Thor and Theresa Iverson were over for dinner the Saturday night (Thor's birthday), and in addition to exchaning Briords for Rush tickets, we drank some wine. The Bocquenet Echezeaux was reported on separately, and some wines are lost to history (read: the recycle bin), but I have been retasting several over ensuing nights and here report the results:
Chartogne-Taillet Cuvee Fiacre Champagne(all 1996 juice)
Nutty and citric with a youthfully agressive mousse. Night three and it's still going strong suggesting good things to come with further cellaring.
1996 Trimbach Pinot Gris Hommage a Georgette Trimbach
Smoky and earthy. Logs smoldering in a bed of peet moss. Clove and orange, but not in a tired sense. Still vibrant on night two, it fell down significantly on night 3.
2005 Kurt Darting Durkheimer Steinberg Muskateller Kabinett Trocken
Aggresively herbal on opening, this was a surprising comeback kid on night two where it was gorgeous with some blue cheese and also with Epoisses. Showing even more varietal florality on night 3.
2001 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett
Stil youthful, or is it just unevolved. Either way it holds little flavor interest, though the balance is good. I persist in my opinion that Leistenberg is best drunk young. Next up is an auslese from the same site & year to see if that's any better. This is clearly not Donnhoff's best (nor would I expect it to be).
2006 Edmunds St. John Pinot Gris Witters Vineyard
Consensus opinion on night one was a) this reminded us all of Viognier, except for Theresa who had tasted it before, and b) it was hot. On night three it still shows Viognier florality, though it has calmed to show more smokiness, but to the good the heat is gone. I'll let my other bottles sit a few months/a year.
For posterity's sake we also had a lovely, fruit filled and still somewhat firm 1995 Felsina Rancia (drink now-2010). A few other bottles were best left to history, except notably:
1995 Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese***
This was the accompaniment to my spinach salad with candied pecans, and while the wine was gorgeous, it was not sweet enough for the salad. Creamy lemons with apple skin and stone, this was drinking at peak and should be consumed over the next year or two for maximum enjoyment. Delicious.