A casual dinner at my place with David Bueker. We had D'Artagnan's duck confit, some stir fried veggies and a bacon wrapped jerk marinated pork tenderloin that came out a little spicier than intended and as usual, drank very well.
2009 Schloss Lieser Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese (Mosel)
Was looking forward to trying this after Stephen from Crush had been raving about this wine. After this bottle it'll be a challenge keeping my hands off my others. Wild aromatics; floral and ripe fruited with the slightly funky sponti-yeast scents Lieser usually tends to show, and a palate full of fresh Riesling fruit and minerality that's incredibly crystalline and precise with really bright acidity and a sense of tremendous refreshment. Fantastic Spätlese!
1998 J & HA Strub Niersteiner Ölberg Riesling Auslese (Rheinhessen)
Really nice. Developed smoky, honeyed and herbal, slightly forestal aromas lead into a palate full of rich fruit, developed burnished notes and refreshing herbal accents, with the whole package nicely integrated and lifted by bright acidity. With time this gains depth and weight, becoming sweeter and richer but still retaining lovely balance and a sense of refreshment right through. I've had very little from Strub, but this certainly makes me want to explore more.
2006 Schlossgut Diel Scheurebe Spätlese (Nahe)
A nice foil to the blazing heat of the jerk-marinated pork; full of primary fruit that's very ripe and tropical with herbal, slightly minty notes underneath. It's very rich and sweet though, perhaps a little flabby without the acidity I'd like to balance the sweetness and when it's on its own, without some spicy food to provide a counterpoint to the sweetness, it feels very much like a dessert wine. Not bad, but I think from now I'll probably stick to Catoir and Geil for my Scheurebe fix.
