F. X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Dürnsteiner Kellerberg 2004
Thanks to Rainer. Medium yellow-green. A bit medicinal, very minerally, salty almost, smoked grapefruit, well-concentrated, a touch tannic, leafy herbs. A good amount of grapefruit-zesty acidity and bitter note. Partly underripe at this level of concentration, not the best balanced vintage – as everyone at the table agreed, these two factors in combination are a problem. Victor even found this hard, if not metallic. Rating: 87+?
Joh. Jos. Prüm Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule #9 Wehlener Sonnenuhr 1983
Thanks to Victor. Barely medium yellow-green. Integrated spring flowers. A bit chalky-slatey, a touch of flintstone. Herbs galore. Medium-sweet and glyceric. Nicely round and smooth for a 1983, with great liveliness, youthfulness and cut. Even so, I seem to have liked this better a few years ago, same as quite a few 1983s. Rating: 93-/92?
Bruno Giacosa Barolo Riserva Falletto 1990
A bottle I once bought at auction. Sound ruby, faint amber at the rim. Mild brett, but which seemed to blow off soon. Truffle and rose-hip, fig, blood orange, soft brown spice, cumin and anise, Orange Pecoe tea tannin, good length. A bit drier on the back end, but a very nicely balanced 1990. Not the fruit density of e.g. the 1996, nor the complexity and depth, let alone finesse, but really a style from another era. Prettily warming. Still youthful. Rating: 93+/94?
Domìni Veneti Valpolicella Classico Superiore La Casetta 2003
Thanks to Renato, who was curious to hear our verdict. Full, quite deep ruby colour. Sweetly ripe, quite full-bodied. Medium length. Fairly dried-fruity. Gastronomic, modern, easy-going, inexpensive, tasty enough. Rating: ~85
Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà 2001
Thanks to Victor. Ever since we had the 1998 with Oliver and heard him rave about a late barrel sample of the 2001, I had been looking forward to tasting Giacosa's first Riserva from this illustrious site. Rabajà, in my humble opinion, is a terroir of Burgundian Grand Cru pedigree, with the potential to produce wines of an aromatic complexity and depth reminiscent of a top Vosne-Romanée Cru such as Cros Parantoux or Echézeaux. Having said that, before Bruno Giacosa acquired a parcel, we had little hope of tasting an example that would show its full potential. Terroir lovers rejoice! Even if, to be sure, we had all expected a wine of (yet!) greater structure and power, and even if this seems the most modern-styled and forward Riserva any of us has ever had from this producer, what counts is that this is all about expression. Shiny ruby-red with black reflections, not the density of already legendary efforts such as the 1996 Riserva Falletto and 1982 Riserva Collina Rionda, my benchmark Giacosas to date. Which, in due fairness, are Barolos. Less depth of colour than a 1996 Riserva Asili, or even a 1978 Riserva Santo Stefano etc., also. But: there's all the luminosity, nuance and gloss to the colour one could wish for, matching the purity and expressiveness of the fruit on both nose and palate. And what a nose: balsamic marzipan, deep black cherry, plummy rose-hip and semi-dried flower fruit, ethereal and hugely sweet. Sappy and approachable, perfectly ripe, complex, fairly full-bodied, with integrated minerality, complexity, depth, finesse and rare early harmony. More tannin is lurking beneath the surface than appears at first sight, and while already quite thick with fruit and glycerine, there is a chance this will gain in overall stature, same as the superlative 1996s did (and continue to do). Even if this were never to happen, it is simply a fantastic wine in terms of expressiveness, with an almost erotic yet super-precise perfume. My guess is that it will close down in a few months and reveal more backbone for a number of years, although hopefully never close down to the extent the Barolos do at his estate. Victor also reports that the last glass-full resisted undue oxidation, but firmed up with a day's airing, as a top modern-day Nebbiolo should. Plenty of reason to show enthusiasm, then. While, at this early stage, the greatest Barbaresco, nor even the greatest Giacosa Barbaresco (as some have suggested) I have ever had, it is the finest from a site I might have preferred that handful others to come from. To a hard-core terroir fanatic like me (unashamedly proud of it, by the way!), Giacosa's Rabajà is what should make up for our collective loss of "his" Collina Rionda in the future. A bottling to be watched in future vintages. Rating: 96+?
MonteVertine Le Pergole 1985
Thanks to Martin. Bit pruney ruby, faintly murky. Nicely aromatic, a touch lemony on the nose. Soft faintly soapy plum on the palate, but the nicely firm backbone gives freshness. Good inoffensive acidity. Medium body. Nicely balanced. Fairly long. Softly salty. Definitely mature enough, from a fine vintage, but not many 1985 Tuscans are holding up so well. Rating: ~90
Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Howell Mountain 1989
Thanks to Wolfgang. Deep faintly pruney, nicely luminous ruby-black. Iodine, salt water. Smells better than it tastes. Nicely sweet and a bit balsamic. Not noble enough tobacco. A bit tough, not the precision, cut and depth of the greatest vintages, let alone the fruit of e.g. the 1996. The most approachable or mature Howell Mountain we have had, but by far the least structured and balanced. Not very intense, let alone finesseful terroir expression either, but typical enough. Acidity and tannin of lesser ripeness. At least the finish is quite long. More integrated with airing. Rating: 88-
Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 1997
Thanks to Rainer. Fresh ruby-black, lighter at the rim. A little garrigue on the nose this time. Subtle iron, jammy cherry and prune, suggestion of canned tomato. Faint flintstone and sulphur notes. Lively, great cut, finesseful and long. Extremely clean and pure for La Chapelle. Finesseful tea-like tannin. Quite Burgundian and fresh, tasty, mouthwatering. But as Victor said, this “lot” (if there are indeed different lots and not just bottle variation) tastes a bit diluted. Rating: 93?
Tua Rita Redigaffi 2000
Thanks to Marc. Opaque purple-ruby virtually to the rim. Deep and complex nose. Some coconut and fine vanilla oak. Deep, sappy and mouthwatering fruit. Soft tobacco, some dried herbs, dried tomato and spice. Balanced and long. Has cut and freshness. Huge extract (the 2003’s dry extract is on the level of a late harvest sticky). Zingy acidity. Well-honed tannin. Integrates its 14.8% alcohol rather well. Marc was a bit disappointed with my (relative) lack of enthusiasm. A Supertuscan that does not taste satiable or tired – not the most characterful wine, nor one of much identity, terroir expression or the like, just well-made in an internationalised style I may not particularly care for, but I will not deny quality. The most impressive Redigaffi I know. Rating: 95+?
Ben Glaetzer Shiraz Barossa Valley Amon-Ra 2003
Thanks to Wolfgang. 98- to 110-years-old vines in a dry-farmed vineyard in the northern Ebenezer sector of Barossa. Aged 14 months in 80% French barriques and 20% American oak hogsheads. Bottled unfiltered. 14.5% alcohol, pH 3.59, 6.7 g/l acidity, 0.8 g/l residual sugar. Opaque purple-black. Aromas and flavours of Milky Way chocolate bar, vanilla oak, blueberry, more dark chocolate on the back end. Strong lactic yoghurt. Tannin is a bit tight and hard, not especially deep or complex, oakier with airing, partly overripe yet exhibiting an underlying touch of green. A big chunk of a wine that no one at the table seemed to like much. Above all, it lacks freshness and liveliness, but also focus and cut. Wine of this size need not automatically be overbearing, in fact, Victor and I did not find it more outsized than many another dry-farmed Aussie Shiraz trophy bottles we have had. This wine exhibits something like, for lack of another word, the numbness of an absorbing black hole. As far as personal preferences go, wine is first of all supposed to infuse the consumer with life, not tire or take the life out of me. Having said all this, there is a chance this might improve with bottle age – but I would not bet on it. Knowing nothing about it (this being the first Glaetzer I have tasted), I have just googled this and must say the difference between prices is baffling, ranging from a little under 75 dollars to more than twice that. Please do not tell me this is some sort of cult wine, I am starting to feel disconnected from reality here... Rating: 89+?
Egon Müller Le Gallais Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule #32 VdP-Auction Wiltinger Braune Kupp 1999
Thanks to Michelle. Pale green. Saffron, soy sauce, blackcurrant superripeness top note, sweet apple juice concentrate. Brilliant botrytis purity, like pollen and nectar with a subtle vanilla top note. Magnificent texture, smooth, hugely thick, round, low-acid yet so refreshing and floral. Complex, sweet and long. Finesseful and subtle. That a low-acid Riesling could be so fresh and lively is hard to believe. As I have said on some half bottles before, this creamy-oily beauty performs a virtual levitation trick on one's palate! What a great 1976 ideally should have been but too few were, one is tempted to say. My wine of the night (along with the Rabajà). Rating: 97(+?)
Château Pierre-Bise (Claude Papin) Côteaux du Layon-Beaulieu L'Anclaie 1995
My other contribution that night. Medium-deep golden orange colour. A bit bready botrytis on the nose, a little strawberry top note, tangerine and orange zest, faint nut, this is still a baby. Sweet, viscous and quite long. Impressive enough, less tropically fruited than at release, but doing very well in bottle. Healthy tangerine- and orange-flavoured acidity. Dear Victor from Germany said something like he had already been wondering what kind of “oddity” I had unearthed this time, but that he found it “surprisingly good.” I personally prefer more minerally-deep Loire Chenin Blancs, but those are rarely as mouthfillingly dessert-sweet. Rating: 92+/93+?
Greetings from Switzerland, David.