Despite a bit of a cold, I had a lovely dinner with a couple friends to celebrate JS Bach's 326th birthday! We started by playing through four of Bach's flute sonatas (I'm a [very] amateurish flautist), and then by making a some pork in Riesling and brown spices while listening to Bach's Cello Suites.
Pork and cinnamon always seems to suit slightly sweet German Riesling very well, so I opened a Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 2007. This is, however, a bit too primary and sweet and Beerenauslese-like to really suit the food (though even youngish Spätlesen and Auslesen have IMO been fine usually). But it is a nice wine with lovely floral and pure aromas; round and sweet - though I prefer a more incisive style of MSR, this was perfectly acceptable. I just wish the label had said BA instead of Auslese so it would have been more appropriately served.
I also opened a red, a Tommasi "Crearo" della Conca d'Oro 2008, an IGT Veronese from Corvina Veronese (50%), Oseleta (15%) and Cab Franc (35%). The Corvina and Oseleta are dried for 30-40 days before pressing. Though marketed as a "Super-Venetian" this gladly sees only big barrels so there are no obvious aromatics resulting from new wood. But the perhaps the prefix is apt since it is big, concentrated, ripe and slick and the international grape, Cab Franc, does show quite strongly as a leafy, refreshing lift. Quite tannic and primary in its fruit so I think a few years will do this good. Though perfectly drinkable and even enjoyable in a big, burly way and despite having an attractive, tangy finish, I don't think it's exciting enough that I'll bother buying it again.