Trimbach Riesling Clos Sainte-Hune 1997
A pristine and coolly stored bottle I opened to celebrate a recent auspicious occasion. This started out pale yellow-gold, then deepened visibly for almost half an hour before returning to form – and not merely in colour! My guess is, the 1997 was not sulfured enough, nor does it seem to contain much CO2 – certainly not compared to other, similarly youthful CSH vintages. No premature oxidation as I have read/heard (but then, storage conditions no doubt come into play), this re-stabilized in the glass and then remained up there. Almost unusually natural-tasting even for Clos Sainte-Hune, as Rainer observed. Sweetish-ripe (bone-dry, but uplifted by nice, not warming, let alone hot alcohol) lime, the Swiss bell-shaped apple called (obviously) “Glockenapfel”, pistachio and dill, nice veggies such as leek and fresh celery. Stony minerality with only a hint at the great argillo-calcerous soil typicity. A bit Chablis-like in overall expression. Quite lovely acidity. Good body. Very good length. Ever so faintly petrolly-oily on the finish, as my dad noted. A bit more floral with airing, as Rainer observed. Still outstanding, even so, the CFE is the greater relative success in this vintage than the CSH. Rating: 93-/92(-?)
Château Cos d'Estournel St. Estèphe 2006
Thanks to Rainer. A blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot, from a yield of 38 hl/ha. Relatively deep lightly purple-hued ruby-black. Softly hazelnutty, rather spicy and toasted oak. Lightly roasted albeit not too fruity (that is, a bit lean given the backbone): a wine that is both a bit over-oaked and under-fruited, and that does quite keep on the palate what it promises on the nose. But nicely pure and clean. Earthy and quite minerally. Increasingly strong tobacco. Faint black truffle. A touch of syrupy blackcurrant with airing. A touch of dried sage bitterness underneath (Rainer spoke of tobacco bitterness even). In overall character like a 1988 or 1994 with more polished tannin, greater purity and more oak toast. This should still turn out about outstanding with a few more years of bottle age, even so, I cannot begin to tell how not worth owning a wine like this is in a modern vintage like this... Rating: 88+/89(+?)
Clemens Busch Riesling Spätlese Pündericher Marienburg 2003
Thanks to Rainer. The seemingly far-fetched comparison I drew at release to an Hungarian Szamorodni still holds true today – perhaps more so now than then. Ancient-styled is how Rainer refers to it. Certainly dry and more tannic and caramelized with a little surface rancio than any modern Riesling we could think of. Really a bit oxidative Ceylon black tea like, and evolved for its age. Quite deep golden colour. Lightly dry acacia honey. Soft bread dough spice. Touches of dried strawberry and ginger root. Almost weird in its exotism, hardly Mosel-like at all. Medium-plus length. The 12% alcohol is well-integrated, yet contributes to the overall sweet and dry effect. Rating: 88
Daniel Vollenweider Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule #6 Wolfer Goldgrube 2009
From half bottle. Pale yellow-gold. Lots of clean botrytis, sweet and rich, blossomy and subtly floral, combines expressiveness and good intensity with finesse. Candied blackcurrant cough drop top note. Gorgeous fruit purity of, among other, peachy dried yellow fruit and elderflower. Complex and deep. Quite huge minerality of strong vanilla-tinged slate. Great balance. Light on its feet if lightly oily and viscous. A rare combination of ripeness, freshness and flavourful acid cut. “Three-dimensional wine, more like a VdP-Auction version, or a Long Gold Capsule” (at 140° Oechsle!), Rainer said. Even if not cheap, relatively speaking a best buy in this vintage. Clearly the wine of the evening. Rating: 93+/94(+?)
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
