Spencer hosted our Third Thursday group last night - fun time as always with good friends and some really interesting wines.
2000 Nigl Riesling Privat
Very pleasant with elegant, restrained peach and citrus fruit flavours accented by floral and developed creamy elements; rich though quite precise and well balanced by bright acids.
2002 Nigl Riesling Privat
This has it all - a spectrum of fresh pear and citrus fruit flavours, a vivid rocky minerality, Gruner-like green herbal accents and developing creaminess, all conveyed with a sense of seamlessness, power and superb balance. Fantastic wine.
2000 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Dürnsteiner Kellerberg
Drinking beautifully now with a patina of mature smoky and creamy flavours over ripe green fruits tinged with herbal and peppery accents. Complex and layered with plenty of richness, great balance and persistence.
2002 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Dürnsteiner Kellerberg
Remarkably ripe in its flavour profile with the fruit veering towards the tropical end of the spectrum and a seasoning of exotic florality and peppery spice. It's quite rich, conveys flavour with overt power but finishes a little alcoholic.
N.V. Paul Bara Champagne Brut Grand Cru Rosé
Quite pleasant with fresh strawberries and pear flavours framed by gentle yeasty notes on an elegant, lightweight frame; very refreshing though this came across a bit simple and light following the Gruners.
N.V. Fallet-Dart Champagne Brut Rosé
No real notes on this - pleasant and refreshing, but didn't really stand out at all after the Gruners (especially while I was still enjoying some of the '00 Kellerberg in another glass).
1995 Château d'Armailhac
Classic claret aromatics combining tobacco, cedar, graphite and restrained red fruited flavours into a lovely scent; still quite youthful with a fair bit of tannin on the back end, but very enjoyable with some air.
1995 Château Batailley
Richer and more savoury in its flavour profile than the d'Armailhac; this comes across a bit more youthful as well with more primary dark fruited flavours and the oak a bit more prominent, but it's nicely balanced and very pleasant to drink.
1995 Château Calon-Ségur
This is still incredibly youthful with a powerful core of primary dark fruits and tannins, but there's a lot of complexity evident as well with layers of cedar, tobacco leaf, fresh herbal notes and touches of leather emerging with air. There's a sense of real purity to the flavours, fantastic depth and persistence - great wine that only improves with air, with the structure, stuffing and balance suggesting a long life ahead.
1995 Paumanok Cabernet Sauvignon Tuthills Lane Vineyard
From North Fork, Long Island and a real eye-opened poured blind in between all the Bordeaux. A bit funky initially with leather and bandaid elements dominating, but with some air the funk takes a step back while pure dark fruited flavours, herbal elements and savoury earthy notes emerge, all conveyed with great balance and a lightness of touch. Lovely wine.
1995 Château Lynch-Bages
Comes across incredibly primary, still showing a fair bit of oak and a wall of tannin that make it pretty hard to enjoy now.
1995 Château Pontet-Canet
Yikes - what happened here? Hideously bretty; fecal and impossible to drink.
Great lineup as always and a very fun evening, thanks again Spencer for hosting.