I've been chatting up my friend on the wonders of dry riesling for months and we decided to get together for dinner with a few friends and see what dry riesling could do. As usual there was plenty of furious preparation with one friend tending the grill, another friend working on the sauces and me shucking the shrimp as we popped open the 2006 Germano Ettore Alta Langa, a traditional method sparkler from Piemonte in northwestern Italy made from chardonnay and pinot noir. Great crisp fruit in this wine, plenty of body and quite refreshing. I'm not sure how many sparkling wines I've had from Piemonte (none?) but I'd gladly revisit this classic wine. As the grilling finished and the dishes came together, we put the food on the table to enjoy with our wines. The shrimp in spicy tamarind sauce, which is actually a phenomenal and easy dish to make, was unfortunately hideously oversalted (whoops, my mistake in not giving the shrimp a good rinse after using salt to 'refresh' them before cooking). But the other dishes came out as intended: a simple and delightful asparagus and shiitake mushroom stirfry (soaking dried shiitake all day long does make a difference!), grilled eggplant with seared scallions (and a wonderful garlicky dipping sauce), and grilled garlicky five-spice pork steaks.
First up was the 2004 Domaine Valentin Zusslin Riesling Clos Liebenberg from Alsace in eastern France which was very tasty. Just a touch of age to the taste, with some chrome elements, but plenty of fruit and tastes cushioned. By far, the best wine with the food, but as it warmed, I think we all found it a bit, pardon the term, slutty. Everything it had to offer, it offered upfront. Delicious, but a bit less serious than the other wines on the table. I'd have it again in a second, though, what a delicious wine. The 2007 Germano Ettore Langhe Riesling Hérzu (again from Piemonte in northwestern Italy) was as stunning, if not more so, than my original taste of it a year and a half ago. Classic, and I mean classic, riesling notes. Narrowly defined, it offered firmness, structure and definition, it stood up to the food, but performed best alone, where you could really notice how incredibly firm and structured it was. Dear me, it was delicious, and the wine of the night for two of my friends. For me, though the 2006 Rudolf Fürst Centgrafenberg Riesling "R" from Franken in southcentral Germany was not only the wine of the night, it was one of the best dry rieslings I have ever had. The nose on this wine is a reason to drink wine altogether. The wine changes dramatically overtime, I opened it 12 hours before dinner and it was still changing in beautiful ways the day after the dinner. The wine is stunning, delicious, focused. Ungodly good—everyone appreciated it, but I was utterly in love with it.
After dinner, a friend perused my wines and selected the 2006 Jacques Puffeney Poulsard Arbois from the Jura in eastern France to try (good choice!). Beautifully perfumed, a bit salty, great ethereal touch to the flavors, it stood up to the lighter cheeses (an aged gouda and spanish sheep's milk (?) cheese) but not the more aromatic and strong camembert and very impressive and very stinky cow's milk cheese from Colorado. One of the wines that just makes me happy. A delicious finish to the evening. And a great chance for dry riesling and a supporting cast to shine!