We tried these last Wed at Pig+Fig from Blair's cellar:
1. HopKilnWnry GWT RRV (12.5%; dry) MartyGriffen/HopKilnWnry/Healdsburg 1981: Med.dark gold/bronze color; mrather pencilly/smokey/punent rather oldGWT quite complex beautiful very aromatic nose; very dry/slightly bitter very strong oldGWT/toasty/pungent/cedary quite dry complex flavor w/ slight bitterness; very long/lingering dry oldGWT/cedary/pungent/smokey/bit nutmeg quite complex finish; a beautiful complex example of an old GWT of the level of some Alsatian 40-yr old versions I've tried. $??
________________
2. Ch.St.Jean JohannisbergRiesling/WhiteRiesling RobertYoung Vnyds/AlexVlly (11.8%; SaH: 22.1%; RS: 2.5%) Ch.St.Jean/Kenwood/SonomaVlly 1979: Deep gold/bronze/some browning color; beautiful very complex rather petrol/valve oil/old Rheingau rather smokey/oldR some botrytis/apricotty beautiful nose; slightly bitter very intense oldR/petrol/Mosel valve oil/pungent fairly oldRheingau slight herbal bit off-dry very beautiful complex flavor; very long/lingering off-dry some oldRheingau/smokey/pungent/bit botrtis/apricotty very complex finish; a beautiful old Rheingau Auslese character as good as any I've ever had. $15.00 (TJ)
________________
3. Hugel Riesling AC: Alsace Vendange Tardive (12.5%; Selectionne par JeanHugel) Riquewihr 1976: Deep gold/bronze rather youthful color; rather smokey/pungent some oldR/pencilly very complex beautiful nose; lightly sweet rather cedary/pencilly/oldR/pungent some petrol/valve oil spicy/nutmeg/cinammon beautiful complex flavor; very long/lingering rather pungent/cedary/oldR/petrol near dry quite complex finish; a beautiful very complex old Alsatian R that shows little signs of fading. $19.50 (vTH)
________________
4. Dom.Zind-Humbrecht GWT Hengst AC: Alsace GrandCru (11%-13%; KermitLynch/Berkeley; Vendange Tardive) Wintzeheim 1983: Deep gold color; very strong very spicy/GWT/oldGWT cinammon/nutmeg slight botrytis/peachy very complex beautiful still youthful nose; fairly tart/tangy some cedary/pencilly/oldGWT fairly dry bit spicy/nutmeg very complex flavor w/ very slight bitterness; very long/lingering near dry some cedary/pencillt/oldGWT/spicy slight botrytis/apricotty rather rich/lush quite complex finish w/ slight bitterness; a beautiful complex quite spicy old GWT that still shows some youth. $??
__________________________________________
More gittlefrittle from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Despite the rather dark/oxidized color of these wines, they were all four in beautiful condition and showing no signs of oxidative character whatsoever. Blair was a very astute buyer of wines & these were stored in perfect conditions in his basement & clearly withstood the test of time. He still has a bunch of German Reislings from the '70's down there.
Tom