Had a few friends over for dinner yesterday - papdi chaat for apps, then a lot of chicken biryani. And there was a lot of wine opened.
2001 Giaconda Shiraz Warner Vineyard
Very youthful; full of fresh black cherry and plummy fruit accented with savoury leathery notes and high toned herbal and methol elements. Pure, rich but and well balanced with bright acids and impressive length. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes with some more time in bottle.
2008 La Sibilla Piedirosso Campi Flegrei
Nice to have a chance to revisit this after I drank through my bottles straight after release. The leathery and smoky elements here have been tamed a bit, but it's still delicious with fresh Gamay-like red berried fruit, bright acids and a very enjoyable drink, if a bit simpler now than it was on release.
2003 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese Auction #14
Closed tight. Completely unyielding, showing some sweetness but aromatically mute and offering very little in the way of complexity. Shame.
1992 Gallet Henri et Phillippe Côte-Rôtie
Wow! Amazing aromatics that I was happily smelling for most of the night; a perfume combining cured olives and meat with leather and savoury forestal herbal and earthy elements, and a palate presence that's pure silk. There's barely any sense of weight and a gentle, polished mouthfeel with bright acids and fully resolved tannins. Drinking beautifully right now, and a real treat - thanks Jason.
2006 Navarro Vineyards Gewürztraminer Cluster Select Late Harvest
A really nice combination with the biryani; ripe apricot and tropical fruited flavours combined with Gewurz florality and honeyed notes in a rich, slightly viscous package. There's plenty of sweetness, perhaps a little low on acidity but it's a great counterpoint to the spice of the food.
2005 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spätlese "Reiler"
Aromatically reticent initially, but a lovely scent of ripe Mosel fruit, spring flowers and slate emerges with a little air. It's very expressive and forward on the palate straight away though still incredibly primary, packed with ripe red apples, peaches and limes over slate and faint creamy elements. The richness and sweetness are in Auslese territory, but the balance is terrific and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to this with age.
2007 Jean Mâcle Côtes du Jura
Not my style of wine at all. Nutty, oxidative and slightly sherried; rich and finishing with some almond-skin bitterness.
2004 Dominio de Atauta Ribera del Duero Valdegatiles
Really primary and blocky right now, not showing much beyond ripe black fruited flavours and a mass of tannin. With more air the tannin barely softens, and it becomes a little bitter as a scorched, slightly woody element emerges on the back end.
1995 Domaine du Mas Blanc (Docteur Parcé) Collioure Piloumes
Great stuff. A seamless combination of elegant, mature red fruited flavours, sauvage bloody and meaty notes and tarter herbal elements in a package that manages to convey both a sense of rusticity and polish at the same time.