WTN: Quick hits on a lot of great wines

[David M. Bueker]

At a holiday pot luck/bottle luck party last night. Didn't take formal notes, so these are general impressions. Of course many of the wines were so fantastic that they left very lasting impressions.

1990 Pol Roger Rose
Still fruity, but also gaining an earthy note. Way too easy to drink.

2006 F.X. Pichler Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Von den Terassen
Rich in texture, peppery & delicious with a home made broccoli and leek soup. It was also superlative with the butternut squash & bacon risotto.

2002 Louis Latour Mersault
A nice showing - plenty of fruit and some spicy oak that wan't too intrusive & went well with the foods.

1988 Chateau Lafon Rochet
Can you say tannins? It's still showing very young, but may always be a beast. Did a great job with the meatballs though.

1975 Chateau Latour
Resolved though still quite dusty.

1990 Chateau Palmer
Class in a glass. Lots of fruit, still tannic but in a very balanced way. Overall impression is very Margaux. I got a lot of this as it was in magnum!

2002 Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne Romanee
Too young but also too delicious. Velvety fruit & effusive perfume. Lovely & my favorite wine of the evening. The host made boeuf bourgignon & this was a match made in heaven.

1998 Parker Coonawara Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Mint, sap & lots of dark fruit. This still needs a lot of time, but I wonder if it will ever be balanced.

2000 Clos du Mont Olivet Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Papet
Ready to drink though not overly complex. Good wine for a very cold night.

1991 Warre's Vintage Port
Fruity, slightly nutty & very tasty after 36 hours of decanting!

There was a lot more wine than this, but that's what I can dredge up from my brain this AM.

Nice mix of wines.

2006 F.X. Pichler Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Von den Terassen
Rich in texture, peppery & delicious with a home made broccoli and leek soup. It was also superlative with the butternut squash & bacon risotto...

I know this is just one wine but have you had generally good luck with 2006 Smaragds recently? I was just looking at some bottles of 06 Knoll Loibenberg GV Smaragd and wondering whether I should put them on the top or the bottom layer of wine boxes. I decided to play it safe and put them on the bottom but it sounds like this was showing nicely.

[David M. Bueker]

I have had very good luck overall with the bigger 2006 Austrians. I have decided to drink most of them in the near term thus mitigating the potential that their higher than normal alcohol trips them up in the future when the baby fat is gone. I will keep a few bottles for the sake of science (and to test the glass stoppers on some of the Salomon wines), but that's all.

I have had very good luck overall with the bigger 2006 Austrians. I have decided to drink most of them in the near term thus mitigating the potential that their higher than normal alcohol trips them up in the future when the baby fat is gone..

That sounds like a good strategy. I thought they might be awkward (extrapolating from some recent 2006 German wines) but given my space limitations and the amount of other wine I have that truly needs age, no need to stock the cellar any more than necessary.

Nice notes. I regret not buying more 90 PR rose, drank my last 3-4 years ago.
I tend to like Parker Estate more than most Aussies.
The Mugneret village wine is always great for level IMHO.