December meeting for Leo's blind tasting group in NY - this time I had the chance to pick the wine lineup, and Leo very generously offered to cook and host. Was a really fun evening - all the wines showed very nicely, thankfully no corked bottles (whew!) and a chance to share some of my favourite wines with some great friends. And many thanks again to Leo and Connie for their hospitality.
Flight 1: Dönnhoff GGs
2007 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs
Slightly quiet aromatics at first, but it opens with air and develops a lovely scent combining petrol and smoky notes, spring flowers and stony elements. With time it gets richer and deeper, a little creamy on the back end but what really stands out is the way all the flavours merge into a seamless whole. Very polished and elegant, drinking beautifully right now.
2009 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Felsentürmchen Großes Gewächs
Very expressive aromatically, full of bright floral and minerally notes with softer saline, citrus and white fruited elements. It's precise, long and nicely balanced with bright acids, just suffers a little in comparison with the 2007 which seemed calmer, better integrated and more elegant.
Flight 2: Bordeaux and Loire reds
1986 Château Sociando-Mallet
Lovely aromatics of pencil lead, cassis and cherry fruit, touches of earth and faint green pepper elements. It's surprisingly youthful, showing barely any signs of its 24 years with a firm spine of tannins and acids and I'd guess its best years are still ahead. Interestingly quite a few people guessed the theme for the flight, but pegged this as the Cab Franc.
2007 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissée
Touch of brett on the nose here, leathery and meaty elements on top of fresh red fruited flavours and herbal elements. The fruit here is very bright yet beautifully polished and silken-textured, with just a little grainy tannin lingering on the back end. Very nice.
Flight 3: Up-and-comers in Nahe
2009 Kruger-Rumpf Münsterer Dautenpflänzer Riesling Spätlese
Thrilling stuff - very primary right now, full of bright citrus fruits, nectarines and intense minerality in a package that's very light, precise and vibrant with fantastic acidity. There's incredible focus and clarity to the flavours here, impressive length and I'm glad I have a lot more of this.
2009 Weingut Jakob Schneider Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese
Beautiful exotic aromatics; pungent, spicy and floral with some incense-like elements developing with air. It's very rich and sweet in the mouth, full of ripe peachy fruit and touches of spice with nice acidity underneath. I'd love to see what this is like in a few years once it loses some of its primary fruit.
Flight 4: 2002 Dönnhoffs
2002 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese
This is in a beautiful stage right now, combining electric primary Riesling fruit, minerality and spice with the start of maturing smoky and creamy elements. It's incredibly complex and layered, perfectly balanced with bright acids and tremendous persistence. Fantastic Spätlese.
2002 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese
More powerful and primary than the '02 Hermannshöhle; this is packed with layers of apples, pears and red fruits around a core of stone and mineral salts. With some time and air it becomes a little creamier and more polished texturally, but it's still very young right now and has a lot of time ahead of it.
Flight 5: Because there had to be at least one Jadot if we were drinking at Leo's place!
2009 Domaine du Vissoux / Pierre-Marie Chermette Fleurie Poncié
Delicious stuff, though obviously very primary right now. It's packed with bright red fruits, touches of spice and floral elements, and the whole package is all too easy to drink with a sense of real freshness to the fruit and a beautiful polished texture. Most of the group nailed this as an '09 Beaujolais.
1998 Louis Jadot Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts
Really enjoyable, though not what I expected from this - it's slightly rustic and surprisingly developed with a lovely aroma of briary red fruits, leather and rusty/ferric elements. Savoury in the mouth with leathery, rusty and earthy notes dominating and gentle red fruited elements beneath, with some tannic grip on the back end. Took Leo all of 10 seconds to nail this as Jadot!
Flight 6: Non-Rieslings from Catoir
1998 Müller-Catoir Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Auslese
Hard to put this into words. This has everything I'd expect from a classic Catoir Scheurebe; kaleidoscopic flavours ranging from ripe mango and other tropical fruits to honeyed and faintly herbal flavours, a scent that's hard to move away from and tremendous balance in the mouth with power, persistence and really good acidity. Stunning!
1998 Müller-Catoir Mußbacher Eselshaut Rieslaner Auslese
Wild stuff, starts out very sweet and fruit-forward, full of apricot, golden raisins and peaches and with a little air it turns more savoury as smoky, tobacco and wild herbal and grassy elements emerge. There's tremendous complexity here, serious richness and really good balance - delicious, though I probably didn't give this enough attention with the '98 Scheurebe next to it.
Dessert:
1996 Kurt Darting Dürkheimer Fronhof Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese
Wild stuff that is clearly Scheurebe despite the botrytis - packed with mango, melon and other tropical fruits drenched in honey and spices. There's amazing richness and depth here, tremendous sweetness and yet it's surprisingly light on its feet thanks to that '96 acidity that keeps it from feeling too cloying or heavy.
