WTN: Biryani wines

Made chicken biryani today (followed by a molten chocolate lava cake for dessert) with a couple of very good friends over for dinner. Had some really lovely wines accompanying, aside from the nastily corked Prum.

2001 Müller-Catoir Haardter Bürgergarten Riesling Kabinett halbtrocken
Flat out wow. Such intense, pure grapefruit and pear flavours over a bed of stony and salty minerals witsome creamy and smoky aspects emerging with air. There's tremendous richness and depth, but the sweetness is barely noticeable here with fantastic acidity that keeps this incredibly light, razor sharp and precise - just stunning Riesling.

2008 Jean-Marc Burgaud Morgon Côte du Py
At about $13 from Table & Vine this may be my best QPR of the year. Tight at first, but opens up with a little air to show beautiful strawberry and cherry fruit accented with baking spices and savoury earthy notes on a lightweight, elegant frame with great balance and a sense of refreshment.

2002 Carl Schmitt-Wagner Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling Spätlese
Classic Schmitt-Wagner; fresh Mosel fruit and herbal notes over a bed of slate with the start of developing smoky and petrolly accents. Very gentle and elegant in the mouth with bright acids, conveying flavour with barely any sense of weight. Lovely.

1983 Joh. Jos. Prüm Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Auslese
Corked. Really badly corked too, to the point that even rinsing out the glass once didn't fully get rid of the stench of TCA. Ugh.

2001 Müller-Catoir Mußbacher Eselshaut Riesling Auslese
A powerhouse of mandarin oranges, peaches, apricots and tropical fruits drenched in honey and spices; very rich and intense - clearly Beerenauslese in terms of its richness and sweetness - but perfectly balanced by wonderful acidity and coming across with surprising lightness and elegance for such an intense dessert wine.

[David M. Bueker]

Wow - shame about the Badstube.

How did the Morgon fare with the Biryani?

Yup, the Badstube was really frustrating - not least because the cork was incredibly dry, stuck in the neck of the bottle and came out very slowly in a whole lot of pieces, making a tremendous mess as well. Yet another reason why I will continue supporting guys like Meulenhof, Schneider and Selbach who are putting more and more bottles under alternative closures.

We had most of the Morgon and the Catoir halbtrocken on their own while finishing the biryani prep, but neither did badly with the food - the fruit and acidity in the Morgon made it very pleasant with the biryani, and it kept getting better and expanding aromatically with air.

We had the 2001 version of this last night, a lovely wine as well.
Charles

I'm trying to keep my hands off my remaining 2 bottles of that wine - comments like that aren't helping.

Hi Salil -

Thank you for the notes. Too bad about the Prum. , but the rest sound as though they were at least very nice... not to mention, you got a great deal on the Burgaud.