Blind tasting group at my place last night. Double blind for the crew (except me of course).
2016 Selbach-Oster Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spatlese Feinherb Alte Reben (Mosel, Germany)
The Selbach-Oster feinherb wines have become some of my absolute favorites, as they straddle that fine line between sometimes overly austere Mosel trocken, and the full on sweetness of the regular pradikat wines. This Domprobst version is larger scaled than the Zeltinger Sonnenuhr version, but still compelling in the way it achieves a fine balance and depth of flavor. Deep apple tones and a touch of citrus zest, along with a little bit of spice are held in place with a firmly mineral base and proper levels of framing acidity. Pretty compelling wine. This placed sixth out of ten overall in a lineup that had no duds.
2013 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin Vieille Vigne (Burgundy, France)
Notably light and elegant, but also a bit closed in (not surprising I guess). It showed some pretty red fruit but also a fair amount of earthy and herbal (not green meanies). Felt more like a Chambolle than a Gevrey, except when it came to the firm structure. Overall quite nice, but overshadowed by other wines in the lineup. This placed tenth out of ten in the group rankings.
2012 Littorai The Pivot Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast, California)
Paired with the Fourrier, this also showed the more elegant side of Pinot Noir. Fruitier than the Fourrier, with less obvious tannic structure, it rested on its acids. Discussing it with another taster, he indicated that he found the finish clipped, while I picked up a very long, raspberry-fruit finish. Different strokes. The group mostly preferred it over the Fourrier, though it still only ranked eighth out of ten. Like the Fourrier, I would never, ever kick it to the curb.
2014 Division Wine Making Company Red Hills Vineyard Pinot Noir “Six” (Red Hills, Oregon)
Larger scaled from a fruit perspective than the Mugneret-Girbourg, this was clearly new world, but not at all over the top, except that it had to compete after the other three Pinots. I liked the combination of riper fruit with a balance of acids and tannins. It showed a bit foursquare in comparison, and I wish I had more bottles to see how it might evolve, as it has stuffing and good balance. Ninth of ten, beating only the Fourrier.
2014 Mugneret-Gibourg Bourgogne (Burgundy, France)
Well hello there! Third time with this wine, and it just keeps getting better and better. The aromatics were off the charts, with all sorts of fruit and non-fruit things going on. Spices, herbal elements, earthy bits and lots more were just swirling and hovering. There was a bit of this left in the bottle after the tasting, and the aromatic complexity held on, 5 hours after I had opened it. Nothing blew off. On the palate it had ample depth, especially for a Bourgogne, and mirrored many of the aromatic elements. This blew away the other Pinot based wines in the tasting, and ultimately landed in first place across all of the wines. Well deserved!
2012 Schafer-Frohlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Kabinett (Nahe, Germany)
Holy sponti effect Batman! Six years from the vintage, and this still smelled like a new release wine. It tasted great, but the leesy/sponti stuff was hard to get past. Based on the palate impression, I think this can be a fine kabinett when the stink blows off, but wow tough sledding now. Ultimately it ended up in seventh place, the lowest scoring of the white wines.
2012 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Kabinett (Mosel, Germany)
Interesting note on this wine. I opened a bottle of it the day prior to the tasting. It was so freaking delicious, that I altered the tasting lineup to have it again. It again showed brilliantly from the second bottle. Into an early phase of maturity where the primary fruit is still a major player, but elements of smoke and even a little petrol start to emerge. The texture also changes to incorporate subtle creamy notes alongside the brilliant structure. It’s surprisingly a little early in my experience for a Riesling from a structured vintage to show such delicious evolution, but there’s nothing “advanced” about the wine, just pure, positive development. Ends up as the second place wine for the night, just edged out by the Mugneret-Gibourg.
2016 Meulenhof Erdener Pralat Riesling Spatlese (Mosel, Germany)
Young, young, young, but alrady the class of the Pralat shows through via the complexity of the wine. The aromatics were a fascinating combination of tropical fruit (the warmth of the Pralat in the age of global warming), along with spices, pine cone, warm underbrush, and steely minerals. It’s still sporting a ton of baby fat, so some additional age is needed to slim it down, but the early showing is very promising for future development. Fifth place out of the ten wines, but it had a wide margin on the sixth place wine.
2015 Merkelbach Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese (Mosel, Germany)
Also too young, but Merkelbach wines always show so well. More classical in style, it wasn’t really any richer than the Meulenhof. It also showed a lighter fruit profile, moving more towards ripe peach and red apple, as well as some of that characteristic Wurzgarten spice. The mineral backbone was darker. AS expected, the balance was precise, and set the wine for a long, profitable evolutionary path. Note – this was the “Lang Pichter” bottling based on the AP number. The label does not say anything, but the AP number gives it away. Finished third for the night out of the ten wines.
2000 Trimbach Pinot Gris Selection de Grains Nobles (Alsace, France)
Hello botrytis juice! Spicy, spicy, with orange zest and candied bacon! Yes, it was a little smoky and kind of salty, so candied bacon. Hard to drink more than a little bit of this, but it was impressive. Finished fourth out of the ten wines. Two folks were not big fans, which pushed it down a little bit in the rankings.