WTN: Rieslings and Southern Rhone blends at David's

David Bueker hosted our local 'third Thursday' CT tasting group at his place last night. A fun blind tasting as always - enjoyed the Rieslings, but struggled with the Rhone blends, particularly a couple of the CDPs.

Starter:
2010 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Fass 2
Rather sulfurous on the nose with slate and some fresh fruit emerging with some swirling. There's fresh green apple and lemony fruit over a mineral base in the mouth with powerful acidity, barely any sense of sweetness and it feels reasonably well balanced with the acidity not overwhelming, though it's completely charmless without any of the finesse or elegance I look for in Mosel Riesling.

Dry rieslings poured blind in flights of 2.
1997 Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Riesling Zöbinger Heiligenstein
Outstanding Riesling. This and a stellar '01 Lyra last week have me wondering just why I buy so little Brundlmayer, as the wines with some age are every bit the equal of the top Wachau Smaragds. This is the complete package, combining layers of fresh orchard fruits, a ripe green element that brings Gruner to mind, savoury earthy, creamy, smoky and mineral notes that keep unravelling with air; superb balance and precision in the mouth and great length.
1999 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile
A really strange showing. Quite austere with barely any sensation of fruit, strong vinyl and metallic notes and surprising back end heat initially. With air it comes together a little as some savoury, smoke-tinged fruit emerges, but it seems rather charmless and not all that well balanced.

1998 Albert Mann Riesling Schlossberg
Remarkably youthful for how I'd expect a '98 to be drinking now; a core of pale, fresh Riesling fruit augmented by mineral and faint smoky elements, though still coming across quite undeveloped. There's good balance here, bright acids keeping it very precise and it finishes long and completely dry.
2000 Domaine Weinbach Riesling Cuvée Ste. Catherine
Comes across slightly riper and more generous than the Mann and Trimbach though not sweet; bright apples, citrus and peachy fruit tinged with floral and vividly stony notes and conveyed with a sense of finesse and great balance. Really good.

Rhone blends - the Beaucastel was a shock when unveiled, as I've normally liked these wines a lot in the past. The ESJ was an even bigger shock, as I've really liked the 00 Los Robles Viejos before on the few occasions I've had it, and this seemed quite inconsistent with those experiences. Though a lot of others enjoyed that more than I did, and generally liked the reds more than I did.
1998 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Yikes, what happened here? I normally quite like Beaucastel but this was awful with overripe, pruney and figgy aromatics. It's more pleasant in the mouth but it's still really hard to get past the raisiny overripeness on the nose here. Hope this is just a really off bottle, as it's unlike any other vintage of Beaucastel I've had.
2000 Edmunds St. John Los Robles Viejos Rozet Vineyard
An awkward showing, very different from the other bottles I've had which were all outstanding. This seems remarkably ripe with rich black cherry fruit and a faint pruney/figgy note on the nose, though it's balanced on the palate with a back end savouriness balancing the rich, sweet fruit.

1998 Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Also rather ripe and raisiny on the nose, though better balanced on the palate where the fruit's relatively restrained. That said there's still some finishing heat that I find offputting.
1998 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau
Easily the best of the CdPs poured; complex and fragrant with developed black tea, leather and other savoury elements around a core of rich red and dark fruited flavours. Nicely balanced and polished texturally, medium weight in the mouth with tannins mostly resolved and good length.

Finishing wine
2000 Trimbach Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives
Fantastic. Classic Gewurz aromatics of rosewater, spice, exotic tropical fruits and honeyed elements; rich and layered in the mouth with great balance, surprisingly good acidity (for a Gewurz) balancing the sweetness and keeping it very drinkable. All that's missing is biryani.

Fun and eye-opening as always, thanks again for hosting David. I'll wait for the disagreement now...

1999 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile
A really strange showing. Quite austere with barely any sensation of fruit, strong vinyl and metallic notes and surprising back end heat initially. With air it comes together a little as some savoury, smoke-tinged fruit emerges, but it seems rather charmless and not all that well balanced.

That is how many CFEs react to less than pristine storage, but that does not mean that all bottles in the same lot will be affected. (No wonder Trimbach wines with US slip labels are almost impossible to sell in Europe.)

Greetings from Sweden / Fredrik L

[David M. Bueker]

Some agreement - some disagreement.

On first opening the Lauer was unpleasantly acidic. In fact it actually burned at the back of my throat the acids were so extreme. It did settle down with some air, and I agree that it had a pretty core of fruit (especially the lemon), but overall did not impress me. I still do not see what gets people excited by these wines, though I at least did not completely despise this bottle.

The Brundlmayer was my wine of the night. I found it aromatically gorgeous (minerals, smoke, some green apple elements and more), and the length was outstanding. Such a satisfying wine. The Trimbach was odd, and I'm glad it was my only bottle of that vintage, as I have heard good and bad. This was clearly one of the bad. Pool water came to mind when I was smelling it. The Albert Mann was clearly showing the effects of the glacial cellar, but was enjoyable, if not up to the Brundlmayer. I found that my strongest impression of the Weinbach was of its breadth. It was not sweet, but it was very rich on the palate. I'm glad to have one more bottle to see where it goes over the next several years.

The Beaucastel was drop dead gorgeous when I opened it. 2 hours later it was indeed pruney/figgy (and I don't like figs), though still quite undeveloped on the palate. I will hold my remaining bottles to see where they go with more time. I love the Edmunds St. John, especially for its bright, rich fruit. I found none of the over ripe elements that you describe, and in fact went back for yet another pour of that wine while cleaning up once everyone left. I did not catch the heat in the Chateau La Nerthe, but I did nto find it to be particularly exciting. The Vieux Telegraphe was actually quite troubling when I opened it, but air helped it to come around into a beautiful place. That and the ESJ were my favorite of the reds.

I adored the Trimbach Gewurz VT, and still have more bottles for a biryani fest.

[David M. Bueker]

1999 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile
A really strange showing. Quite austere with barely any sensation of fruit, strong vinyl and metallic notes and surprising back end heat initially. With air it comes together a little as some savoury, smoke-tinged fruit emerges, but it seems rather charmless and not all that well balanced.

That is how many CFEs react to less than pristine storage, but that does not mean that all bottles in the same lot will be affected. (No wonder Trimbach wines with US slip labels are almost impossible to sell in Europe.)

Greetings from Sweden / Fredrik L

Well it certainly was not storage. This bottle was in the glacial cellar from its release in the USA. Now how it was handled by the importer I do not know...

I opened a bottle of the ESG 2000 Los Robles Viejos last week - my experience was more in line with David's. Bright, rich fruit with violets on the nose and everything in balance. And not a hint of sediment!