WTN: Chinese Take-Away (Muscadet, Tavel, Ruwer, Beaujolais)

[David M. Bueker]

We had a whole raft of different wines with some Chinese take-out last night (typical first night meal when my folks are visiting...):

2004 Pepiere Muscadet Cuvée Eden (night two)
Still bracing in its overall impression, but a little more open on the palate. Fruit turning slightly tropical. Holding well. Still some left for night three.

2005 Domaine de la Mordoree Tavel Rosé
Strawberry juice with floral accents. Perhaps a bit chalky on the palate, but overall quite slurpable. Lovely color.

1998 Karlsmuhle Lorenzhofer Riesling Spatlese (Ruwer)
Beautiful in its maturity. Creamy, smoky, apple compote and citrus with an underpinning of minerals. Balanced sugar and acidity (this was perhaps a bit oversweet on release), and a long, smoky finish.

2004 Château Thivin Côte de Brouilly
Kick the Tavel up two steps. The fruit is also a bit tart (I like this) and more than just strawberry. The tartness comes in the form of cherries. Also quite refreshing on a hot, humid evening

We opened the 2004 Eden here last night, David. I found it to be quite more forceful than Briords (either '04 or '05). The flavor profile is larger and there is more lemon pith tartness to it. I think you'll find more subtlety and elegance in the Briords. Both are great muscadet though, that's for sure.

[James Roscoe]

I have to get my hands on more muscadet!

1998 Karlsmuhle Lorenzhofer Riesling Spatlese (Ruwer)
Beautiful in its maturity. Creamy, smoky, apple compote and citrus with an underpinning of minerals. Balanced sugar and acidity (this was perhaps a bit oversweet on release), and a long, smoky finish.

I recently had the 99 - not a vintage I'm usually terribly fond of but it was great. Read very much like your note except I would have liked a bit more acidity (as in all 99s). You say underpinning of minerality. Do you mean that, like with my 99, it wasn't as obvious as with most Ruwers but was still a persistent undercurrent?

I have really enjoyed the few Karlsmühles I've had - they even made a brilliant 97 (another vintage I'm not fond of).

Do the participants of this board know how insanely jealous you are making me with these notes on Thivin (and Brun though not in this thread thankfully) and Pepiere? I love Bojos and Muscadets but these aren't available to me yet whenever I see notes on them I am drooling. I need Thivin, Brun and Pepiere really bad!!!! But winesearcher doesn't show any shop in the EU that would ship them to Finland.

[David M. Bueker]

1998 Karlsmuhle Lorenzhofer Riesling Spatlese (Ruwer)
Beautiful in its maturity. Creamy, smoky, apple compote and citrus with an underpinning of minerals. Balanced sugar and acidity (this was perhaps a bit oversweet on release), and a long, smoky finish.

I recently had the 99 - not a vintage I'm usually terribly fond of but it was great. Read very much like your note except I would have liked a bit more acidity (as in all 99s). You say underpinning of minerality. Do you mean that, like with my 99, it wasn't as obvious as with most Ruwers but was still a persistent undercurrent?

I have really enjoyed the few Karlsmühles I've had - they even made a brilliant 97 (another vintage I'm not fond of).

The Karsmuhle has so much stuffing that the minerality cannot get through. I get it deep within its core of fruit, smoke and cream. I know it's there, but the wine tastes so good now I am not going to wait the 10-12 more years it will take for the minerals to come to the fore.

I enjoy Karlsmuhle very much as well. I don't buy much of it which is surprising and a shame.

We opened the 2004 Eden here last night, David. I found it to be quite more forceful than Briords (either '04 or '05). The flavor profile is larger and there is more lemon pith tartness to it. I think you'll find more subtlety and elegance in the Briords. Both are great muscadet though, that's for sure.

I could not get the Briords out here in the Puget Sound area, but I did manage to acquire a 1/2 case of the 2004 Cuvee Eden ($13). An absolute joy to drink.