Some more notes on wines had with dinner during summer.
Foja Tonda 2003, Albino Armani
Tight and dark colour. Spicy nose with hints of dark berries, some oak and slightly floral notes. Medium bodied wine with decent concentration and quite simple fruit with hints of spice and dark berries, some oak. Fine acids and lightly tannic end. Seems a bit hollow in the middle. The nose is best. Decent quality, but a bit too expensive.
Schilcher Hochgrail 2005, Langmann vulgo Lex
One of two single-vineyard-Schilchers from Langmann. Clean pink colour. Fruity nose with hints of rec currant, nettle, minerals. Fine, quite intence and fresh. Fullbodied schilcher in the mouth. Fresh and acidic and quite fruit-driven with good concentration. Currant and citrus. Nettle. Some minerals. Currant in the finish. Typical high acids, but as extreme as normal in the balance. Good length. A quite mild and fruity schilcher with good concentration. Very fine.
Schilcher Greisdorf 2005, Langmann vulgo Lex
Yes, here is the other single-vineyard-schilcher. Clean pink colour. The intence and fresh nose shows nettle, minerals and citrus. Refreshing and slim schilcher in the mouth with very high acids. Really a "masochist"-wine. This is a more mineral-driven schilcher with hints of nettle and citrus. Much slimmer than the Hochgrail with more mineral, higher acids and longer taste and less fruit.
Clean, mineral, refreshing and long schilcher that really needs food. Very fine.
Riesling trocken 2004, Weingut P.J.Valckenberg
From the weingut in Rheinhessen. Green/straw colour. Nose shows sweet flowers, green leafs and some slate. Medium bodied, dry and a bit alcoholrich riesling in the mouth. Quite slim fruit of medium concentration. Less aromatic than normal for riesling. SHows some fine notes of slate with green leafs and flowers. No great depth. Decent acids, but the alcohol is too much noticable in the finish. Would have been better with a little more residual sugar. A decent product of modest quality in the lower price-scale.
Barbera d'Alba 1993, Bruno Giacosa
Quite light brown-red colour. Leathery complex and intence nose with hints of minerals (stone), some red berries and floral notes. Light barbera in the mouth, fruity and unoaked and with an evolved leatheriness. Medium concentration, still on top. Refreshing acids and good length. Some red berries in the finish. Mature and fine foodwine. Drink up.
Cremant du Jura extra brut 1996, Andre et Mireille Tissot
From 100% chardonnay and made by Stephane Tissot. Straw colour. Fine and mineral nose of dark bread, chalk, some flowers and citrus. Quite fullbodied in the mouth with fine mousse. Concentrated and more powerful than a Cote de blancs-champagne. But acidic and cool fruited. Fine complexity and quite a lot of chalkiness. Long taste with citrus and chalk. A very fine effort and interesting wine at a very reasonable price.
Kirrweiler Mandelberg weissburgunder spätlese trocken 2001, Weingut Bergdolt
Straw colour. Very fine nose of minerals, green flowers, nuts, quite balsamic. Powerful and concentrated weissburgunder in the mouth. Round and balsamic wine. Some fat, but beautiful balance and interesting fruit. Quite flowery and with fine minerals. Good acids and length. Drinking very good now. Weissburgunder doesn't get much better. A competitor for one of the best pinot blancs around.
Vin santo (rosso) Fattoria di Santa Cristina 1967, Marchesi Ludovico e Piero Antinori
This is the red vin santo, which is so rare today. The colour is red-brown. Quite browning, all the way to the core. A little green towards the rim. The nose shows old wood, dust, dried fruits, caramel and typical oxidated notes. Some complexity. Fullbodied and half-dry in the mouth. Good concentration. Sweet old woodiness and caramel. Citrus and spice in the finish. Fine acids and good length. A bit rustic, with high alcohol (16%). Fine rancio-styled wine, a bit drier than you expect.
Benoit-Lahaye Champagne brut Grand cru NV
This bottle has degorgement-date 10/2005. Golden colour. Medium fine mousse. Nose shows toasted bread, yeast, chalk. Powerful and more PN-dominated in the mouth with more red fruits. Fine acids. But a little closed and not showing as much as previous bottlings. Young and quite aggressive Champagne. Needs time to settle. Hope it comes around.
Chateau La Bastide 1990, Cotes du Brulhois
This Chateau la Bastide is placed in the Cotes du Brulhois and should not be confused with the Chateau la Bastide of Corbieres in Languedoc-Roussillon. Wine is made from tannat, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Deep red colour. No bricking. The nose shows pencil lead, blackcurrant, green leafs, tobacco and some rubber. Medium bodied in the mouth. Medium concentratted Bordeaux-like wine on the green and rustic side. The fruit shows pencil lead and tobacco. Quite evolved, but lacking depth and complexity. Medium acids and some green and hard tannins in the finish. Modest quality, but fair for the cheap price. Shows a little more fruit with air.
Castello della Sala pinot noir 1992, Antinori
Brick-red colour. Earthy pinot noir on the nose with hints of mint, oak, anise and some floral high-notes. Mature and structured in the mouth with noticable oak and hard and green tannins in the finish. Low concentration of fruit. Evovled and a little complex. Quite fine fruit, but this has seen too much oak and the balance is not good.
Villa Antinori 2002, Antinori
Why on earth do people always give me Antinori-wines? Deep purple-red colour. Nose shows coffee, oak, dark berries, slight floral high-notes. Good body in the mouth. Simple fruit that shows dark berries and oak. But the wine is hollow with nothing in the middle. It's a balloon. Medium acids, tannins and length. Quite boring and forgettable without any focus.
Steeger St.Jost grosses gewächs 2001, Weingut Ratzenberger
AP: 1 698 179 10 05. Straw/greenish colour. Quite light. Fine nose of petrol, green flowers, herbs, some slate. Medium bodied dry riesling in the mouth. Quite slim style and mineral fruit. More subdued than aromatic. A bit on the underripe side with hints of citrus and grapefruit in the finish. A little rustic style. Fine acids. Starting to drink fine now. A good food-wine, but a little too expensive.
Nebbiolo d'Alba 1974, Scarpa
Brown-red colour. A bit darker than expected, but quite browning. Nose shows too much oxidation, but with air also some old wood, sour cherries and some floral high-notes. Tired and medium bodied in the mouth with obvious oxidation. A little fruit left giving some cherries. Fine acids too high in the balance and a little tannins in the finish. Barely drinkable and too old.
Mundelsheimer Käsberg trollinger auslese trocken 1990, Schloss Monrepos/Württembergische Hofkammer-kellerei
Transparent redbrown colour. Nose shows autumn leafs, fresh acidic red berries and some anise. Light wine in the mouth with high alcohol. Red berries, autumn leafs in the fruit. Not completely unlike a simple old pinot noir. But also with hints of anise and tobacco and tutti-frutti (typical schiava/trollinger?) in the somewhat bitter finish. The wine shows a little lacking in concentration, probably because it is a little too old. Acids are fine and there are little tannins. Mature trollinger of decent quality and with some aged complexity. Drink up.
Untertürkheimer Mönchberg lemberger kabinett trocken 1990, Schloss Monrepos/Württembergische Hofkammer-kellerei
Light brick-red colour. The distinctive nose shows hay, slate, a little dark berries. It is a light wine in the mouth, but shows more concentration than the
trollinger 1990 from the same producer. The fruit is quite mineral, slatey and with some red berries. But again that note of hay that I find a little disturbing. No great depth. The wine is quite acidic and with some light tannins in the back. Mature now, drink up.
Riesling trocken 1990, August Kesseler
AP:22 016 007 91. Deep yellow colour with slight brown hue. Nose shows typical rheingau-notes with old wood, petrol, honey and some floral hints. In the mouth the wine is dry and slimmer than expected from the area with a high and cleansing acidity. The fruit mature with honey and petrol and some floral depth. Still does not completely escape the rusticity. Good length and a fine little food-wine all in all.