WTN: A long day's lunch (ESJ, Trimbach, Catoir, etc.)

[David M. Bueker]

Saturday "lunch" with Salil, Thor & Theresa.

2003 L Aubry et Fils Le Nombre d'Or Campanae Veteres Vites
A very interesting Champagne that is made up of 25% Fromenteau, 20% Arbanne, 20% Petit Meslier, 15% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir and 5% Pinot Meunier. Very yeasty and very dry it was nonetheless very rich and flavorful. This might be my overall favorite wine from 2003 as it maintains its essential balance much better than virtually anything else I have tasted.

2008 Scholium Project Naucratis Lost Slough Vineyards
There's light fruit and floral elements here, but they are dominated by the wine's alcohol. Not much fun.

2003 Chateau Bela Riesling
Unfortunately corked.

2006 Pascal Granger Chénas
Light red fruit and herb. Lively, refreshing and surprisingly long on the finish. Tasty.

1995 Edmunds St. John Durell Vineyard Syrah
Imposing, impressive, not even close to peak, but it is so gorgeous on the nose with roasted meat, dark fruit and earth, that its brooding, dark, unwilling to come out and play palate can be completely forgiven. The depth of this wine is amazing, and seems to be part of a stylistic line that leads to something like the 2005 Bassetti Vineyard Syrah.

1997 Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile
Developing very well, and I would advocate drinking it now for its lightly creamy, stony and not too severe balance. Very enjoyable.

2000 Domaine Weinbach Gewurztraminer Cuvee Laurence
Classically Gewurz with all the spicy, floral & faintly cooked pineapple elements molded into a seamless whole. Could it use a little more freshness...sure, but the bottle was gone too fast for anyone to really care.

2008 Muller-Catoir Rieslaner Haardter Herzog Spatlese
Spatlese??? More like powerful beerenauslese. This is well-mannered for Rieslaner, with the rustic side turned down but the power turned way up. The 2008 acids keep it balanced, and overall it's an amazingly impressive wine. Just don't expect it to pair with food. Rather it blows away anything around it. Wow.

2003 Rolly Gassmann Tokay Pinot Gris Brandhurst de Bergheim Sélection de Grains Nobles
Sweet, spicy, but lacking enough freshness to keep it interesting for more than a glass or so.

2006 Müller-Catoir Haardter Herzog Rieslaner Beerenauslese
Even richer than the Rolly Gassmann, but more acid makes it a much more balanced package. Delicious and memorable for its spice and richness.

Sounds like a fun time. Sorry I couldn't join. You were drinking much better than I was! (Filtered tap water.. Which is not hard to top)..

Anyway, interesting note on the 08 Rieslaner. And nice to hear such a review of the 95 Durell. I can understand what you mean about stylistic lines (Steve is Steve, even if he evolves) but do you know anything about terroir similarities.

[David M. Bueker]

No clue on any potential similarities between Durell and Bassetti.

Nice notes.
The Naucratis is a white? Scholiums are always interesting.
I really like the 97 CFE, but agree time to drink

The Naucratis is a white? Scholiums are always interesting.

Yes, it's a verdicchio. Posted on the 2008 recently, too alcoholic (15.3%) and unbalanced, at least at this point.

It's a Verdelho, I believe; there's no Verdicchio in CA, yet.

Yes, it's a verdicchio. Posted on the 2008 recently, too alcoholic (15.3%) and unbalanced, at least at this point.

Verdelho, and 16.3% from what I recall.

I had the wine about a year ago and it blew me away. At the time it had amazing depth, minerality and surprising balance given the ripeness and alcohol. The bottle I opened unfortunately was nowhere near that experience. (My note on that is here)

Re. the other wines - dear god was that Rieslaner Spatlese spectacular. I definitely need some of that (as I reckon it could be incredible fun with biryani or Szechuan food or just on its own - I thought it went quite nicely with the cumin marinated kebabs), just flat out amazing wine. Thanks again for opening that David, a real treat.

Among the other wines - we certainly had a great lineup, not too many misses and the Chenas, 06 Catoir BA, Gewurztraminer, ESJ and the Aubry sparkler were all really fun to drink as well. (Liked the CFE as well, though did not give it enough time.)

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for making kabobs Salil. I really do need you to write down a few basic spice blends. I can get the basic idea, but would rather know a few tried and true variations before I go experimenting too much.

Thanks also for the '06 Catoir stickie. It was a fantastic wine. The Naucratis not so much. I tried a small taste again on Sunday, and it was like perfumed rubbing alcohol. It was actually painful due to the heat. Too bad.