Held at Brant Point Grill in the White Elephant Hotel, this was not an official event of the Nantucket Wine Festival. I was sharing a table with Dr. Ernst (Ernie) Loosen and J. Christopher and two representatives/distributors in the wine business.
The greeting wine was a 2012 Dr. Loosen dry Riesling. Someone confused me by calling it a Grand Cru and I asked "It's a Chardonnay?" And they said "No, Riesling." Gross Gewachs equivalent apparently. Once that was straightened out I could relax and enjoy sipping this fine wine. It had an edge that seemed more metallic than "petrolly." Medium gold in color with clarity. Pear? Kumquat? The fruit was there but not definitive as to particular fruit. It was well received by the attendees. Grapes grown on volcanic soil, not limestone. Original roots as the Mosel region did not suffer from Phylloxera. Put in foudre or large barrels. Only 300 cases made.
The first course was house cured wild salmon with horseradish, apple, salmon roe, and asparagus.
2013 DR. LOOSEN URZIGER WURZGARTEN "FISCHEREI" RIESLING KABINETT, MOSEL, GERMANY. Frizzante when first poured. 7% abv. Quite acidic and yet balanced.
Second course was butter poached lobster with Parmesan and herb risotto, English peas, fava beans.
2014 J. CHRISTOPHER SAUVIGNON BLANC, WILLAMETTE VALLEY, OREGON. Dr. Loosen partnered with J. Christopher to help build his winery in Oregon. The risotto was a light green hue reminiscent of the risotto at Oran Mor the previous evening. J. Christopher is the largest producer of Sauvignon Blanc in Oregon. Very acidic and served very chilled. Grapefruit notes.
Third course was roasted venison loin with creamed Savoy cabbage, cipollini onions and king trumpet mushrooms. I'm not always fond of venison but this was good. We had two of J. Christopher's Pinot Noirs with this course.
2012 J. CHRISTOPHER PINOT NOIR "DUNDEE HILLS CUVEE" WILLAMETTE VALLEY, OR. The Dundee Hills are rich in iron. The wine conveyed spicy dark cherries and was my preferred of the two Pinots.
2012 J. CHRISTOPHER PINOT NOIT "NUAGES" CHEHALEM MOUNTAINS, OR. A little more extracted and spicier than the Dundee Hills wine which also showed some spice.
Dessert course was mango mousse with pineapple sorbet.
2011 DR. LOOSEN RIESLING BEERENAUSLESE, MOSEL, GERMANY.
I might have preffered an auslese this evening. It seemed too sweet for my palate.
Somehow I got into a conversation with Dr. Loosen about Burg Eltz, one of my favorite spots in Germany and one he has visited several times. This led to a brief history lesson about Emperor Frederick and the Bavarian king so I gleaned a bit of historical knowledge from the evening. I also mentioned to Ernie that I had some of his wines in my collection at home but couldn't recall off-hand which ones. He said "It doesn't matter which ones. They are all excellent" which is probably true.
Before this evening I wasn't familiar with J. Christopher. However I really liked the Dundee Hills Cuvee we had and I see from wine-searcher.com that it is very reasonably priced (around $30 for the 2012.)