First the notes from a tasting held in Oslo 31.August. Due to a very crowdy tasting, it was hard to take proper notes. So most are just scribbled down very fast.
Champagne Cuvee Saint-Vincent blanc de blancs 1996, R.& L.Legras
Intence chalky nose with hints of mushrooms (almost Cramant-like), dark bread. Structured and powerful in the mouth. Fruit young, but quite giving also. Intence and long. This is a very fine blanc de blancs-champagne and one of the highlights of the day.
Chablis 1er cru Montee de Milieu 2004, Billaud-Simon
Seaweed and chalk in the nose. Quite typical.Slight fat in the mouth. Seaweed, some mineral. No oak. Fine Chablis, but a little soft style. Not for long cellaring. Try again in 2-3 years.
Chablis Grand cru Moutonne 2002, Long-Depaquit
More chalk and darker notes og oyster, lobster. Mineral and intence. More power in the mouth and better structure. Also a little oak right now. Fine, needs time.
Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Les Folatieres 2004, Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet
Fine nutty and flowery nose, some oak. Some mineral. Typical, structured and young in the mouth. Fine balance, but needs a little time to integrate. Fine.
Corton-Charlemagne Grand cru 2001, Bonneau du Martray
Typical and elegant citrusy and mineral nose. Elegant and typical also in the mouth. But not the most structured Bonneau du Martray. One to drink a little earlier than other vintages. Still a great wine and a highlight of the evening.
Riesling Clos Windsbuhl 2002, Zind-Humbrecht
Honeyed, mineral and lightly botrytised nose. Ripe, intence and powerful in the mouth. Noticable sweetness, but fine structure. Very good, will probably age well.
Gewürztraminer Clos Windsbuhl 2002, Zind-Humbrecht
Spicy, aromatic and typical gewürztraminer with hints of rosewater. Powerful and concentrated, but with low acids and short. Slight sweetness. For the lovers of this grape.
Saarburger Rausch riesling auslese 1999, Geltz-Zilliken
AP: 6-00. Closed nose. Slight petrol and honey, mineral. But not giving much at all. Also closed in the mouth. But quite heavy and sweet styled. Perhaps lacking a little structure. Decent wine. Give it time.
Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg riesling auslese #33 2002, Karthäuserhof
More flowers and mineral showing here. Also honey. Still quite young. Intence and fine riesling-fruit in the mouth. Sweet, but structured and balanced. Long. Give it 10 years. Great wine.
Pernand-Vergelesses 1er cru Ile des Vergelesses 2002, Chandon de Briailles
Soft and elegant wine. Quite flowery nose with hints of anise. Traditional and elegant style in the mouth. Some rasberries. Very fin PN. Soft with good acids and little tannins. Nice anise-bitterness in the finish.
Volnay 1999, Michel Lafarge
Intence Volnay-nose. This has really opened up nicely. Flowery high-notes, rasberries, anise, tar. Intence and structured in the mouth. Concentrated fruit, still quite primary. With some anise and tar. Good length. Very fine.
Volnay Clos du Chateau des Ducs 1997, Michel Lafarge
Less intence than the village 99, but more floral depth here and a little noticable oak. Medium bodied and a little slimmer style than the village 99. Fruit a little young yet. Give it anoher 2-3 years. Structure surprisingly good given the vintage. Good Volnay, but perhaps lacks a little weight.
Gevrey-Chambertin En Champs 2002, Geantet-Pansiot
Darker notes, intence floral and cherries, dark fruits. Concentrated and young in the mouth. Quite hard and tannic finish. But seems to have the stuffing. Give it another 5 years.
Nuits-St.-Georges 1er cru Les Chaignots 2002, Robert Chevillon
Quite intence and slightly earthy Nuits-nose. Some mineral. Young, structure and closed in the mouth. Tannic end. Fine stuffing. Give it time.
Nuits-St.-Georges 1er cru Clos des Porrets 2000, Henri Gouges
Shows much more on the nose. Tar, earth, floral hints. Quite complex and intence. But a little slimmer and less concentrated than expected in the mouth. A great nose-wine.
Chateauneuf-du-Pape La Crau 2003, Vieux Telegraphe
Lightly complex and typical grenache-dominated earthy nose. In the mouth this shows much more the vintage-heat with concentrated almost amarone-like raisiny fruits and high alcohols in the finish.
Chianti Classico Riserva La Prima 2003, Vicchiomaggio
Typical Chianti-nose; Cherry-stones, dark berries some tar. Powerful Chianti, a little fleshy. Traditional style and not too ripe fruits, but a little softer and less tannin than normal. Good.
Sangiovesto 2001, Badia a Coltibuono
Fruity sangio-nose of cool cherries, morellos, earth, tar and some oak. Tight and concentated in the mouth. Noticable oak and young cool fruit. Fine acids and a little tannic end. Very fine indeed. Give it 5-6 more years. Shoot me, I liked this a lot.
Clos de Tart Grand cru 2001, Mommessin
Shoot again, I liked this too. Extremely intence floral and mineral nose. Some rasberries. Powerful and very concentrated in the mouth. Highly intence wine, but elegant and feminin fruit with a lot of florality and minerality. Fine acids and not too tannic finish. A softer styled Clos de Tart and perhaps the best of the 3-4 vintages I have tasted of this wine.
Nuits-St.-Georges 1er cru La Richemone 2002, Alain Michelot
Clean Nuits-nose, but softer with more rasberries than the norm. Medium bodied and clean, fruity styled Nuits in the mouth. Some rasberries and tar. Fine wine, but not a great climat for Nuits.
Barolo Margheria 1999, Luigi Pira
Fine typical nose of cherries and tar. Fullbodied and a Barolo inbetween traditional/modern in style. Quite fruity, but with fine Serralunga-hints og tar and some complexity. Young and good structure.
Barolo Cannubi-San Lorenzo-Ravera 2001, Giuseppe Rinaldi
What a nose. Highly traditional Barolo with complex and intence nose of anise, tar and loads of flowery high-notes. So tempting. In the mouth this is more closed and young. Great structure and tannic wine. Really a tremendous Barolo and my red of the evening. Give it 10-15 years.
Barolo Conca 1999, Fratelli Revello
It was not easy being served after the Rinaldi. This showed so much simpler and weaker. But there is some fine things here too. Nice notes of tar and cherries in the nose. Quite intence. Far less structure in the mouth, quite a kind Barolo. Drinking fairly now. Decent.
Puligny-Montrachet Combettes 1990, Robert Ampeau
Steely mineral, some nuts in the nose. Mature fruit in the mouth, but very fine structure. Nutty, a little oak showing. Good, but a little simple and underwhelming for this producer.
Meursault Perrieres 1990, Robert Ampeau
This shows much more complex nose. Mineral, citrus, nutty. In the mouth it has even better structure. Almost a bit aggressive acid. Fine fruit, complex, mineral, nutty. Citrusy finish. Very good wine, but give it another 5 years.
The next tasting was amongst good friends on September 4th. The theme was simply good whites. Nothing more specific this time. Wine were tasted double blind. Here are the notes:
Steiner Hund riesling reserve 2001, Nikolaihof (my bottle)
Yellow colour. Very fine and complex nose of honey, mineral; some slate. Slight fat, but slimmer than expected in the mouth. Good concentration. Honey, but mostly mineral fruit. Racy dry riesling. Young. Very fine acids and length. Shows great potensial in the nose. Drinks surprisingly well now, but I would give it a few more years. Great wine.
Saint Aubin 1er cru Sur Gamay 2004, Henri Prudhon
Yellow colour. Fruity and lightly oaked nose. Flowers, a little candied and sugary. Some french oak-notes. some citrus. Good body. Citrusy in the mouth, mineral hints, a little floral depth, but quite simple wine. Some oak. Good acids. Medium length. Good, but not great. Could this be chardonnay?? Seems a bit too aromatic. If Chardonnay I guess one lesser village in the Cote d'Or. Perhaps Saint Aubin. Village quality - too simple for 1er cru.
Alsace Tokay-Pinot Gris Vieilles vignes 1990, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht
Deep yellow colour. Old nose, Honey, old woods, mineral, some greenness. A little touch botrytis. Fullbodied and a bit rustic in the mouth. Off-dry style. Good concentration still. Mature fruits. Ok acids. Not very high. Rustic finish; old woods. Traditional style. Fine and mature wine; a bit on the rustic side. Rheingau or Alsace? - I go for Alsace, not riesling, less aromatic here. Perhaps Pinot gris. Vintage; end of eighties, but not 89; not enough botrytis. I guess 88.
Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Champ-Gain 1990, Marc Chevillot
Yellow colour. Odd nose; not clean. Some cork. Shows some mineral, floral notes. More cork in the mouth. Good structure.
Mas de Daumas Gassac blanc 1997, Vin de Pays de l'Herault - Haute vallee du Gassac
Golden colour. Strange nose. Floral high-notes, aromatic hints of ginger and orange-peel, some caramel. Fullbodied in the mouth. Aromatic. Seems mature, but no complexity or depth here. Pure fruits, a little spicy. Much orange-peel and ginger. Medium acids. Good length. Seems to have structure. I have no idea what this is. I never tasted anything like it. FYI the main grapes here are; Viognier, chardonnay, petit manseng and chenin blanc (making up 90% of the blend) with another 10-15 grape-varieties making the rest of the blend.
Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle riesling auslese 1989, Verwaltung der Staatlichen weinbaudomänen Niederhausen-Schlossböckelheim, Nahe, 9,5% alc., AP: 1 750 053 035 90
Yellow colour. Petrol, typical mature riesling-nose. Complex. Honey, green flowers, slate. Very fine indeed. Quite sweet in the mouth, with fresh acids. Flowery, green. some mushrooms - could it be Ruwer. Low alcohol. Citrusy long finish. Very good style. Refreshing, complex, structured and great balance. My wine of the day. Could be Ruwer, could be Nahe. I go wrong - for Ruwer. Vintage? 88 or 90?? This is structured wine for an 89.
Riesling Clos Windsbuhl 2002, Zind-Humbrecht
Deep straw colour. Citrusy and mineral nose with hints of slate. Off-dry in the mouth. Medium bodied, some slate, flowery, citrus in the fruit. Young. Good acids, a bit kind style, not very aromatic. Round and elegant. Rheinpfalz or hessen? Too elegant for Alsace? I go wrong - and I tasted this wine only 4 days ago with one of the other participants. We did not recognize this at all. This bottle seemed so less heavy and more elegant.
Grasberg 1999, Marcel Deiss
Yellow colour. Shy nose, some green apples, honey. Good body, structured, green applepeel. A bit bitter. Drier than the Zind-Humbrecht. Medium length. Needs time. Fine wine. Alsace-style. But what grape?? Aromatic enough for a riesling? I'm confused. FYI this is a blend of riesling, pinot gris, gewürztraminer and pinot blanc.
Rutherglen classic Muscat 12 years average age, Stanton & Killeen
Dark brown colour. Huge sugary nose with hints of caramel, citrus, some aromatic notes of orange peel, some old woods. Extreme in the mouth. More fruits. Very sweet. Caramel, burnt sugar, light spice, orange peel. Not very complex. Good acids. Fresh citrusy finish. Long taste. I thought PX first when I saw this, but this is too aromatic and more refreshing than PX. Must be some fortified muscat or perhaps malvasia.