WTN: Kalin, PYCM, Beaucastel, Quilceda, Schaefer, Keller

[David M. Bueker]

Some quick, informal thoughts on wines shared over dinner with a good friend. I took no notes, so these are just snapshots.

1993 Kalin Cellars Chardonnay Cuvée LD
This is interesting wine. I like the depth, but I prefer my Sherry to say Amontillado on the front label. The sherry note was too strong.

2006 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières
That’s more like it. Stony with crisp fruit and lingering depth. I like this very much.

1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
My first chance with this wine, but it fell victim to the reported variability of this bottling. Whether it was low level TCA or some other problem we were never sure.

1992 Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
Back to the days when Quilceda was really nice wine versus a goop fest. This showed lovely raspberry fruit and an herbal/minty element on the nose. Lovely with lots of time to spare.

2012 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese #14
Purity, purity, purity. Beautiful stone fruit dusted with sugar and lively acidity. So pretty. This and the Quilceda took the honors for the evening.

2007 Weingut Keller Westhofen Brunnenhäuschen Abtserde Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel Auction
When it was still ice cold this seemed like a relative of the Schaefer. The temp kept the acids lively. As it warmed it lost some of that electricity, but it was still outstanding and very delicious. It just did not have the same level of purity as the Schaefer. I really, really liked this though.

Too bad about the Kalin, I'd call that an off bottle, I've had the LD couple times in last few years, not sherried.

PYCM is great, but with acclaim prices rising fast.

Like everyone else, mixed experiences with 89 Bo, but very good when on (and not TOO bretty)

thanks for notes

[David M. Bueker]

Interesting. Every bottle of Kalin I have ever had (mostly Sem) has shown Sherry notes in abundance.

[Jenise]

That was the best vintage of QC ever IMO. And they've held up.

Interesting. Every bottle of Kalin I have ever had (mostly Sem) has shown Sherry notes in abundance.

Ya, the semillon seems to nearly always have the sherry notes. Sauv blanc not as much but the typicity is fleeting. I've had many (8-10?) a good bottle of their various chards with only one showing issues.