My 1000th post!
December means it's time for the blowout holiday shopping spree tasting with the lively crowd at Dee Vine Wines in San Francisco. As the holidaze demand, start off with a table of sparklers including the 2007 Solter Riesling Sekt Brut from the Rheingau. The nose of this wine never gets old, no matter how many times I've encountered it. Bright, citrusy, apricot, explosively yeasty and delicious. A fantastic sekt. Heading north and west into the Loire Valley for the Touraine Mousseux NV Château de l'Aulée Elegant Brut. It's produced by the traditional method (with 9 months on the lees instead of the required 6 and a hair short of the 10 months required for crémant) and it is chenin blanc. And a steal. Lovely tangy green lifesaver flavors, frothy with lots of tart body. Unique, spicy, and expressive. This made many fans around the room, especially a traditional method sparkler for 12 bucks! Back east and a bit further north for some champagne. From Ludes on the northern facing slopes of the Montagne de Reims comes the NV Monmarthe Secret de Famille Premier Cru. It's a blend of 2005, 2006 and 2007 and consists of 40 percent pinot meunier, 40 percent pinot noir and 20 percent chardonnay with 2 years on the lees. A buttery fun nose that had lots of fans and it tasted very rich, buttery, frothy but loose bubbles. Lots of fun. A popcorn and a movie kind of champagne. People around the room adored it. More my style was the NV Monmarthe Coup de Cœur Premier Cru - 50 percent pinot noir and 50 percent chardonnay from 2004, 2005 and 2006. We're talking a lot more yeast notes, layers of stuff going on here, very structured and very precise. Wow, this is refined stuff. A food champagne I'd be glad to drink under almost any circumstance. I loved this way more than most, but, wow, did I love it.
A slight pause and then onto table 2 with a splash of the 2008 Domaine Voceret et Fils Chablis, which I found very grassy and had lots of similarities to a sauvignon blanc, but saltier. Very green and not my thing. Onto Provence in the south of France for the 2009 Domaine de Paris Rosé, a blend of grenache, syrah, carignane. Another value wine that had many fans. Bright and berried, plush simple and soft. Lacks verve for my preferences, but the berry flavors here are a lot of fun. A four-pack of spätburgunder awaits, first up and possibly my favorite for drinking at the moment, the 2003 Schloss Schönborn Pinot Noir Trocken from the Rheingau was light, rustic, reserved, with touches of charcoal and tangy reserved fruit. This is precisely the kind of spätburgunder I love--country style. The 2007 Prinz Hallgartener Hendelberg Spätburgunder Trocken, also from the Rheingau, comes from one of the coolest vineyards in the Rheingau, 400 meters in altitude, if my notes are coreect. More tar and less fruit here on the nose, tons of structure and you can certainly taste the barrel at the moment, this one needs time. The next entry from the Rheingau was the 2007 König Assmannhäuser Höllenberg Spätburgunder Spätlese Trocken. The nose was weird, I think it reeked of sulfur, but am not entirely certain. Tangy, weird, earthy, this is somewhat old skool spätburgunder and I didn't have much patience for this style today. Perhaps if I encountered someone who appreciated it--but usually that would be me! Meh and blech. Moving on. The lone Rheinhessen spätburgunder was the rather phenomenal 2007 Keller Bürgel Spätburgunder Cuvée Felix Grosses Gewächs. Eight months in barrel and very, very young, the nose is still fantastic and expressive, and the taste reserved, a bit plush, but still quite elegant. Methinks this is going to develop into quite the wine. But, woooo, what a tariff! But yeah, another fantastic wine that needs a good bit of time.
After some palate cleansing and good conversations, it's onto table #3 for a trip backwards through time, year by year, across regions and producers. First, the lone dry riesling, the 2009 Schmitges Erdener Prälat Riesling Grosses Gewächs. 2009 is proving to be a fantastic year for young trocken rieslings so far, and now I've had an absolutely astounding trocken from the middle Mosel--which I've never before experienced. An over-the-top lovely honeyed yet still structured nose meets a dry, stony, watery, deceptively simple, superbly focused riesling. A riesling to drink young, perhaps, but what a riesling. Phenomenal! Heading upriver just a bit and back a year to the 2008 Schäfer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett Goldkapsel #2. Intensely tropical and earthy on the nose, taste a delicious back-and-forth of honey and acid. Simple and delicious right now, this one needs time. Back another year and onto the Rheingau for the 2007 Prinz Hallgartener Jungfer Riesling Kabinett. Much more mouthwatering than I would have expected from 2007, there's plenty of lime and mango to go with the peaches. Great balance and very classic. The Nahe enters the fray with the 2006 Dönnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spätlese which is pretty silent aromatically at the moment, but precise and elegant in its richness with a firm mineral underbelly. The lightness under the weight is something admirable indeed. The Rheinhessen takes everyone at the table by storm, with the 2005 Gunderloch Nackenheimer Rothenberg Riesling Spätlese offering a bright chipper nose and excellent balance between the rich and refreshing qualities of riesling. If anything a bit more time on this one, as it still feels primary, but primarily delicious! Staying within the Rheingau, but another year back, the 2004 Keller Dalsheimer Hubacker Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel #26 shows its age a bit more in a very fantastic way. Fantastic nose and layered dried mango with plenty of tang and plenty of fun. Back to the Rheingau, the 2003 Kesseler Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel sparked interesting conversations around the table. To put it simply, it was pear cider, now in riesling form. I wouldn't hold onto this for much longer, but it is fun, if pretty far from the norm. The QPR blowout for the day was undoubtedly the 2002 Hans Lang Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen Riesling Auslese from the Rheingau. Rich, with plenty of peaches and mangoes, but still bright and chipper, and plenty of fun to just drink, drink, drink. But the Mosel offered my youth in a bottle. The 2001 SA Prüm Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese Fass 45 Goldkapsel Auction smelled like motorboat and tasted like swimming in the lake in my boyhood years. Thanks for the memories! Heading uphill just a bit from the shores of the Rhine, the 2000 Gerhard Hattenheimer Schützenhaus Riesling Eiswein was brandied cherries. Crisp and bright, but candied. Way downriver on the Mosel close to where the Mosel flows into the Rhine, the unfamiliar (to me) Terrassenmosel enters with the 1999 Knebel Winninger Röttgen Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese. Everything you want from a TBA nose is here. This is amazing. Thick, gloopy, and delicious, it still remains firm and defined. This is intense. But that finish stays with you for as long as you might wish. Wow. Just wow!
You think we're done? Not even close. A head back to the premium table for yet another year-by-year backward trip through time. First, up the triple-decanted 2009 von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abstberg Riesling Auslese from the Ruwer. Bottled only in July and fresh off-the-boat, the triple decanting begun the day before had indeed begun to coax this wine out of its slumber. Tropical and plenty of sulfur on the nose, the precise pointed lime and honey still shows focus. There is huge promise in this wine. Back to the middle Mosel, the 2008 Schäfer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel #8 has a great, very layered nose, and tastes both thick and bright. Simple and delicious (though perhaps a bit hot) at the moment, this one needs lots more time. Heading upriver a bit, the 2007 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel #12 has a reductive nose and tastes honeyed, super rich, plush, too much, but fun. Another 2006 Dönnhoff with the 2006 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel from the Nahe featuring a bright nose of hay and tangy delicious lime. It's balanced, but wow, is it rich. The Saar enters with the 2005 von Hövel Kanzemer Hörecker Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel** and a bright airy, almost herbal or savory nose. Savory layers on the palate, superb mineral, wow, fantastic and a delight to drink right now. And I mean RIGHT NOW! Wow. The Rheinhessen's 2004 Keller Dalsheimer Hubacker Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel*** is probably the earthiest wine of the tasting with a light hint of tobacco on the nose. Expressive aplenty with some richness but tasting overall very clean and very impressive. The 2003 Schloss Schönborn Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg Riesling Auslese*** from the Rheingau is just over-the-top fun. Spicy, rich, maybe slightly hot. Super fantastic. Perhaps more fun to taste, than drink, but I'd feel comfortable putting this away for even longer. A lot longer. Palate fatigue may be arriving now, but the 2002 Emrich-Schönleber Monziger Halenberg Riesling Auslese from the Nahe seems pretty silent on the nose and only feels faintly developed. The richness comes through but not much else, perhaps in a dumb stage (or I am!). The middle Mosel comes back with the 2001 Wegeler Bernkasteler Doctor Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel Auction--bright flowery nose. Layer upon layer of dried fruit, plum. Soft, silent, and incredibly nice. The Saar is back with the 2000 Müller Wiltinger Braune Kupp Riesling Auselese Goldkapsel Auction. Integrated prunes and developed fruits, rich bright tangerine, fun expressive, maybe a hint of earth. This one is developing nicely. And, to top it all off with one from the Ruwer, the 1999 Kartäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Auslese No. 25 LGK (yee haw! what a name!) is very flowery, lots of pear liqueur. Very soft and very sweet. And I've made it! Traveled backwards through time twice over the course of 32 wines! Ahhhhhh, riesling!