WTN: Rieslings, Champagne and Beaujolais

N.V. Tarlant Champagne La Vigne d'Antan Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut
2000 vintage fruit/July 07 disgorgement again from ungrafted vine Chardonnay. Spectacular; starts out with fresh pear and green apple fruit framed by yeasty notes and fresh baked bread, with air this gets richer and the flavour profile deepens as marmalade elements and riper white fruited flavours emerge. There's a sense of incredible freshness and precision with lovely acidity, stunning Champagne.

2007 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs
Fruit, gentle florality and a base of stone and steel; crystalline and seamless. Wow.

2007 Jakoby-Mathy Kinheimer Hubertuslay Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel
Fresh apple, lime and yellow plum flavours tinged by bright floral notes and slate in a lightweight package that's really well balanced with moderate sweetness and good acidity. Not quite as expressive as other bottles I've had right on release, but delicious all the same.

2007 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese "Schmitt"
Outstanding Spätlese. A spectrum of fresh Mosel fruit over savoury herbal and slatey notes with fantastic balance and length.

2008 A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberger Riesling Spätlese
Slightly closed compared to other bottles I've had. There's still a core of powerful apple, peachy and red fruited flavours and a salty, slatey base, but the aromatics are a little more reticent and this doesn't show the exotic floral/spicy accents it had on release - it's more about ripe, intense Mosel fruit, and still really enjoyable.

2009 Weingut Robert Weil Riesling Spätlese
The minerality and acidity here are amped up to 11, but there's a core of rich apple and yellow fruited flavours beneath that plays off the stony/minerally notes and balances the intense acidity perfectly; really impressive stuff and I definitely need more of this.

2008 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
Tremendous stuff - ripe peachy, melony and apple fruit accented by fresh floral notes and touches of slate and spice over a lightweight, elegant frame with that '08 acidity cutting through the sweetness and keeping it very precise and refreshing throughout.

2009 Domaine Des Cotes de la Moliere Moulin-à-Vent
All about freshness. Red fruits straight from an orchard seasoned with slightly tart herbal and cinnamon notes, and a nice acid spine underneath

2009 Marcel Lapierre Morgon
Still incredibly delicious, though the fruit wasn't quite as exuberant and bright as it's been in other bottles - the cinnamon/baking spice elements here were more pronounced, while the fruit seemed a little restrained. Lovely all the same, and I am drinking through these too quickly.

[James Roscoe]

You seem to be drinking pretty well for a grad student Salil. What is your personal pain level threshold? (aka How much are you willing to pay for this given that Champagne is always going to cost a little more?)

The Tarlant is about $60 at Chambers. More than I normally like to pay for wine (and I rarely ever buy Champagne - in fact this is the only Champagne I can recollect purchasing), but in this case I thought the wine justified it - it's singular with amazing depth and precision, and is one of the greatest Champagnes I've had. For my tastes it's in the same league as Krug.

Hi Salil -

Thanks for the notes. I enjoyed the Tarlant Vigne d'Antan a few years ago (think it was from the 1996 or 1998 vintage), but for some reason, I haven't heard much about Tarlant these days. If they are imported to Massachusetts at all, I have never seen a single bottle of Tarlant around here. Glad to hear that the quality does not seem to have dropped off since then.

The 2007 Felsenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs is certainly an impressive wine. I only hope that I get the opportunity to compare the Felsenbergs from both Dönnhoff and Schafer-Frolich sometime. I'll also concur with you on the 07 Selbach-Oster Schmitt.

Chambers St. Wines in NY is the only place I've seen recently with the Tarlant Vigne d'Antan (2000 disgorgement). I get all of mine from there.