A spontaneous invitation to a wonderful Burgundy dinner in July. Our gracious host wishes to remain unnamed. The reds were poured single-blind, but their identity was very easy to guess.
Zind Humbrecht Riesling Vendange Tardive Brand 1989
Thanks to our host, a wine I had not retasted in years. Full yellow-gold. Botrytis (a touch bitter), golden apple fruit, chalky but not too subtle minerality. Relatively broad-shouldered. Terroir does not show anymore the way it used to. Softly tangerine-liqueur-like. Well-integrated 12.4% alcohol. Medium length. Earthier with airing. All in all, an example of this great botrytised vintage in which minerality, subtlety and finesse, ultimately terroir expression, have fallen prey to the botrytised oily-fatty breadth of the wine. Drink or hold. Rating: 91(-?)
Jean-Jacques Confuron Romanée Saint-Vivant 2005
Thanks to Gerhard. Raspberry-ruby-red, soft purple hue. Christina immediately noticed how more tannic this is than the Cathiard. Really manages to be more closed yet at the same time longer. Virtually grown through with sweetly nutty oak. Fruitier and juicier. Jammier raspberry. Faintly viscous. Mild pepper. Lovely tannin ripe acidity. Good complexity. Oaky finish. A noticeably modern style, which in my experience equalizes the terroir expression somewhat, even if Gerhard insists the terroir expression in Confuron’s RSV is second to none once the wines have seen some bottle age. Which, needless to say, this badly needs. Rating: 93+/94(+?)
Sylvain Cathiard & Fils Romanée Saint-Vivant 2005
Thanks to Gerhard. Raspberry-ruby, medium depth. Marzipan oak. Gerhard finds it more open than the Confuron, as well as lighter if more elegant. Victor finds it more multi-dimensional. I notice more alcohol despite no more than a nice medium-plus body, less intensity, similar density at best, and not least a more likeable style: straightforward, simple and natural-flavoured, perfumier and more finesseful at this earlier stage. But no more depth to the tannin. Quite long on the finish. Nuttier oak with airing. Love the style, but am not convinced this also makes it the better, let alone more promising and/or ageworthy wine. But a beauty for sure, the only red apart from Roumier’s 1999 Musigny that improved with airing that night. Would not mind owning some, but unfortunately it is both rare and costly. Rating: 93+/94(+?)
Georges Roumier Musigny 1999
Contribution of mine. Reportedly, this wine, like the Charmes-Chambertin, was half destemmed, while the other 1999s chez Roumier were completely destemmed. Deep luminous ruby-black. Big, fleshy, thick. Concentrated. Positively huge raw materials. Firm, floral, with great underlying sweetness. Mild oak and mixed pepper. Very long. Very pure, at least at this stage showing none of the animality of the magnificent 1993. Already showing wonderful depth, and great potential for more. Closed down with airing. The wine of the night, but really deserves more bottle age. Rating: 96+/97
Domaine Leroy Romanée Saint-Vivant 1996
Thanks to Victor. Bottle number 804 of 2926. Lightly murky raspberry-red colour, watery orange rim – this would have needed decanting, Victor says, as the sediment is powdery-light. The bright acidity of the vintage. Noble smoke to terroir-typical petits fruits rouges. Very long. Precise. Nicely stony-minerally. Firm tannin. Good sweetness. Intriguing non-lactic raspberry milkshake touch. Nice cut, depth and finesse. Good body. Intense. Very possibly too high-acid for its own good in the (very) long run. No less high-acid, but more tannic with airing. Drink or hold. Rating: 96(+/-?)
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée Saint-Vivant 1999
Thanks to our host, a wine I had not retasted since the arrivage tasting. At the time, we got to taste shockingly diverse samples, one much lighter and paler than another, which I thought among the finest RSVs I had ever tasted. The colour here was certainly reminiscent of the latter, as indeed was the wine. Plummier and glossier ruby-black than the 1996 Leroy. A paradox: the noblest, most aristocratic of the reds, and yet also the most rustic (in a nice way). How so? The natural-tasting simplicity is hard to beat. Prettiest, “complex”/spicy oak (soft marzipan with airing), elegant fruit, deep, long. Plummier raspberry. Smoky baked plum/prune in bacon. Nice density. Tobacco and complex nuts. Cured beef (“Mostbröckli”, Victor says). Nicely tight. Lightly dusty tannin, a bit grainier/more rustic with airing. The fact alone that this is so stylish does not necessarily make it “better” than other RSVs – having said that, I simply love the style. Rating: 96(+?)
Daniel & Martha Gantenbein Pinot Noir Trockenbeerenauslese 2000
My second and last half bottle, hardly dissimilar from the one seven and a half years ago. Full golden colour. Lovely botrytis, thick and sweet albeit well-balanced, very like a Neusiedlersee TBA (not sure why Gerhard found it reminiscent of Vin de Paille). The grape variety would have been impossible to guess immediately after we pulled the cork. Showed a little red-fruity raspberry typicity 24 hours later. My mom finds this impeccably well-made, if of mediocre interest. Rating: ~90
Marks & Spencer Muscat de Rivesaltes “Christmas Pudding Wine” 2007
Thanks to Gerhard. Marketed as “Christmas Pudding Wine” for commercial reasons. Medium-light straw colour. Smells like Gewürztraminer. Relatively swet rose petal (a bit artificial), medium length at best. Tiny bitter note. Fortified, with brandy-like heat at 15.5% alcohol. Even hotter with airing. Rating: 86-/85(-?)
Mr. K Sine Qua Non Chardonnay The Noble Man Alban Vineyard 2002
Thanks to our host. 10.1% alcohol. Full/deep amber-gold. Cork-tainted. Bummer… Rating: N/R
Dinstlgut Loiben Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Loibner Loibenberg 2001
Half bottle thanks to our host. Honey-stained, lightly amber-hued gold. Bready-earthy, dusty as well as lightly honeyed botrytis. Good fruit. Lively acidity. Passion-fruit bitter note. Nice body at 7% alcohol. Improved with airing. Rating: 89+/90(+?)
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________
„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti