N.V. Egly-Ouriet Champagne Brut "Les Vignes de Vrigny" 1er Cru
August 2009 disgorgment. Full of brambly red fruits, grapefruit and yeasty/sourdough notes with a slightly caramelized flavour element emerging with air. There's a coarse, slightly rustic aspect to this throughout, with the acidity standing out and keeping it very refreshing - very enjoyable, though I don't think I'd buy it at the price.
2009 Domaine du Vissoux / Pierre-Marie Chermette Fleurie Poncié
Stunning. A seamless combination of red fruits, floral elements, faintly gamey/leathery notes and touches of spice in a package that conveys flavour with barely any sense of weight and an incredibly polished, silken texture. There's a sense of incredible freshness to the fruit; the whole package is incredibly streamlined and lightweight and this is a wine I really must get more of.
2009 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett
Another vintage, another fantastic Leistenberg. Full of bright apple, peach and pear fruit at first, but with air a vivid slatey and saline mineral character emerges underneath. It's certainly on the ripe/sweet side for Kabinett, but it's still delicious with incredible freshness and clarity to the flavours and impressive length.
2009 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Senior Faß 6
Really delicious again. Opened this after the Dönnhoff Leistenberg Kabinett, and it tasted drier in contrast with the fruit not quite as expressive as it's been in previous bottles, but the minerality and acidity were showing even more vividly.
2000 Château Malartic-Lagravière
Tightly wound at first, but a couple of hours after double decanting it was showing beautifully - everything I'd want in a Graves; smoky, charred earth, rich red and dark fruited flavours and touches of pencil lead and leather starting to emerge. Power with refinement and a sense of restraint, it's still very youthful but delicious to drink with developed flavours just starting to emerge alongside the rich core of fruit.
2007 Edmunds St. John That Old Black Magic
This just keeps delivering. Delicious red and dark fruited flavours with herbal, leathery and earthy accents, rich and perfectly balanced with good length.
2003 Jasper Hill Heathcote Shiraz Georgia's Paddock
This is the type of wine that got me interested in Australian reds a few years ago, and it's a shame wines like this are almost impossible to find in the US market now. It's certainly a blockbuster at 15% alcohol, but one that conveys its power and richness with a sense of restraint and structure. Stunning aromatics; savoury earth, leather, charcoal and dark fruited flavours combined with sweeter cookie dough and herbal scents. It's certainly a powerhouse, but always feels very balanced in the mouth and surprisingly light for such a big wine with nice acidity keeping it quite fresh and savoury flavour elements providing a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the fruit. There's tremendous presence and length, and given the structure and balance here I'd imagine this would continue aging very nicely.
2009 Kruger-Rumpf Münsterer Dautenpflänzer Riesling Spätlese
This was one of a few wines that really caught my attention at the Theise/Skurnik DI tasting in June, and sitting down with a bottle over dinner my impressions are still pretty much the same. It's a powerhouse and makes an impact straight away; packed with apples, citrus and red fruits over a vivid stony and saline mineral base. There's tremendous acidity beneath and this has incredible energy and cut, Riesling with a livewire running through it. Wow!
2009 Meulenhof Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett
Very primary right now, but really delicious with a blast of red and green apples up front, slate and saline minerality emerging on the middle and a finish of fruit and florality that just stays. It's quite rich, more Spätlese-like than Kabinett, but it's incredibly refreshing and elegant and I'm glad to have a bunch more of this.
2001 Alfred Merkelbach Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese #10
Delightful; closer to Spätlese than Auslese but this is hard to turn away from. Understated and elegant, full of yellow fruits, apples and peaches accented with honey, slate, herbal elements and the start of developing smoky notes in a beautifully balanced package that slowly unravels flavour after flavour with time and patience.
2001 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese 2-star
Slightly quiet aromatics initially that give no hints as to what lies ahead with this wine. With the first sip it turns into a fireworks display. A spectrum of incredibly bright fruit ranging from tarter limes and apples to ripe pineapple and other tropical flavours, herbal and honeyed notes around the ripe core of fruit and veins of slate and stone beneath. There's incredible depth and richness here, impeccable balance with the acidity balancing the sweetness perfectly and giving it a sense of incredible purity and clarity, and the finish just goes on and on. Wow!