An utter excess of wine last night at Grand Sichuan, organized by Crush's Stephen Bitterolf with a few guests of honour from Germany.
Stephen got a few geeks together to greet Dorothee Zilliken (Zilliken), Marcel Tyrell (Karthauserhof), Tim Fröhlich (Schäfer-Fröhlich) and Thomas Haag (Schloss Lieser) and the result was a feast of food and great wines. More wines than I could keep track of, actually - there were a few I don't think I even got around to trying, and others such as the '94 Donnhoff Hermannshohle Spatlese (also alive and very fresh!), St. Innocent Pinot or the mag of '94 Karthauserhof where I didn't have a chance to really enjoy them beyond a few sips. The food as always was excellent, and the company wonderful.
1994 Peter Lauer Saar Riesling Sekt Reserve
Remarkable; an eye opener for what older Sekt can be. This is from a bottle disgorged in March 2010 and it's a lovely wine to sit down with, layering fresh citrus and stone fruit flavours with doughy, creamy, yeasty and mineral elements. It's seamless and gentle on the palate with light effervescence and bright but not aggressive acidity, superbly balanced and a delightful wine to drink.
2004 Pierre Péters Champagne Cuvée Spéciale Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Les Chétillons Le Mesnil
Spectacular Champagne. Such depth here; waves of bright fruit, minerality, savoury doughy and brioche flavours and other creamy and gingery elements that keep unravelling with time in the glass. There's a sense of remarkable polish and refinement here, wonderful balance and it's a real wow wine (first of many).
2010 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Großes Gewächs
Great stuff. A fragrance that suggests this may have come from rocks rather than grapes, and each sip of this wows with the fruit and mineral flavours showing incredible clarity and precision. There's powerful acidity beneath but it never feels particularly severe or austere, instead it conveys flavour with a sense of refreshment I rarely find in GGs.
2002 Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Im Weingebirge
Solid but overshadowed in a lineup with some stellar Rieslings. There's a core of fresh green beans and citrus fruits, more savoury elements developing around but it also feels a touch soft without the cut and precision I'd expect from GV.
1967 Dr. H Thanisch Berncasteler Doctor Riesling Spätlese Cabinet
A fantastic showing. Fully mature, incredibly complex and utterly seamless with candied lemons and limes, baked apples and layers of developed smoky, herbal and earthy saffron-like flavours all coming together on a polished, lightweight frame. There's great balance here; gentle sweetness and bright acids still keeping the fruit fresh and lively and remarkable persistence. Wow.
1976 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
Spectacular wine from a bottle that looked in amazing condition. Hard to put this into words - it's incredibly fragrant, complex and still fresh despite its age, combining a spectrum of ripe fruit with honeyed, floral and all sorts of savoury and other developed flavours. There's surprising richness here for a 36 year old wine, a sense of incredible purity and clarity to the flavours and a finish that just keeps resonating. Truly amazing wine, thanks Stephen!
2001 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #3
Just what you'd expect from Schaefer; incredibly pure and classical Mosel fruit, slate and florality coming together flawlessly with the beginnings of developing smokiness. The balance is impeccable with bright acidity keeping it incredibly fresh and vibrant, and a glass of this disappears remarkably quickly. There was also an '01 Schaefer Kabinett that was utterly delicious and disappeared as quickly as the Spät, but I didn't note vineyard/AP/etc.
2011 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Spätlese
Another year, another knockout Felseneck Spätlese. Incredibly young and primary right now, bursting with ripe citrus, peach and white cherry fruit accented by fresh floral elements and mineral notes, but so delicious and easy to drink with amazing freshness, vibrancy and balance. A must buy.
1993 Schloss Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel
From magnum. I expected a massively sweet dessert wine here but this is remarkably light and fresh (Thomas Haag mentions there's no botrytis here) with a spectrum of fresh Riesling fruit ranging from classical citrus and apple to riper tropical flavours, and augmented by layers of florality, slate and faint honeyed elements. It still feels very youthful and certainly quite sweet but there's plenty of acidity that makes it very easy to drink, and it's remarkably food friendly as well. Great wine, and a wonderful way to end a very memorable evening.
Thanks all for their company, some great wines and many thanks to Stephen for putting this together.