Notes from an al fresco wine tasting cum potluck lunch yesterday (bit of rain, but luckily I have wide umbrellas). The theme was California (which we all followed except one attendee short of a map or a memory that bought Washington, but it was really good so we forgave him).
First up was a taste of a couple of Mosel Rieslings I had opened a couple of days before and wanted to let the group taste.
2009 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett – crisp and clean with a clear fruit nose laced with hints of petrol, excellent acidity on palate and a long clean finish.
2007 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett – slightly darker, with a riper and more complex nose and some caramel flavours that showed up. Excellent length, finishing cleanly. I preferred this wine.
2015 Failla Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard – medium colour, buttery oak nose, with tropical fruit, full rich mouth feel, and good acidity. Flawed only by hints of oxidation that not everyone commented on.
2010 Ridge Chardonnay Estate – lighter colour, nose of buttery citrus and some ripe pear, clean and decently long.
1986 Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley – my wine and I’d opted to try this as the cork was weeping a bit, although it had been perfectly happy in my cellar since I bought it at the winery in the late 1980s (I had the 87 as a back up). When I bought it they told me that the reds didn’t get a lot of distribution as the emphasis of the winery was overwhelmingly on the white wines, so the winemaker at the time was able to play about and experiment a little (it was Dick Arrowood at the time – in fat he left two years later to found his own winery). I’d opened one or two of these wine many years ago and found them monolithic and neigh unto impenetrable, so left them alone.
This bottle was just fine as far as condition went, and was still surprisingly dark and clear, with a dark cherry nose and some cola and mint. On palate it was still in excellent shape and had a long smooth finish. I’d say at peak, perhaps a tad past but amazingly good.
1973 Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley – obviously older wine from the colour, which was browning a tad and had a decent nose of earthy tobacco and plum. Elegant old timer that was soft in the mouth and evocative of n older style of cabernet, before the Parker-fueled “Mine is bigger than yours” school arose.
2014 Delmas Syrah Walla Walla – this was the one non-California entrant but we forgave it as it was very good. Dark wine with an initial nose of toasted cashew and dark fruit – it took us a bit of muttering to head toward Syrah. Ripe, oaky, smooth wine that I’d love to taste with a few more years on it.
2006 Drinkward Peschon Cabernet Sauvignon Entre Deux Mères – a new one on me. Dark wine with a ripe nose of vanilla and blueberry, smooth on palate, medium plus length, balanced. A tad ripe for my taste.
1988 Chateau St. Jean Johannisberg Riesling Special Select Late Harvest Russian River Valley – another wine I picked up, possibly on the same trip as the cabernet (I raced vintage cars for several years at Laguna Seca and always came home via wine country). This wine was 8.8% alcohol and 176 g/l residual sugar and has matured to a fairly ark brown colour rather similar to an Aussie liqueur Muscat. I’ve never had an explanation for why California Riesling goes darker with time than the German Beerenauslesen which are more a deep amber.
Ripe sweet nose with spicy apricot and fig hints, and the RS would equate to a ripe Spatlese or low Auslese level, and although it came across as very sweet, it was balanced by ample acidity and had a hugely long finish. My last bottle, sadly.
As things seem to be improving here, Covid-wise, and there is a chance of resuming my annual terrine and wine event, I practiced by making a s pork based terrine with an avocado, sesame oil, lime juice and light soy dressing, topped with grated lime rind and black sesame seeds . Worked well against the wines.