It was good to be back at King Fung in Boston last week, with a couple of their fantastic ducks and several other goodies gracing the table. There were also 14 wines on the rather crowded table for the 7 of us to enjoy!
Opening wines:
2001 Von Hovel Riesling Spatlese Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Scharzhofberger. The nose shows off some dark peach and lemon peel aromas. In the mouth, it opens rather tart and racy before pleasing sweetness kicks in on the mid-palate. For me, though, it seems to flatten out and dull down too much at the back of the palate and on the finish. I guess I would hold for a while and try again later.
1995 Baumard Savennieres Trie Speciale. It’s funny, I didn’t realize until I sat down to transcribe my notes that I had this same wine a few months ago. My notes are actually pretty similar for both bottles, but for whatever reason I liked the earlier bottle and didn’t care as much for this one. This bottle: Interesting nose of wax and lanolin over pear fruit. There’s lots of minerality in the mouth, almost more like tinny flavors, though. There is also an interesting but bitter quinine-like note. Last bottle: “This has a lovely honeycomb nose to go along with pear and intense minerality. It’s very floral in the mouth, with a big dose of bitter gin herbs. Quite dry. An interesting and enjoyable Savennieres. Finishes with good length.” Who knows, this might be one of those fine-line, depends-on-my-personal-mood, depends-on-phases-of-the-moon kinds of wines?
NV Alvear Montilla-Moriles Oloroso Asuncion. From PX grapes. It is a clear caramel color and offers aromas of toasted walnuts, yellow raisins and some spirits. It seems borderline dry in the mouth, a bit understated, with not quite as much cut as I was looking for. I guess it is OK, but I really didn’t want more than a few sips.
The reds:
1996 Williams-Selyem Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast. Moderately pale ruby color. The nose is pretty, with notes of cola, soft cherries, other red berries, and a hint of green leafiness. It is on the lighter-bodied side, and offers a pure and satiny texture. There is bright, elegant fruit throughout and a big whack of spices. Some tangy acidity flows in gently on the elegant, but sneaky-long finish. Easy to like and a pleasure to drink.
1995 Fontaine-Gagnard Volnay Clos des Chenes. My database warned me about this bottle : ‘Wine Spectator Review—A weak, dry and astringent wine with a mouthpuckering finish. 180 cases made—PM. 76 points’. Yikes. So, this bottle was opened with a mix of fear and anticipation. In the end, my rating was about 15 point higher, so no need to worry! The wine has solid garnet color, with a touch of clearing at the rim of the glass. The nose is fantastic, with dried cherries, earth, dried leaves, old leather-bound books, gentle spices and sort of a cider note. Later in the evening, it takes on some decided coffee aromas, as well as some clean horse barn accents. In the mouth, it shows off a bright but somewhat narrow beam of cool fruits, spices and acidity over a medium-bodied frame. Later on, the acidity does begin to pinch somewhat, turning the finish a bit more toward sour cherries. Overall, though, it is a rather enjoyable bottle of Volnay.
1999 Daniel Rion et Fils Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes. The first time I met Joe Perry last fall, he had a ’99 Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny in tow. Now this. Thanks for keeping us all in Chambolle, Joe! Especially compared to that tight, sinewy Mugnier, this wine starts out with a pretty open and forceful nose of mixed berries, dark cherry and something like dewy forest ferns. It is richer and fuller than the previous two Pinots, though I would still call it medium-bodied. Flavors are a mix of dark and red berries and a touch of earth. The texture is quite smooth, turning ever so chalky on the finish. It is a young, enjoyable, clean effort that that I’d like to try again in 5 years.
1999 R. Lopez de Heredia Rioja Reserva Vina Bosconia. OK, so one of my minor resolutions coming into this year was to try the wines of Lopez de Heredia. So far, I’ve sampled the ’96 Reserva Bosconia, the ’81 Gran Reserva Bosconia and the ’96 Gravonia white. I would have to rank this ’99 Reserva Bosconia a head or two behind those others, even though I like it quite a lot. The first thing I like is the gentle, pretty and welcoming bouquet that sports soft raspberry fruit, caramel and powdered milk chocolate. In the mouth, there is solid presence and the texture is well-knit. Even though it is not a big fruity wine—in keeping with the house style from what I can tell—it is certainly more fruit-centric than the other vintages cited above. There are some moderately drying tannins and a little acid kick on the finish. Another winner here, so I’ll now I’ll have to move on and take a look for the ’98 Reserva Tondonia to try next.
1994 Alaine Voge Cornas Cuvee Vieilles Fontaines. Corked.
2005 Chateau du Hureau Saumur-Champigny Lisagathe. Wow, this is a deep purple color. The nose is dark and brooding, at first offering up bicycle tire, white pepper, and dark tree fruit aromas. In just a few minutes, though, it turns to something I simply could not stomach—with aromas of prunes, locker room, and yucky, funky dried up tobacco leaf juice (yes, I used to pick leaf tobacco in my youth and this smelled like my clothes at the end of the day!). Honestly, I think I was the only person at the table who felt this way, but I just hated it. In the mouth, it offers a luxurious texture in a big, aggressive style, but I just wanted to dump it out as quickly as I could. A strange reaction, I know, but truthful.
The sweet wines:
2005 C. Von Schubert Maximan Grunhaus Maximin Grunhauser Riesling Spatlese Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Abtsberg (AP #7). In my opinion, it was a good idea to hold off on this Spatlese until the end of the meal, as it certainly seems to drink like an Auslese. There are peaches, lime and orange blossom on the nose. In the mouth, it is sweet and a bit primary with sugar and fruit, but shows lovely round body, very good intensity and a fine acid twang. The finish of light honey and crystallized sugar is fresh and lingering. Really nice the next night, as well.
1988 Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes. 375 ml bottle. The appearance is of a deep golden color, with an obvious heavy viscosity seen while swirling in the glass. I really like the nose, with its bright, high-toned dried pineapple, apricot and nectarine pit aromas over lovely botrytis notes and crème brulee. In the mouth, it has nice weight and presence, with solid fruit and acidity on a full-bodied frame. The fruit seems still young and fresh and is married to a toasted sugar note (like crème brulee topping). Nice zippy acidity and toasted spice on the finish.
2002 Domaine de la Maletie Monbazillac. This shows a pretty, open-knit nose of dark peach skin, botrytis cream, toasted sugar and spice notes. It is smooth in the mouth with decent viscosity and palate presence. It isn’t especially deep or complex, but it is a nice sweet sipper. And it drank pretty well over the next 2 nights, as well.
1988 Chateau de Fesles Bonnezeaux La Chapelle. This has a bright, shiny golden color and a distinctive nose of parafin, clover honey, minerals and herbs. It is waxy in the mouth with bittersweet grapefruit and moderate balancing sweetness, and has a fairly long finish. I preferred the 1997 Fesles Bonnezeaux we had back in January, but this is nice.
1997 Château Soucherie Coteaux du Layon Vielles Vignes. There is a strong anise note on the nose to go along with melted wax and dark peach pit aromas. That anise note is again present on the palate, but there is also lots of citrus and sweet pear fruit. It is not really showing a lot of nuance at this point, but there is a decent finish with spicy, woody notes.
A fun night at this great venue, as usual.
Michael
