Yixin was in London on his way from somewhere to someplace else, so he rounded up Jamie Goode, Tom Blach, and myself, for dinner at RSJ.
After much scrutiny of the wine list we decided to start with the 1987 Huet Vouvray Petillant which seemed a bit sharp on opening but after we concurred that it was probably made from all the grapes they deemed unfit for the rest of the cuvees, it seemed pretty darn tasty for a "minor" Loire year. Showing nicely with minerals, secondaries, moderate depth, and probably a perfect match with the right kind of food.
The 1990 Luneau Papin Muscadet Le L D’Or was more of a crapshoot because I’ve had bottles show fresh and lively while others show roasted and golden. This one was neither and almost reminded me of experiences with 91 Pépière because it was constricted, tight, with clipped sour aged Muscadet fruit. It also had musty flavors that had me thinking corked. But, some enjoyed it more than I did, and the other experts swore it was not TCA, so we can probably just write it off to bottle variation.. (Which theory I can further pursue as even prior to last night I had already chilled a bottle in preparation for tonight’s dinner)
I was happy to move on to the 2000 Domaine de la Bellivière Coteaux du Loir Hommage à Louis Derré which had plenty of crisp dark fruit and we all concurred it was a perfect now/summer/Wimbledon wine. Tom seemed to think it could do with another 7-10 years, but then I hear he’s quite the necrophiliac.
Having polished off our main courses, we started into the sugar with the 2006 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Spätlese #17, plenty of full-on fruit, but still with a relatively refreshing lacy carbonated feel that is pleasing and inspiring and just so happens to clean the palate in time for the 2006 Daniel Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Spätlese GK which is a full-on tropical bomb, dense, sticky, sweet, etc. It has some mineral cut and was definitely fun, but it was somehow less impressive than last month in Daniel’s house when everyone was oohing and aahing..
The only logical thing to do at this point since we weren’t eating dessert was to order the 1971 Huet Clos du Bourg Moelleux 1ère Trie which for some unknown reason was kept warmer than cellar temperature. The first tepid glass we poured then gave us the idea that it should be decanted and plopped in the ice bucket, although by the time we got around to pouring it 15-20 minutes later the color had drastically darkened. Not that it changed much on the palate however, because the dried fruits with moderate complexity were the same as our initial taste, although it gained plenty of freshness once Yixin mixed it with the Schaefer GD. Most likely an advanced bottle. But, we were still happy, and off for the evening..
When I arrived home my girlfriend was already fast asleep, so I checked in on the 2006 Maximin Grünhäuser Herrenberg Kabinett that had been opened the night before. It was still bold and exuberant like a brass band, and felt bigger than either spätlese from dinner (although not as tropical or dense as the Vollenweider GK). It has the sparkling minerals to give me pleasure, although it is definitely a strange beast. Not sure how many of these I need.
So I went to bed.