WTN: Riesling, Champagne, Burg, Bdx at lunch

A combination of moving dates left me with 3 tastings in slightly more than 24 hours, the middle one was lunch at Pub Street with old friends and one new one (visiting from Atlanta)

2002 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Auslese #5
Citrus, peach, and pineapple, very floral, deep and complex flavors, my only quibble was it was a little less racy than I expected. (some others liked less) B+

2013 Trimbach Clos Ste Hune
Great vintage of young Hune. Racy, long, with snappy citrus and long limestoney mineral finish. A-

2007 Roederer Cristal
Full, rich, but with acid backbone, pear, pastry dough, and hazelnut. A-/B+

2009 Grivot Beaux Monts Vosne Romanee 1er
This wasn’t over the top 2009-y, not especially big. Coffee, red and black plum, some Vosne spiciness. B/B+

2014 La Mission Haut Brion
Corked! A shame, but one less wine to hurry through.

1990 Magdelaine
The cork was saturated through, and I don’t think a correct bottle. Still found some enjoyment, black plum and cassis, smoke, leather, but there was an ashtray note that clued in to some rough treatment. This bottle B/B-

2014 Bereche Grand Cru Ay
I didn’t write anything down on this, I liked but didn’t love, but think it was much beloved at table.

1998 Vieux Chateau Certan
Deep, pure, with cassis, tobacco, leather, and coffee. Long. A-

2000 La Mission Haut Brion
Young, powerful, ripe, just had a fleeting taste as I was headed out to return to work

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

[David M. Bueker]

Pretty fantastic line up. 2002 is an interesting vintage in Germany. Lost in the shadow of 2001, it has a lot of delicious wines, but they don't have a "hook" to gain traction/attention. I just like drinking them.

The 1998 VCC was my dad's favorite Bordeaux. Bought him a couple for his birthday long ago, and he actually drank them! Much better than the raft of "special" wines he left in the cellar.

2002 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Auslese #5
2013 Trimbach Clos Ste Hune
2007 Roederer Cristal
2009 Grivot Beaux Monts Vosne Romanee 1er
1990 Magdelaine
2014 Bereche Grand Cru Ay
1998 Vieux Chateau Certan
2000 La Mission Haut Brion
...as I was headed out to return to work

You're a stronger man than I am!

Cool thing about my dept at NYU is tradition of opening Champagne to toast PhD defenses, even in the AM hours. Which means people expect to work afterwards. But the one bottle gets split many ways.

I like 2002 (especially in Saar).
Not really that strong. I think I only drank teeny amounts of the Rieslings, the Cristal, 90 Mag and VCC. Spit mostly, and spit all of the others. I use a pocket breathalyzer and was at 0.01 when I got to work (20 minutes away). It read 0.04 when I got in car, but that was minutes after tasting the LMHB, alcohol will show in mouth for 10-15 minutes after , though not in bloodstream

A wow line-up…Another fan of 02 German wines here, especially Leitz and Schloss Lieser (and some notably good Hexamer) … I had a tiny pour side by side of the 00 LMHB and 00 HB in 10/21, and while I loved both (and both were primary as a barrel sample still), the LMHB had another gear, probably a 98-100 pt wine in my book once mature (in 2050!)…

How’s the 98 VCC maturity wise? I have 3 bottles, was thinking they need fu wait until 2028 to open, but maybe sooner?

The 1998 VCC was beautiful, and well worth sacrificing one of the bottles. Balance still towards fruit rather than mature flavors. Your five year timeline is not that far off.

The LMHB, my wine of the lunch, was more evolved, but only slightly.

The Cristal and Hune also quite lovely. The Bereche not so much, tasted like slightly overripe lemon curd. The Mongeard Mugneret very pleasant, worked well with the steak, the Grivot slightly more serious.