Last night the stars aligned and I managed to catch up with Thor Iverson in between his travels.
With dinner
1996 Nigl Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben
With just a little bit of air this becomes wonderfully seamless golden herbal grüner. Nice firm palate weight but nothing too heavy. A perfect match with my haddock, escarole, and perfectly-salted potatoes.
2002 Baudry Chinon Les Grézeaux
This drinks well from the beginning although a bit of air allows it to stretch out into a delightfully dark but fresh Grézeaux. For my tastes, this is in a nice phase where there are no tannic edges sticking out but the fruit is still juicy and fresh-ish.
Postprandial
1997 Muré Pinot Gris Vorbourg Clos St. Landelin
Sweet and oxidized. Just one sip and we move on.
2002 Paul Blanck Gewurztraminer Altenbourg
I don’t drink much gewurztraminer or much Alsatian wine but from the first sip I was impressed with the elegance around the edges of the wine. Luckily I had a companion at hand to explain the terroir, but even without that knowledge this is an easy wine to like with rich dark-ish fruit and a fine fine structure. Thor complains that this isn’t as ‘open’ as the last bottle he drank, or at least not showing all the meaty flavor elements he craves, but for my naïve tastes it was gushing with easy pleasure/alcohol.
2008 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel
A juicy fruit cocktail (the pre-dinner kind that my aunt used to serve) but with all the delightful rocky mineral notes one expects from the Mosel. Very easy to drink. And that we did.
Post consciousness
There was some Amaro involved and then a taxi ride.