was just a tasting), I certainly remember a bit more sweetness (though not much) and fruit a year ago, that has now faded away and it is neat to taste the substructure lying beneath, in this case, to be honest, it wasn’t all that interesting and the alcohol really threw things out of balance, much more enjoyable before, but very educational now, 13 euro when I bought it, not worth that now, not sure if it was worth it then

2006 Château Graville-Lacoste Graves Blanc [blend of approximately 80 percent Sémillon, 15 percent Sauvignon Blanc and 5 percent Muscadelle] (Graves AOC, Bordeaux, France) 12.5%, imported to USA by Kermit Lynch, Berkeley, California – appears medium corn gold, super reflective, smell nice forward bouquet, bit of paint, grass, some pear, tangerine, very nice meld of fruit and paint, mouthfeel bit viscous, taste spicy on entry on tongue, lively pineapple, nicely rounded but with a good dose of lemon acid, herbs and honeycomb cereal, lasting wonderful dryness lurking but also heavier fruit center hidden within, this wine paired really well with some cold leftover pizza (lazy evening), but I found it so scrumptious on its own, I didn’t really think about pairings, yikes, I was pretty happy with the price I paid ($18) for the lovely experience it provided, but then I saw that when I last had a Graves Blanc (from another producer) it only set me back 12 bucks (in 2005), nonetheless, I was very, very happy with the clean, refreshing, and wonderful experience I had with this wine. From Kermit Lynch: Aged in stainless steel.

since you are in germany you obviously have a keyboard you can switch back and forth - pretty cool. the price for the grosses gewachs is about half what i've seen them for here in the US. sounds like that wine needs another 5 or more years of aging.

cold leftover pizza (lazy evening)

Lazy indeed.

No access to a heating device?

sounds like that wine needs another 5 or more years of aging.

It's interesting that you should say that, David. As I noted above, I have little experience aging wine in general or Riesling in particular--so it is great to hear other perspectives, as I had wondered while drinking it whether it was on its way anywhere (my impression, due primarily to the uncomfortable tinge of alcohol, was that it was going in the wrong direction and I didn't sense a lot of promise in the structure underneath). But, then again, I've heard many times that aging is not a linear process, and, of course, it's been only three years that this thing has been in bottle, so . . . The funny thing is I was trying to follow what I thought was some sort of aging guideline on the bottle, with two years listed in black and a third listed in gold (2006 in black, 2008 in gold, 2010 in black). Perhaps rather than the gold representing the peak for the wine (which I had guessed) it was actually when the wine would be in an uncomfortable adolescence--oops!

No access to a heating device?

Nope, not besides my overheating laptop (which might've done the job) . . . I was in a hotel room at the time.