Hi Folks, turning 30 today, celebrated last night with a few friends at a local pizza parlor, Philippe, which boasts southern French brick-oven pizzas.
The Huet L’Echansonne, Vouvray, Pétillant Cuvée, Loire, Brut, 2005 had a lovely floral nose, was complex, sweet with ripe fruit, great acidity, a little bit of bread, maybe challah, and a mineral-rich finish. It’s perfectly drinkable now, but from what I’ve read it will age just fine for many years to come. It went well with a sweet potato, feta and mozzarella pizza.
The FX-Pichler, Grüner Veltliner, Smaragd Urgestein Terrassen, Austria 2007 had a nutty and salty nose plus some tropical fruit, with an oily-thick texture, 13.5% alcohol, and was a dark golden color. It was dry with melon, lychee and citrus fruits on the palate, with a nice quinine bitterness that followed through to a very long finish. The acid was good, but perfectly in balance with the rest of the elements. It would say the salty bitterness was dominant over the fruitiness, but that made it go great with the food. This big baby cut right through a heavy, greasy, anchovy pizza with capers and mozzarella.
The Domaine de la Vougeraie, Gevrey-Chambertin, Les Evochelles, Burgundy, 2008 was lovely, truly everything I would want from a Gevrey-Chambertin village. The nose was somehow clean and earthy at the same time, while the palate was very complex, with some of the G-Ch rough chalky edges that I like, but also having a smooth finish. The acid is a little bit out of balance at this stage, but the tannic structure is nicely placed, making it seem more balanced on the whole. I opened it about eight hours before the party, and that seemed to help the nose a lot, as well as the palate somewhat. Only time in the bottle will tell if the acid can integrate a bit more. I suspect it will improve, and in the meantime paired it great with a one wild mushroom and gorgonzola, and one smoked goose breast and mozzarella pizza.
The last bottle we had after the food was a Keller, Von der fels, Rheinhessen, Riesling, Trocken, 2008. It was already showing so much on the palate, but the nose was still in its infancy. It was a refreshing and expansive wine with plenty of pure fruits, like green apples and melons, perhaps some kiwi. It also had great acidity on the finish that had that electric minerality to it I love. It wasn’t a dessert wine, but it was better we didn’t try to pair it with pizza, since even with its 12.5% alcohol, it’s floral-mineral character probably would have been lost in the grease.
The white wines were all imported to Tel Aviv by Giaconda, and the burgundy was imported by Tomer Gal. They’re not found in local stores, and range from 120-220NIS, about 35$-55$. I brought Spiegelau white wine glasses for myself and a friend, but those who used the plain glasses at the pizzaria were satisfied with them.
Best,
Joel