WTN: Wines lately

Charvin Côtes-du-Rhône 2003
Thanks to my father. 85% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 5% Carignan. Nicely refreshing Burgundian raspberry. Still bitter tannin, but tasty all the same. Rating: 87

Schloss Lieser Riesling Auslese** #11 Niederberg Helden 1995
A bottle I opened for Guglielmo, Patrick and Remo. Pale yellow-gold. Extremely slatey-minerally and earthy at this stage, the fruit takes a while to surface, some spring flowers, soft herbs and tobacco, later half-dried peach, a touch of sultana, increasingly stronger and fresher balm mint and Granny Smith apple with airing, livelier, nicely sweet, if less so than the 1993 Two Star. Racy, a bit earthy acidity. Some botrytis dust perhaps. Rather long on the finish. A tiny little CO2 left. Remo thought this absolutely spectacular and a great wine. Rating: 92

Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 2004
Thanks to Remo. Pruney ruby-garnet colour with a black hue, close to being opaque at the center. Dried lavender-, sage- and green pepper-based garrigue, faint Kirsch to the cherry fruit, nicely thick mouthfeel, a bit inky. Good complexity and minerality. A firm and quite concentrated wine. Medium tannin, still on the finely grained side of the spectrum, with a strong green licorice stick aspect to it. Quite good body. Medium-plus length. A bit tougher than some 2004s, not one to drink immediately, rather a reliable mid-term ager, whose greenishness and faint bitterness is such that it stands a chance of being almost completely swallowed up as the tannic backbone softens, and it will in all likelihood keep the wine fresh. Certainly a success for the vintage, my second favourite 2004 CdP so far. Rating: 91+/92?

Studach Malanser Pinot Noir 2005
Half bottle thanks to my parents. Quite full ruby-black, faint purple hue. A mildly peppery-fruity high-acid vintage, nicely round and ripe enough, good complexity and glycerine, underlying steel note, medium-short finish at this stage, but tasty and quite promising. Rating: 88+?

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

[David M. Bueker]

Thank you for the notes David. I especially appreciate the note on the Pegau. There's been so much hype over Pegau (not so much on this site but rather elsewhere) that I think all perspective has been lost. I very much enjoy wines from Pegau, but do not see them as the be all and end all, to the exclusion of all else of Chateuneuf.

I like Pégau a lot, it's certainly among my handful favourite CdP estates, producing nicely traditionally-styled, ageworthy wines that go well with food, and they're still fairly priced. It's also one of only a handful CdP wineries I've visited so far, for the above-mentioned reasons.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti