Was great having many of my friends around me, Albino, Andrea, Ned and Rainer, at one dinner, plus have another with my parents. We also had visitor from the States, Theresa Regli Iverson, who came to Switzerland on something like a back to the roots tour, her ancestors originally stemming from far up in the Gotthard region, the so-called Ursern Valley spanning Andermatt, Hospental and Realp.
Included here are wines had over a three days span, lest anyone should think we are alcoholics ;^) Thanks so much Albino for cooking, and to Theresa for acting as his sous-chef and preparing that tasty chestnut soup, and sorry to everyone I fell asleep on the sofa about three times!
Gantenbein Riesling Auslese 2000
A half bottle. Unbelievable how little this changed since I last had it five years ago. Remains a bit CO2 bubbly, if not even a tiny bit yeasty. Fresh and delicious, clean and pure Granny Smith apple, light on its feet, detailed and focused, a bit white blossomy and blackcurranty even, quite finesse-laden and long. Not quite the minerally depth (although not far off) of the best Germans (the clones here, if I am informed correctly, stem from one of Wilhelm Haag’s of Weingut Fritz Haag Brauneberg vineyards), but the winemaking is always sure-handed here. Ultimately perhaps more tasty than truly serious, but none the worse for it. Rating: 91
Tablas Creek Vineyard Paso Robles Côtes de Tablas 2004
Thanks to Theresa, who visibly and audibly enjoyed our futile attempts to guess what the heck we were having, in other words, she laughed herself silly listening to our comments (hubby clearly chose her contributions with care). Blend of 55% Viognier, 29% Marsanne, 8% Grenache Blanc and 8% Roussanne. Greenish colour. A bit catty (making me think it might be a Sauvignon Blanc, the first of number of wrong guesses, none of which remotely close), forest floor tree bark, minty, fairly viscous, lightly oxidative apple, coconut, herbs, sweet and sour, banana leaf. Soon turned very nutty with airing, adding flavours of apricot, orange marmalade and limestone. Rainer felt this turned gluey and alcoholic, thus virtually undrinkable within minutes. I will admit I also liked it best right after the cork was pulled, and that I have never been a fan of the concept that true complexity can be achieved via more or less heterogeneous blends (this one seems to work, for what it is worth). Not quite as bad as my friends thought, I mainly found the oxidative instability disturbing. Rating: 85-/84
Trimbach Riesling Vendanges Tardives Clos Ste-Hune 1983
Thanks to Ned. Perhaps the CSH I have drunk most often in my life, I am always grateful to get an opportunity to have it again, as this is nowhere near decline. No real need to type yet another TN, other than to remark on its still pale golden yellow-green colour and incredible freshness and cut of pine forest floor, pistachio, hugely complex and deep, yet lean and racy lime and liquid stones and here just faintly sea-salty argillo-calcerous minerality. Not all bottles we have had were equally good, nor so extremely long, subtle and finesseful. Dry wine does not get much better than this (and at this stage of its evolution this is, subjectively at least, dry – of course in contrast to the 1989, there was no botrytis here). Rating: 97
Joseph Roty Gevrey-Chambertin Les Fontenys 1993
From a plot that still includes a high density of pre-record keeping vines, i.e. ones planted before 1880! Gingery half-dried rose-hip, black cherry, strong, a bit smoky minerality, a touch of laurel leafiness, a faint steel note. A suggestion of barnyard in this bottle. Cork tree bark, beef juice. Perplexingly shut-down at this stage (who would have guessed so, given showings three and six years ago, soil-driven with rather closed fruit? Almost grainy with old-viney extract and minerality, Albino actually did not like it at his stage. Sweet and full, with a dry finish, long and palate-stainingly tannic for Pinot Noir (Rainer always seems to love those Roty tannins), almost Nebbiolo-like in balance. Ned noted, and rightly so, that there was something Côte-Rôtie-like about this bottle. I may have underestimated this vis-à-vis the great Charmes-Chambertin TVV, it not only seemed more youthful now than last time, it also seemed more powerful and ageworthy than I had thought, interestingly without seeming in any way better (it has always been an outstanding wine, it simply appears to have got more stuffing to live off in bottle than I thought). I sure wish I had waited on this last bottle, though. Rating: 93+/~94
Evesham Wood Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Seven Springs „En Dessous“ 2004
Thanks to Theresa. Purplish ruby-black. Very oaky, and not too attractive oak either. Plum and apricot top notes to simplistic raspberry. Nice body, a bit light in terms of concentration, but luckily not at all over-extracted. Even so, there was an unpleasant underlying bitterness that got more pronounced with airing. Medium length at best. Rainer, inimitably, pinned down the grape variety calling this “a fake Pinot Noir”, then, when the bottle was being produced, wondered why the term “terroir” is being used on the back label. Technically correct, utterly uninspiring wine. What I find disturbing is the use of French in the vineyard designation – it might make people think Evesham Wood’s winemaker knows of the existence of Burgundy. Rating: 81-?
Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano 1989
Bought at auction, from a collector in Zürich from whom I have had other bottles that seemed fine, but this showed an almost amber-yellow colour. The cork looked absolutely perfect, difficult to assume it may have been too warmly stored. Tasted like Sherry, too. Decanted it back into the bottle and took it back home. Surprisingly, the colour had deepened, and the aromas and flavours almost returned back to normal a day or two later, though never to the point where it gave as much pleasure as the extremely pretty bottle Oliver provided at our unforgettable 2005 (pre-)New Year’s Eve dinner at Marc’s place. Beyond that, it dried out and finally made its way into a pot-au-feu. No idea what exactly went wrong here. Too bad, as in this condition, it was no match for Gaja's SSL from the same vintage. Rating: N/R
Gaja Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo 1989
Albino and I like telling our guests the story of how long it took us to realise that these wines are not just hyped and expensive, but that it seems inevitable to us that they are misunderstood in their youth, and of course, if tasted from the wrong stemware. I usually refer to the young ones as asphalt-tinged cherry coulis. Telling apart the three single vineyard bottlings at a release (trade) tasting, or those three from the Sperss is not too easy either, especially not unaired and from stems ranging a INAO tasting glass to a Riedel Vinum Chianti or Bordeaux. Gaja’s Nebbiolos need age to fully swallow up their barrique aroma and flavours (I still doubt his wines from any of his other ventures outside of Piedmont ever integrate theirs, and must admit, lack the curiosity to find out), let alone for terroir subtleties to surface. I would rather take Sommelier Burgundy stems to a restaurant than waste money having one of this costly beauties from stemware that will not allow it to show well. Having said that, note these wines are anything but fickle: given appropriate service, I do not know of any wine that shows more consistently from bottle to bottle. It would also be difficult to find any Nebbiolo-based wine that ages better. I am still curious to see whether other modern barrique-aged examples age along similar lines, to be honest, I doubt it. But to give an example of what happens to these wines with bottle age, no one, with the exception of the experienced Piedmont lover Oliver (who spends several long weekend in the region every year) himself, was surprised three years ago when even he mistook the 1982 SSL Albino served blind for a traditional Nebbiolo. Even so, my surprise this time round could hardly have been greater when Albino and Rainer mistook this 1989 SSL for a Burgundy, such as a great Hubert Lignier or Méo-Camuzet! Deep glossy garnet-ruby-black, just a touch of orange at the rim. Anise, tar, partly dried black cherry jam, blood orange, thyme, oregano, lovely marzipan sweetness. Mature enough to approach, this still seemed, to me who decanted and served it at least, a semi-youthful and thus recognisable Gaja. Big, merely faintly dusty, tarry and grainy, black tea-flavoured tannin. Full-bodied, perfectly balanced, extremely long on the finish. Some of the youthfully burly opulence has given way to greater Nebbiolo classicism, the 1989 SSL, a sentimental favourite among the wines of Angelo Gaja (apparently not just to Albino, Rainer and me, but also to the man himself), is perhaps an unusual wine in that it has seemingly always given pleasure. Can it get any better from here? The same question I asked myself last time, really. What I can say is that when I was asked by an acquaintance to list my tasting and drinking highlights of the past 12 months, certainly a year with no shortage of great bottles, this was one of the first that came to mind, right up there with the 1999 La Tâche, 2003 Chave, 1998 Célestins, 1999 Côte Blonde, 1970 and 1968 Unico etc. I was merely sad there could be no contest that night between this and Giacosa’s Santo Stefano from the same vintage, but then, one cannot have everything go right all the time. Rating: 97+/-?
István Szepsy Tokaji Aszúessencia Nyulas-Hegyi Szölö 1993
Bottle #153 of 390. Quite deep amber-orange colour. Looks a tiny bit darker than when it was bottled, but remains quite youthful. White chocolate, quince, dried apricot, spice aromas of red paprika and curry, Orange Pecoe black tea. Viscous on the pour, thick and sweet on the palate, backed by lovely tangerine-scented acidity. Very, very long on the finish. Fresher, more tangerine-like, sweeter and longer with airing, more and fresher Furmint apple cut, too. Grown on Szepsy’s only loess site (back then at least, this being the one Szepsy sometimes refers to as "my father's Bodrogkeresztúr field"), I had always been curious how well this wine would age compared to other 1993 AEs. Very well indeed! Storage condition is crucial though, judging from experience with slightly less pristine bottles. Rating: 94+?
Fonseca-Guimaraens Vintage Port 1976
One of the finest and certainly most concentrated Ports I know, we have unfortunately had some volatile and/or slightly murky bottles also. This one simply must have been corked, so mildly no one could actually get a TCA taint, there was no bitterness or muteness either, nothing more really than an instinct on my side. Opaque and a bit pruney ruby with a red-orange rim, did not quite look like a barrel sample anymore, but still twice as deeply coloured as the great 1977 (of which finding a bottle as good as the 1976 has become quite a feat). Less glossy hue than the finest bottles. Minty dark coffee chocolate (the drought vintage showing most strongly in these less pristine bottles), rum raisins, very sweet (like a Recioto really), hugely concentrated, ending on a whiff of volatile acidity, sadly cut short by what I believe must have been the side effects of a bad cork. Although this would have been drinkable, I concentrated on having some more of what I liked best that night. Rating: N/R
Michel Savioz Humagne Blanche Clos du Château Ravire 2000
Strawy colour, a bit golden now compared to only three years ago. A bit tired already rather than autumnal, the strawy-grassy-herbaceous complexity going bland. Not impossible it will return to form with more aging (seen it happen before), but I would not bet on it. When Theresa said she found this interesting, my parents gave her the last bottle to take home. Rating: 83-
Maximin Grünhaus (von Schubert) Riesling Spätlese #20 Grünhäuser Abtsberg 1989
A wine I had not tasted in a long time, and which after a most promising fruit phase went into a rather weird closed phase (during which I got to taste it a few times thanks to friends such as Ned), this is the first bottle from my own collection I have opened in years. Now obviously opening up again, though still looking and tasting youthful, it will take more time to reach full maturity, but this was a most reassuring showing. Medium-pale yellow-green. The overwhelming roasted coffee top note this showed during its closed phase is almost gone, the nicely appley fruit and slatey minerality showing with impressive precision. Long finish. Not particularly sweet, this is a Spätlese that will go increasingly well with food as it ages in bottle. No undue 1989 softness here, rather exceptionally firm fruit and minerality for the vintage, and nicely sound acidity. Deserves to be held onto, but I expect it to go drier with age, so it depends on how you like your wine. Rating: 92+
Edmunds St. John Syrah The Shadow 2002
Thanks to Theresa. I can hardly tell how glad I am when guests bring along something I truly like. Even guessed the grape variety correctly here! Medium purple ruby, faint black hue, watery rim, looks like Beaujolais, someone said. Some garrigue (almost Provençal-like), black pepper and something raspberry red-fruity on the nose, finesse aromas of lavender and laurel, faint violet. Medium concentration, luckily not at all over-extracted, a pure and fresh wine. Medium-fine tannin that is fairly flavourful. Fairly, but not too expressive. Medium-plus length, some subtlety on the finish. Initially not particularly minerally or driven by soil notes. Just the faint sweetness of physiologically ripe grapes, not a sign of overripeness. Got meatier and rounder with airing until the next day, certainly deserves to be decanted well ahead at this stage. Finally showed some mild metal and mineral notes after a few hours. A well-balanced and already quite harmonious, uncomplicated wine. Maybe the kind, blogging donor (thanks for choosing this one in particular!) is going to laugh his ass off in his cubbyhole – since I know nothing about how this was made – when I say that this to me is a very natural-tasting wine, true and unadulterated aromas and flavours of the grape. Perhaps no more than a short- to mid-term ager and hardly a wine to think about too hard, but everyone loved this, even my mom. My dad declared jovially he “would even buy American wine like this” at the price Theresa quoted, of course everyone else at the table knew he will buy and enjoy wine from almost anywhere, provided it is good, or maybe, as my godfather is wont to say, “pourvu que ça soûle – bien!” Rating: ~88(+?)
Tokaj Pendits (Márta Wille-Baumkauff) Tokaji Essencia Tarcal-Deák 1999
Poured Theresa a small portion of a barrel sample I am keeping in my cellar, thus the unfiltered finest lot of once analysed 1.28% alcohol, 618 g/l residual sugar, 23.3 g/l acidity, 99.9 g/l dry extract finest lot of this wine prior to bottling Free-run juice of almost pure Furmint, with very little Hárslevelü. Pours, smells and tastes like quince jelly with terrific volcanic-chalky minerality, complex, amazingly balanced with acidity so aromatic it can be smelled from an empty glass, a drug-like solid. Unchanged lightly amber milky-orange coloured jelly of quince, soaked pollen, candied tangerine, dried apricot, white chocolate, orange rind, baking spices and a papaya top note. Hugely thick, viscous and rich, almost impossible to get out of the glass. The retro-olfaction here is truly memorable. In this unfiltered state one of the half dozen or so greatest Esszencias I have tasted, but I still wonder what finally made it into the bottle. Rating: 98/99+?
Robert Weil Riesling Auslese #19 Kiedricher Gräfenberg 1995
Bright yellow colour (interesting how these virtually transparent wines deepen with age). Now already in its saffron-, camomile-, dandelion- and balm mint-scented tropical yellow fruit phase (pineapple, water melon, pink grapefruit), complex, deep, minerally, intense, long, with a backbone of bright aromatic acidity that once seemed soft, no longer now, cutting right through the lightly viscous sweetness (not yet as BA-like as some Weil Auslesen from more recent vintages, more like a super Gold Capsule Auslese in overall balance). Simply love the way Weil’s wines age, and of course the expressiveness of the great Gräfenberg terroir. Rating: 93+/94
Léoville-Poyferré St. Julien 2001
A half bottle. Ruby with a purple-black hue, ruby-red at the rim. Quite sweetly ripe blackcurrant and softly pruney plum, some already quite integrated oak, a green tobacco leaf top note, faint bitter chocolate. Already nicely drinkable, hinting at some minerality, but does not yet show all too many soil notes. Low acidity, round tannin. Quite good concentration and medium body, balanced finish. Less freaky but also less interesting than the barrel sample of the 2004 a year ago (what goes into the bottle is always so much more civilised today – unfortunately?), the 2001 is an uncomplicated and pretty, classic St. Julien with short- to mid-term aging potential. Rating: 88+?
Disznókö Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos 1993
11.95% alcohol, 126 g/l residual sugar, acids 9.8 g/l. Same as always really, this is doing extremely well in bottle. Fairly deep orange-golden colour. Crème Brûlée and caramelised Tarte Tatin apple, banana baked in acacia honey, roasted almond, firm tropical candied fruit centered around bitter-sweet quince, a little cigar tobacco. Impressively concentrated, without being overly sweet. Good body. Strong, bright orangey acidity. The volcanic soil notes are quite reminiscent of Rangen de Thann, truly amazing. Rating: 93+?
Greetings from Switzerland, David.