BYO at the Wienerberg on 3 June 2016, the night before the meeting of old friends at my place. Erik, Fredrik, Victor and yours truly.
Wittmann Riesling trocken Grosses Gewächs Morstein Westhofen 2004
Thanks to Erik. Medium yellow-gold. Concentrated lemony-herbaceous fruit, nicely firm, peppery minerals, intense dusty-tannic finish. Lightly creamy. Drank this up chilled from the fridge, admirable oxidation resistance. dp 91+/92?
Van Volxem Riesling Alte Reben Wiltinger Gottesfuss 2004
Thanks to Erik. Pale gold. Nicely thick, aged honeyed if not too fruity. Much darker minerality. Soft herbs. Medium acidity. Fairly long. May profit from further bottle age, even if more evolved than the 2003 (which I always preferred by quite a bit). dp 91+/92-?
Soldera Case Basse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva 1999
Thanks to Victor. According to the information we have, the Riserva contains the lots from the Intistieti vineyard, versus the "normale" those from Case Basse. Transparent garnet-red, minor watery rim. Sage, rosemary, tiny bitter note to the firm tannin, higher-acid than the Saumur. Still harmonious enough. Lighter, more Burgundian than e.g. the 1990 we had most recently, but more to the point, lighter in both colour and concentration than every other bottle of the 1999 Riserva I have had. Victor was no less surprised - maybe the complete production wasn't assembled? Having said that, I have never seen another lot number than L B64, so there is no way of telling bottles/lots apart. dp 93+/94
Foucault Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg 1996
Mine. Deep garnet-ruby-black, tiny watery-orange rim. Stupidly picked the wrong bottle, the second to last one from an apparently less perfectly stored case which I bought weeks or months after release. A bit leafier, drier with tannin and much less opulent than the best. Still very concentrated and firm, and quite long. Graphite, charcoal, extremely minerally. Held up well for several days, still enjoyable but very possibly the worst bottle of this wine I've had, even used the last glassful for cooking. A pity given the best bottles I've had revealed the Loire legend this promised to be in its youth. dp 91-
Robert Weil Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Kiedricher Gräfenberg 1996
Thanks to Victor. Half bottle. Tokaj-like deep amber-orange colour. Has thrown quite a lot of tartracide. Dried apricot, mango, faintly oxidized apple, more than a touch of bready-roasted botrytis, ginormous mouth-puckering acidity. Breathtaking! Tiny red berry (strawberry/raspberry?) top note. Very, very long. Surprising how this has become more similar to the ice wine compared to at release. Victor keeps wondering whether it (either of them) was (and still is) worth cellaring? I personally love the subtlety and expressiveness of these wines in their primary youth, but find the overwhelming power and intensity of the more (if nowhere near fully) mature wines. dp 96(+/-?)
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
