Tonight I was invited to dinner with the Kornilows. A nice couple with fine taste in wine and books, it is always nice to meet up with them. Especially since Mrs. K. cooked a wonderful meal for us.
We started with an ancient bottle of Lanson NV, possibly way back from the 1970s (whether BCE or CE, was debated). If you like oxidation as much as I do, this was pleasurable, but I think for most drinkers this would have been too dead. Think Norwegian Blue. Brownish, just the slightest of bubbles left. Wonderful bread and red fruit and flower aromas in addition to the oxidation. Vibrant, racy palate despite only the slightest prickle of bubbles. This will not be a popular wine anywhere, but I don't care - I can sometimes enjoy the dead and the offbeat.
With the first Finnish asparagus we had some Fred Loimer Grüner Veltliner "Spiegel" 2007 from Kamptal. A rich style, but wonderfully fragrant and pure and mineral. It has wonderful zing and raciness for a rich GV. Moreish for a wine this size. Nice!
For main course we had the whitefish Coregonus lavaretus with new potatoes, and some Texier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2005. The fish was just wonderful and the spuds were sweet and the herbal sauce was just heaven with the CdP. It's a rich wine but unlike most other white CdPs it is also racy and moreish instead of being just simply heavy and sweetly fruity. It shows the lightness of touch I expect in Texier.
To finish we had some Baumard Côteaux du Layon "Le Paon" 2005 which was a lovely sweetie. Lovely aroma of sweet green peas; lovely sweetness countered by a quinine bitterness and acidity that make even a wine this sweet very moreish. Nice! Better balance than my last taste of this. No hurry. Hold. Or drink - because it is fun in a primary way.