Continuing to work on my orphan stash case of Z-H over the last few days:
1. Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Herrenweg Turckheim AC: A (12.5%) 1993: Deep golden/burnished bronze color; dreadfully oxidized/wet dog fur/fusty nose when first opened; improved to slightly oxidized/aldehydic some old Mosel/piney/valve oil/orangey complex nose; somewhat bitter slight petrol/valve oil/piney/old Mosel somewhat oxidized/aldehydic bit tired flavor; some interesting things therein but mostly in pretty sad shape. $18.00
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2. Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Gueberschwihr AC: A (12.5%) 1993: Deep golden/burnished bronze color; slight oxidized/nutty smokey/petrol/valve oil slight floral/R/herbal some old Mosel quite complex interesting nose; bit tart old Mosel/gout de petrol/valve oil slight herbal/R/floral slight nutty/oldRhone/smokey/piney/foresty interesting complex flavor w/ trace of bitterness; very long bit smokey/piney/oldMosel slight nutty/herbal some gout de petrol complex finish w/ slight bitterness; showing a bit compromised/nutty character but not badly oxidized and still pretty interesting. $18.00
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3. Zind-Humbrecht GWT Wintzenheim AC: A (14%) 1993: Deep golden/burnished bronze color; slight earthy strong nutmeg/cinammon/oldGWT very slight spicy/lychee/GWT some smokey/piney rather complex/interesting nose; soft/fat/lush/ripe beautiful nutmeg/cinammon/spicy/oldGWT slight lychee/GWT/hair oil/fishy complex classic oldGWT very interesting flavor w/ slight bitterness; very long/lingering spicy/cinammon/nutmeg/oldGWT slight spicy/lychee/floral/hair oil complex finish w/ trace of bitterness; lots of old GWT character w/ complex/interesting stuff there in and a pleasure to drink; reminds me of that first experience w/ the Willm ClosGaensbroennel '59 in 1970. $18.00
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4. Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Clos Hauser AC: A (12.5%) 1993: Deep goldeb/bronze color; slight smokey/cedary/pencilly very strong petrol/Mosel valve oil oldMosel/Spatlese very complex oldR beautiful nose; fairly tart/bit metallic/tangy rather smokey/cedary/pencilly slight peachy/pineapple/floral very strong petrol/Mosel valve oil quite dry beautiful/complex flavor w/ no bitterness at all; very long/lingering very gout de petrol/Mosel valve oil some smokey/pencilly/piney slight peachy/apricotty (botrytis?) beautiful complex finish w/ no signs of oxidation nor bitterness; a beautiful mature old Alsace R that the last btl is going back to Kansas this week. $23.00
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A wee bloody pulpit:
1. I had the first 3 btls about a week ago w/ friends in SantaFe. This orphan stash Z-H box was all stored standing upright for some 18-20 yrs. The ullage on all the btl was pretty small and no signs of leakage or compromise under the capsules. I laid the 3 btls on their sides in a cooler for the trip down to SantaFe. Upon arrival, I stood the btls upright. There was a slight bit of leakage around the edge of the cork on the Herrenweg, suggesting that that cork was not as sound as the other two. No signs of leakage on the other two. All three corks were solid, came out w/ the Ah-So w/ slight difficulty, and all had good resiliency. But the Herrenweg was the saddest of those three and clearly compromised by the dreadful storage.
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2. The ClosHauser was clearly the best of these 4 wines. I checked my early notes and this wine was very tart/lean/hurtey/screechy in its youth. Very much an old-timey Alsace R that Z-H was not making very much in those days. That's probably why it's held up so well. I doubt that the current Z-H wines will do as well.
They next morning, this breakfast wine was a very murky/brown color and pretty dead & gone. Or maybe just didn't hold up very well to my bowl of Fruit-Loops.
Tom