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Wine Type
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Vintage
Name
Variety
Locale
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Date
Posted
Score
Helpful
Comments
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White - Off-dry
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2009 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel #9
Mosel Saar Ruwer
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TN: 2009 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel AP #9; A Belated Apology
Post by John Trombley 10 Jan 2018 16:35
2009 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel AP #9; Spectrum Wine Auctions, $49/750 ml; arrived in Piqua 11/9/2017; Premier Cru,7.5 pabv. Coravin/Les Impitoyables-le Taster.
Warm straw. On the balanced cusp of peach and diesel and clover honey. Jackie thinks it's very sweet at first; at about 10 minutes it's flowing over with juice and acidity, all flowing from the fauces. Delicate, clean, long, transparent, liquescent. Sadly both the flu and chemo fight the full enjoyment; let's leave this in the 2/7/18 Coravined bottle as we sip on it for a few weeks. 94/100; give it now through 2028.
This is a very ripe Auslese (in terms of degrees Oechsle, says Mosel Fine Wine) but playfully quaffable, probably up into Beerenauslese harvest ripeness but with a more lissome texture. I had heard that the Juffer-Sonnenuhr suggests vanilla, but never really picked up on that before; I can see how there is a focus of sesquiterpene concentration in mid-nose and mid-palate that suggests so. Whether there's actually any vanillin or wood in this wine seems to be questionable, but the overall shazamm is not.
It has long been the contention that the Brauneberger Juffer is a vineyard that makes big butch wines atyical of the Mittlemosel, and that it's almost impossible to make wines there with any kind of profound finesse. This is not a fault, but the vineyard's inward terroir, I'd contend. This wine, from the 'vineyard next door,'so to speak, and others from the Juffer-Sonnenuhr, suggest that in at least some plots of the latter, finesse may be equally hard to come by. This is perhaps not universally true, but I've seen it enough in the wines of the better-known estates here who make wine from it, that it's probably closer to the truth than I had previously supposed. Strangely, the Braatz, Sautter, and Swoboda 'Atlas of German Wine' seems to ignore this aspect of the sites, concenttrating on their 'filigreed' aspects. Other writers have concentrated on the iron-richness of the soils here, perhaps providing a reason for the difference in style.
It's sad how I get prejudiced against a house, and even one of the greats, from a single delivery of bad wine. I've been off of Haag, never even tasting one ever since I plunked down a lot of money for three bottles of a frankly bad GK Auslese Versteigerungswein (Auction Wine) of 1991 (a mere 27 years ago), so my apologies. i hope I actually wrote them to complain, but can't remember. They deserved that, at least.
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Red
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2012 Louis Latour Corton-Clos du Roi
Corton Grand Cru
Pinot Noir more
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2012 Louis Latour Corton-Clos du Roi (France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru),for dinner 2/28/2018, with John and Elizabeth Edminsters, at Greenfire Bistro; Coravin, Riedel Burgundy. 14 pabv $79/750 mldwl, WineBid; Louis Latour; San Raphael, CA.ssBroadly sheety with very few tears; Dense in color with 5 mm fading. Lavender-dusted cherry juice color. Good value in this price range.
Weedy sweet cherry with firm high-floral overtones. Sweet but bitter cherry, balanced into fine dense tannin, medium somewhat neutral finish. Tried with rare goose breast (cold confit d'oie) and Franconian potatoes. Neutralizes the nose; bitters and then sweetens the confit and potatoes, and thrusts the rest of the sensations onto the finish so it becomes longer and less neutral. Excellent 'wash-down' match; advantage for high-end Latour reds are that they are made, even at their price range, as very good food wines if they are not over-analyzed but knocked back. Also good with Piave Veccio Oro del Tempo, a hard, Reggiano-like northeastern Italian cheese.
Anyone else ever notice the gulpability with food of their house style?
A medium-to-full-bodied, richly colored wine of somewhat punchy expressiveness; 91/100.
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Red
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2011 Reynvaan Family Vineyards Syrah Foothills Reserve
Walla Walla Valley
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Drink now-2025. See private note.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
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NV KEO St. John Commandaria
White Blend more
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A considerably different wine from its predecessor, the 1947, which is a Solera, not a vintage, but says so nowhere in the labeling or its box. That wine is the best I've tasted, perhaps a 93/100, but I have no sense of its predecessor the Solera 1927. Freely tearing, ruby red, 1 cm fading. Considerable volatile acidity, cherry; touch of thyme, hint of toast. Medium bodied on entrry; with raisined fruit and juicy acidity both full and in good balance, medium finish for a dessert wine. About 15 percent alcohol.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
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1983 Fürstlich Castell'sches Domänenamt Casteller Schlossberg Silvaner Eiswein
Franken
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1983 Fürstlich Castell'sches Domänenamt Casteller Schlossberg Silvaner Eiswein (Germany, Franken), FrankischeWeinprämeriung Würzburg Goldmedaille (Gold Medal). Alcohol 8.5 pabv, AP 44; $46/750 ml from Brentwood/Benchmark, before premium and shipping. Klaus Dillman Has a Heritage Auction sticker on the bottle. Wine Warehouse, Los Angeles. Thanksgiving weekend as we approach our wedding early December (9).
These vineyards are a very special calcitic limestone-type soil which is a mixture of 'gipskeuper' and alabaster (I understand, having seen myself the huge alabaster carved jugs in the tasting room), giving a wonderful home-base for the Silvaner as it first came into Germany circa 1659 here, and probably in the region as a whole exceeding quality and style possibilities nearly everywhere else in the world for this grape.
Deep, slightly bitty green-amber; allowed under Argon in Coravin 4 hours before first taste. Bit of foamy sheeting; harmonious and integral tea, tree bark, light honey, and light rubber, veal broth, stewed apricot with touch of prune and clove or nutmeg. Snappy acidity with rich sweetness that is still in a tug of war with the tartness; smooth spearmint tea finish that sails on to great length and has a slightly peppery bass note holding things together. Has a slightly thicker texture in the mouth than a Riesling Eiswein, and the white wine tannins start showing their presence on the tongue as the session continues. The empty glass has a wonderful creamy/buttery/apple-skin aroma. Obviously still has some development potential in glass, but is at peak of maturity and pleasure. Later a nice light leather flavor emerges on palate.
There comes now a several hour period in which this scales the ladder up into a rare region of near perfection, finesse, and harmony with scintillating glimpses including a mahogany basso that hold the attention riveted and a sweet orange/anise combo that becomes more prominent as fruit lines up. Something very special and rare. If a half dozen bottlings have been made over the last 50 years I'd be shocked. Kudoses to Dillman and Detroit's Paul Mann,who selected this for import!)
Drink now-2022 if well-stored and in good condition 96+/100 RPP.
This bottle shows a classic-quality varietal Eiswein that is much more than the sum of its parts, and a super-steal at this price. Although showing evidence of Botrytis the difference is not all that important at this age in this sample.
Third day the wine develops more smoky leather and wet stone scents. Juicy sweetness, bitter zests, and tannins seem more in balance but still will develop in an open glass for many hours.
This was a wine that caused plenty of excitement at Tim McCarthy's Cost-Plus Wine Warehouse Eastern Market, Detroit, in the mid-nineteen eighties. I seem to remember it being released at retail at about $55, a stiff tariff in those days. One was shared among the regulars when I was absent and praised highly, and I've been looking for some at auction since. I've passed on one or two opportunities due to condition issues until today.
Note that there are two different Eisweine from this maker and vineyard: The AP 5000-044-84 was sold in the US in 750 ml Bocksbeutels and is said by the maker to be the sweeter in terms of RS; the AP 024084 was sold in Europe in 375 ml half-Bocksbeutels and is the drier. This was an enormous Eiswein harvest here, largest in memory. Not many vintages of this style of wine are made at Castell. See the Wiki notes. (78 views)
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White - Sweet/Dessert
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2004 Château d'Yquem
Sauternes
Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend more
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2004 Château d'Yquem (France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes)14 percent; $180/375 ml; Dorothy Lane Market, Ooakwood (Dayton), OH. From Coravin to LeTaster
A second half-bottle of 2004 Yquem in a little over a year shows much less maturity than the first. Lovely green-orange and refractive, with completely smooth sheeting showing full extract. Strong juicy orange note and hints of hard spices with apricot honey, but definitely marked with ethyl acetate as it starts to blow off a subtle tobacco smoke and delicate waxiness begins to emerge. Very structured to acidity and fruit and prone to attack mouth mucous membranes moderately painfully with alcohol, but others without these issues noted this as well. There is a definite grilled fruit on the back-palate, accompanied by appropriately bitter white-wine tannins. A minty, monotonic, minutes-long extended finish shows that this particular bottling really needs more time for its best performance. If it is desired to enjoy this early, I'd decant it at least 24 hours in advance. Does one subtract for the volatility and evanescent nail polish remover? 95(?) RPP/100. Drink 2022-3032.
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Red
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2012 Domaine des Croix Corton-Grèves
Corton Grand Cru
Pinot Noir more
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11/3/2017 rated 93 points: 11/3/2017 rated 92 points: 2012 Domaine des Croix Corton-Grèves (France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton Grand Cru); bouteille no. 1708, 13 pabv. Imported by Favorite Brands, LLC, Becky Wasserman and Co. Served with the last of my frozen Lehto's Pasty out of a dozen I brought back from July. (5 miles west of the Mackinac Bridge, St. Ignace, on US-2, made from rutabaga and parsnip and sliced potato and paper- thin-stacked beef sirloin). I doubt Grand Cru red Burgundy ever got down into the iron or copper mines with pasties but what a match for food and wine! Lehto's, still as grubby as it should be, now sells hot pasties for consumption on spot (very limited space). Or you can take your immediates out to the parking lot--I've never met with a traffic jam out there. If you're treated grufflly and grumpily by the (usuallly) single cook/waiter in the place--rejoice. You are being either recognized as a 'local' from your last trip, or mistaken for one, and are getting the genuine 'Leto's experience'. How well these burgundies go with grandma's comfort food, washed down liberally!
Fulliish color from Coravin to Le Taster to Riedel Red Burg. Blood red with some transparency and a touch of brown at the edges, all this relatively rich. Very wide Tudor arches and very few tears. Rich, searching aromas of highest-quality Oolong tea thrown off by the first pour. Fruit in nose showing restraint to a pleasant herbosity, but what a savory and juicy richness is there too. In addition, a punch of blueberry (ripe, sweet blueberry) and the end of the nasal experience. In the mouth, with the wine quite cold, there is a punch of bitter and alcohol-laden fruit with something like a twist of bitter lime zest, maybe kumquat, smoothing and integrating rapidly. A very clean, tart, savory, lengthy finish. that builds from a block of saturated tannin covered with fruit. A pleasure to drink young but what more is on hand for the patient! 93/100 RPP; now-2028.
Fulliish color from Coravin to Le Taster to Riedel Red Burg. Blood red with some transparency and a touch of brown at the edges, all this relatively rich. Very wide Tudor arches and very few tears. Rich, searching aromas of highest-quality Oolong tea thrown off by the first pour. Fruit in nose showing restraint to a pleasant herbosity, but what a savory and juicy richness is there too. In addition, a punch of blueberry (ripe, sweet blueberry) and the end of the nasal experience. In the mouth, with the wine quite cold, there is a punch of bitter and alcohol-laden fruit with something like a twist of bitter lime zest, maybe kumquat, smoothing and integrating rapidly. A very clean, tart, savory, lengthy finish. that builds from a block of saturated tannin covered with fruit. A pleasure to drink young but what more is on hand for the patient! 92/100 RPP; now-2028. This is a medium-textured, well-extracted wine from one of Beaune's new and upcoming producers, who I am betting will change the terroir-geography of the region around Beaune in a very few years.
Oh, how does Clos de Vougeout compare QPR-wise? $58 auction average price; $99 at full retail. The 2010 bottling (q.v.) may be less expensive and may be drinking just a hair better now. Why should I give away all my secrets? Just built that way, I guess. But one can certainly pay more for a less-attractive CdV.
Now on 11/15/2017, twelve days later with another Coravin draw with Riedel red burgundy glass, wild cherry and white pepper, light sweet beet greens, mild Dr. Pepper, and the tiniest bit of cloves, holding back on the nose for now. Typical grand cru lissome red burg entry texture, cherry, refreshing well-integrated citrus bitterness, and really à point tannins--neither too full, too big or coarse, nor under nor overripe. This is proof, enhanced by the perfect tannins, as I have always thought, that red burg is the most gulpable of all wines--lovelywith back-of-the-stove kitchen soup, about as old as the Coravin piercing.
I can't say that I have a typical read on Corton or on the lieu-dit Grèves terroir, but this is much like a fine Beaune with a little extra layer and slightly fuller viscosity and that really beautiful tannin structure. May merit another point when the nose organizes and opens more.
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Red
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2014 Château des Fougères Clos Montesquieu
Graves
Red Bordeaux Blend more
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2014 Château des Fougères Clos Montesquieu (France, Bordeaux, Graves)
Purchased as red Bordeaux for Jackie Speicher/John Trombley Wedding December 9, Saturday, 4 p.m., 2017, Trinity Church, Troy, OH. Taken delivery 10/13/2017. Service: Coravin through red Bordeaux Riedel through le Taster.
Garagiste. 750 ml/$20. 13 pabv. Free Run, LLC, Seattle, WA 98117. Beginning of a 1.5 mm fade but central color still opaque. Very wide gothic arches, more actually a broad sheeting.
Sweet cassis, hints of mineral, lead pencil, juicy red plum, smoky tar, and good harmony between elements.
This is a vivid, lissome wine that emphasizes red and black berries and holds perfect pitch on the treble end of its expressive scale. Its tannins are light and very fine and seem to anticipate the kind of food we are hoping to match---Middle Eastern (Araabic) meats and salads, with an ideal aftertaste for them. Jackie finds the fruit too bitter with her great sensitivity to that but with a plate full of such food she may find it coming into balance.
I'd anticipate drinking this later this year and through 2025, but my palate would like to pursue it into my time machine (Le Cache) much deeper! 93/100 rpp.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
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1998 Müller-Catoir Mußbacher Eselshaut Riesling Eiswein
Pfalz
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Latest taste 11/16/2017. 1998 Müller-Catoir Mußbacher Eselshaut Riesling Eiswein AP 22 99; $90/375 ml, before bp, WineBid; $113 FOB Piqua, OH. Imported by Skurnik/Theise. 9.5 pabv.
Brief note:
November 16, emptied from balance of Coravin half-bottle to leTaster and Riesling Riedel. Cork-finished wet up sides; original Coravin October 23. At first refrigerator temperature. Scattered tears? (Possible need for better polishing of glasses!) Plenty bitty; now light-colored for type. Plenty of large tartrate plates visible with a little care.
Grass/redcurrant with fresh air, little or no radish; mildly baked apricot/honey confection. Showing vivid punchy lemony activity, with sufficient ripeness and residual to show a slightly light-TBA stylishness. Hits all the buttons but needs a little more integration for best pleasure--can prove a little palate-fatiguing now. 92/100 on pure pleasure; 94/100 on quality Give 2020-2030 for best results, and don't be afraid to decant an hour or three beforehand. Very early November 2 Eiswein harvest, similar to Doennhoff's triple early November ones.
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Extended evaluation:
A very interesting color presentation from this cork-finished half-bottle, a combination of brilliance and slight golden metallicity, with a warm amber haze growing to rich orange. From Coravin to Riedel Riesling and LeTaster. A very even but substantial sheeting shows. Over 24 hours grows more brilliant and more refractive--an adiamant beauty to look at.
The botrytis of this Eiswein is not hidden in its vividly grapy, somewhat forward fruit that presents itself initially--orange, clove, nutmeg, and mild bakeshop aromas, for instance, but underneath there is an almost pure redcurrant preserve impression. Grows with air into luscious apricot preserve and mild tobacco smoke underneath. Its amour propre is lost in dusty band-aid and powdered sugar, at least at first, until good sense comes to rescue it.
Very vivid, nearly searing acidity as it were laid on to what would be a beautiful breakfast confection built around a sweet pepper and thyme jelly. The texture and finish of this wine resembles 'fuzzy' apricot flower honey in a way, if such can be imagined. This wine is delightful as is but giving it another 3 to 7 years would be all to its (and our) good.
One of the greatest and earliest Eiswein vintages of my time; however, most of the best others are very 'clean' wines on average compared with this nobly-rotten one. This one is actually still a bit too edgy for best pleasure on opening and would give it about 3-5 more years if improvement on this axis is desired. It certainly will be a 30-year wine, well-kept! Second day supports this assessment, with its liquescence, caressing texture of lime zest, and clarity. 94/100 RPP.
The 'Donkey Skin' ('Eselshaut') of the Einzellage name refers to a German mythic 'fairy tale' related to 'Cinderella'. The donkey in question had the ability to turn dung into gold, as this vineyard unquestionably does.
This is a large sandy area (300 ha) that was reclassified in 1969 with similar surrounding areas (the 'Meerspinne') to the Deutscher Weinstraße/Neustadt (northern Pfalz) region and which this estate has exploited so brilliantlly under Hans-Gunther Schwarz and his successors. The ability of this acreage to produce fine wine could be more related to surface topography than soil composition, allowing frosty airs to descend and drain from the growing surface down into the Rheingraben. (See German-language edition of Wikipedia).
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Brief note:
November 16, emptied from balance of Coravin half-bottle to leTaster and Riesling Riedel. Cork-finished wet up sides; original Coravin October 23. At first refrigerator temperature. Scattered tears? (Possible need for better polishing of glasses!) Plenty bitty; now light-colored for type. Plenty of large tartrate plates visible with a little care.
Grass/redcurrant with fresh air, little or no radish; mildly baked apricot/honey confection. Showing vivid punchy lemony activity, with sufficient ripeness and residual to show a slightly light-TBA stylishness. Hits all the buttons but needs a little more integration for best pleasure--can prove a little palate-fatiguing now. 92/100 on pure pleasure; 94/100 on quality Give 2020-2030 for best results, and don't be afraid to decant an hour or three beforehand. Very early November 2 Eiswein harvest, similar to Doennhoff's triple early November 1.
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Red
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2014 Moric Blaufränkisch
Burgenland
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2014 Moric Blaufränkisch (Austria, Burgenland); 10/18/2017; WineMonger, San Anselmo, CA; 12.5 pabv. winemonger.com; 866 Winemonger. Blue Goat; Traverse City, MI, $31.50/750. Curation: Amanda Danielson. Also known as Kekfrankos in Hungary and Lemberger in Germany, this red in its local incarnation (certainly not over-vinified and over-oaked) is one reason it's so lovely eating the food in central Europe. Moric is one of the 'back to the future' stars here; this is their entry--level offering. Relatively neutral-colored graded density, a little deeper than Pinot noir clones. An enticing raspberry-red berry offering to the nose with some subtle spiciness and slightly-fermented silage provide interest. Gentle sweet shoe leather plays well off my beef-lamb ragout built up with mine own Southwest-Ohio venison broth, whose secret ingredients are root vegetables: parsnip, carrot, celeriac, turnip, rutabaga and not crowding the cookware, please!. No celariac to be found this time around, so the parsnips were augmented with extra carrot. Lightly tearing at this apv. Broth has enhanced torrefaction the second day on. Lovely vivid high-tones envelope all, and an integrating finish. Won't insult this wine by giving it a RPP 90., rather, an 89+, along with the Dorothy Lane Market Dayton OH, Red Turkey Wheat made from their very own Mennonite strain of fresh-ground flower that is absolutely a perfect bread for this kind of thing, slathered with Amish butter.
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Red
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2015 Bouchard Père et Fils Chambolle-Musigny
Pinot Noir more
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Blood-red with a little cherry fade at the edge. Best part is pure typical Chambolle pleasure--red verbena-clove-umami nose, witih outstanding lusciousness and typicity. Why would you want to pay this kind of money for a Village Chambolle? Taste it, baby, and enjoy. One of those relatively simple red burgs whose strong suit is luscious and lovely, and who cares if it's perfectly bright? Ahhhhh....don't sip it, swill it down! Liquescent and with orange-oil infusion, causing a river of appetizing anticipation for the food--Loup du Mer fish stew, something that surprises me to be seen on this side of the pond--its gooooood!! Bought a little too much for my Bouillabaise and got an extra potful out of it! Give it 2017-2020+ years.
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Red - Fortified
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1982 Kopke Porto Colheita
Port Blend more
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1982 Kopke Porto Colheita (Portugal, Douro, Porto). 20 pabv; 500 ml/$76/Dorothy Lane Market, Oakwood (Dayton), OH. Produced, bottled, and shipped by Sogevius Fine WInes S.A., Vila Nova de Gaia. US Importer Wineworth LLC,. Belleville, WA 98005.
Sadly, t-corked. $76/500 ml about $102 per 750 ml basis). Bottled 2009, 27 years later 'matured in wood.' (Decanted today, 10/2/2017 10:30 a.m.)--double back into bottle. Quite cloudy, even after port filtration, with about 1/2 ounce 'mud' at bottom. Will need to taste today and then revisit as needed.
Tudor legs. Color very tawny-green. Honey, winesap apple, fig-roast walnuts and almonds at first with a little rough (volatile?) back-edge to nose. Integrated sweetness and fruit giving the impression of a drier style. The baked cherry tart taste reminds one of a fine old Grenache-based Vin Doux Naturel from the south of France with good trebles added on for size. Of course a completely different style than a vintage port from the era; very easy drinking, smooth, and long. Will follow. 92/100. Drink now and over the next week or three in the decanter. Although this is full of interest for me as a porto-lover, it's a crowd pleaser as well and needs no apologies to anyone who chooses it as a tipple. Will hold OK in the cellar, but don't overtire it--now-2023.
Food match: Jackie's Southern Cone Caramel Flan--very small sips bring up an integrated citrus note on palate--very fine.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
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2003 Château Climens
Barsac
Sémillon more
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12.5 percent. From half into Taster/Coravin as usual. Cork finished.
'Tudor tears.' Rich amber-gold with green cast. Again, the glue component of the botrytis reminds one very much of sweet shellac, later accompanied by wood resin. The confectionery fruit, orange, and honied/smoky fat elements are now a better home for the new oak here (quite appropriately oaked. Needs it to bring the power and finesse together to the table.
The wine is too much at present for my 'chemo mouth', but I'm chilling the Taster back down in the refrigerator to attempt to tame it. Can only give a minimum score of 94 at present. Overnight on the table at room temperature, well-integrated nose, sweet, fine, slightly glossy fruit, now showing Climens 'bones' with good transparency and fluid texture. This wine is more backward and more powerful than when I tasted it last (about 5 years ago), and, to be truthful, the taster just isn't up to it. Will revisit via Coravin and a small decanter.
2/20/2017 Removed Coravined cork and poured remaining 2 ounces or so into a Riedel Riesling. Plenty of finer tears; little change if any in color. Very thick, honied, sweet-smelling and dense aromas underlain by apricot and underlined with Vernor's ginger ale and perhaps a tiny whiff of volatiles. A bit of salty homemade chicken broth, too. ss There is a somewhat coarse, American-like oak scent here, needing more time to come together yet.
The palate is rich, sweet, and to me almost completely covered over by heat mid-way until the saturated finish peeks out from under the edge of this blast-furnace of a wine. Hard to judge, but there seems to be a need for much more cellaring before this will give any pleasure to those like me to introduce into my mouth. Perhaps smaller sips might be a help.
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White
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2016 Moulin de Gassac Guilhem
Vin de Pays de l'Hérault
White Blend more
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2016 Moulin de Gassac Guilhem (France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Vin de Pays de l'Hérault)
$11/750. 50 percent Syrah/Carignane. $11/750 ml, 12 pabv, Greenfire Bistro, Tipp City, MI (Art Chin). Imported by Vanguard Vines, Columbus, OH. Coravin through new Coravin screw-cap replacement into le Taster. Very pale greenish color. Slightly ashy, almost Chablis-like, upon opening. Cream and alpine strawberries and honey, with pleasant overtones (very slight) of asphalt and straw or chestnut. Light brothy flavor contrasts with a more caressing mouthfeel, and juicy acids for contrast are not lacking. As it warms the sap rises and some skin tang becomes more apparent and perhaps important. 89-90/100; drink now through 2020? Excellent value. Perhaps the wine has structure for more aging than this; I have no experience by which to judge it.
Of course this is the product of the negociant arm of the domaine that makes the important Mas de Gassac Daumas, a brilliant Emile Peynaud success of that era, that I've followed on and off since the 1980s.
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White - Off-dry
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2006 Weingut Reinhold Haart Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese
Mosel Saar Ruwer
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2006 Weingut Reinhold Haart Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese (Germany, Mosel ). AP 07 07, 8 pabv. Re-tasting of fresh bottle from Coravin/le Taster, same source; first bottle had been frozen, but was able to score 3 more at the original source, so one more is sacrificed in the name of science:
Orange green of adolescent botrytis. Plenty of TDN, showing accompanying honied caramel, burying the primary fruit aromas and not revealing what's to come. The wine is light-auslese level sweetness and punch, with most of the goodies and minerals tied up in the citrus complex. Finish shows sufficient fruity acidity to encourage a good future, and is quite expansive, actually, A great example of a firmly excellent Mosel Riesling wine in a sulky adolescence. Very much, originally, of the style and quality of the 2015; in addition, a couple days in the refrigerator under argon brings the wine into a very nice harmony with itself and makes it deliciously gulpable, even. Confirms my impression that this vintage can make relatively Baroque-styled, 1976 botrytis driven wine, that can take me back into the '80s when my palate was thoroughly corrupted by drinking such things. Drink 2020-2030. 93/100 RPP.
Theo Haart and family and colleagues are owed a huge debt for the renewal of the highest-level wine-making in this, one of the world of Riesling's greatest parcels, despite all efforts to destroy it by cheapening and over-commercialization by those who knew better, or should've.
12/21/2012: Opened Coravined bottle after 3 months in refrigerator. Lovely cherry-caramel and thyme honey nose with a whiff of petrol in this gold-green, richening-color wine. Sweet orange peel and lime with a hint of malt; still in balance to sweetness but a little drier than the younger wine recalls; very juicy and with an energetic minerality now tamped down as the inner fires come around. 92-93; lovely; I think last bottle went over to the wedding on 12/09/17. Not a bit of burning on my disrupted mouth's mucous membranes; a cancer patient's dream for a lovely wine. Drink now.
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White - Off-dry
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2012 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
Mosel Saar Ruwer
more
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2012 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese (Germany, Mosel, Bereich Bernkastel [Mittelmosel])
8.5 pabv, AP 27 13; $42/750 ml; Dorothy Lane Market, Oakville, OH. Cellars International/Rudi Wiest. Coravin/Le Taster.
Polished rich brass, at first fully spritzig. Because initial contact suggested quite a bit more lees aroma (what some people call 'sulfur stink') than usual, along with 'Sponti' still perceptible in the form of a fermented hay note, sample was subsequently splash decanted. Green, minty notes of honey-drizzled peach and kiwi and clotted cream, perhaps even salt butter/vanilla , and with a note of energetic minerality underneath and full Spätlese mouth weight. Entrance sweet and limy but with a softish mid-palate at first, perhaps due to adolescent awkwardness, but fills in starting at about an hour. Gives a harmonious and brilliant glissando of flavor somehow containing and enfolding everything the wine has to show so far. Finish comes back strong and expressive with a tonic twist, encouraging me to think that even better times are in store. A wine that definitely picks up a powerful punch as the evening progresses, almost Himmelreich-like but with less spice. Drinking soon, a vigorous splash decant recommended, but better still, 2020 through 2030. 92+? for now. Now retasted two days later, all is confirmed. Remains at 92 points because of style issues (not fully typical of the expected vineyard's products in this producer's hands), but that may change. Now a sort of dry lime-slightly underripe peach, buffered by powerful fruit; a touch of blackcurrant, tasting sweeter than it smells, a sort of punch-up personality; just needs to reign in the horses and get over a case of the TDNs.
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White - Off-dry
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2015 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
Mosel Saar Ruwer
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2015 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Ausleses, AP 17; 7.5 pabv., Dorothy Lane Market, Oakville, OH; Rudi Weist, Carlsbad, CA.
From previously Coravined bottle that had about 4 weeks under argon. Well chilled and reinserted the Coravin for a sample for Impitoyable/Le Taster.
Color quite light and plenty of small tartrate plates are now evident. Light dose of lees but honey and redcurrant underneath white peach; typical light tobacco smoke, spring honey, and minerals and a little white miso broth. Its clarity and finesse and savoriness are there but it's a litttle less precise than memory would lead one to believe at this point. Zingy, fermentation-laden acids nearly wipe out the usual Auslese-level sweetness in this wine. A slight but unusual and pleasant taste of bitter cherries and cherry pip. Very expressive finish shows promise. Drinks better when gulped, not sipped, at crisp temperatures these days. Drink 2020-2040.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
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2009 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos
Furmint Blend, Furmint more
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2009 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos, 11 pabv, $50/500 ml, Village Corner.
Straw with brown cast; reticent tearing. Tobacco and apricot jelly, orange zest, quince jellly. Entry sweet, tangy, but somewhat soft and acid deficient; some citric and mineralic energy. Overall pleasant but lacks something compared with wines available elsewhere in this line. To be fair, is this shop-worn? Taken off shelf in a store that I have in the past questioned the stock rotation policies and will talk to them again. 85/100 RPP reserved rating.
12 days later under refrigeration: Opened; cork inspected-it's OK. Gold from le Taster; butter and caramel taking equal part with fruit; count here as flawed (oxidized) bottle, but the disjointedness points also to cork taint.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
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2015 Nigl Grüner Veltliner Eiswein
Niederösterreich
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Labeled 'Suß'; also 'Niederoesterreich', not 'Kremstal', $40/375 ml, Jerardi's Little Store. Theise/Skurnik.
One of the two 'eclipse' wines for August 21, 2017, in Athens, TN, at totality, the other being the Extra Brut N.V. Varnier-Fanniere Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée "Jean Fannière Origine", superb current drinking but not very 'Extra Brut'. Very light bronze in color; honey, apple flower, tobacco, hint of lime; simple but sweet on the entry with slight hints of GV veggies and lime; good, crisp acid balance; a little lime on the otherwise long but neutral finish. Drink now throughs. 2025. Would score up higher as a wine match for rare astronomical events if you're writing a book on the same; actually, the mixed crowd loved it and I left the dregs for the hostess, who was volubly appreciative.
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White
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2015 Egon Müller Riesling QbA Scharzhof
Mosel Saar Ruwer
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AP 01-16; Frederick Wildman, $43/750 ml; Village Corner in Ann Arbor. 9.5 percent and probably meant to be Halbtrocken, approximately, or less. Straw on the lightish side, not at all spritzing. Spontaneous yeastiness, seemingly lees-exposed and a product of reductive wine-making. Tobacco leading into redcurrant and hay notes evident from the Coravined bottle, about 5 days in and originally opened at a Riesling tasting with Sean O'Keefe at Mari Vineyards on the Old Mission Peninsula, Michigan. Overall nose is still quite closed. Brisk to firm '15 acids, closed, dense, with white peach and full mouth-feel and some considerable way to go in the cellar to resolve the acidity and lime-zest notes. Juicy, energetic, vibrant, and dry-side finish and some skin tang there too, but there's a suggestion of combined clarity and finesse to come. 89-91 RPP/100 with some upside. Drink 2019-2025 or onward. Drink well chilled if you're not going to await maturity. 2020-2030.
Eleven days onward under argon in refrigerator: Still obviously spritzig, and with definite lanolin notes; very much what it was but what's coming is coming! jht
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White - Off-dry
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2006 Weingut Reinhold Haart Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese
Mosel Saar Ruwer
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AP 7 07; 8 pabv. $42/750 ml; Dorothy Lane Market, Oakville, OH. Cellars International, Inc. Coravined several times, and cork pulled at about 3 weeks.
Bottle accidentally frozen after the first Coravin. Impression was that it was of a level with the 2014. Now:
Tanned bronze. Very pleasant somewhat aged TDN, peach, and tobacco smoke. The house sweet spätlese style, almost an Auslese, but not quite juicy enough for residual at this point; was better I think the first go-round with the Coravin. Lemon and honey finish. Typical creaminess of vintage, but lacking the clarity of the best Mosel wines. Hard to judge its future. 90?/100, making due allowance. Should be re-tasted if a chance presents itself.
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Red
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2013 Mari Vineyards Bulldog Red
Old Mission Peninsula
Red Blend more
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2013 Mari Vineyards Bulldog Red ( Blaufrankish 60% Zweigelt 30% Lagrein 10% )
From Coravin into Riedel Cabernet Sauvignon. Slightly darker and more purple than your average Pinot Noir. Nose is complex and chordal: searching cinnamon, cherry, blueberry, and red raspberry, followed on by sweet raspberry with honey overtone underlain by savory plum. The Le Taster reveals in addition smoke and uncured bacon fat with a resinous-earthy note. Tart entry with fullish but ripe tannins, fed by energetic-mineralic sesquiterpene-containing citrus midpalate. At this time the finish is simple and smoky, but with plenty of mid-length and room to grow; as a matter of fact, a juicy tart cherry fillip is entering into the finish. Nice prospects and even some current pleasure; splash-decanting or early opening recommended for now. Drink 2018-2026. 89-92
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Red - Fortified
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2009 Quinta do Noval Porto Late Bottled Vintage Unfiltered
Port Blend more
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$24/750 ml at Village Corner, Ann Arbor; 19.5 pabv, Vintus, Pleasantville, NY. Originally opened about 9.26 by removing long cork (I'd forgotten my Coravin)
Very early 0.5 mm fading in the LeTaster, with the rest of the color dense. At halfway through the bottle over some days open no evidence yet of crust. Sweet smoky bacon fat, floral, anise or horehound, touch of pine resin and vanillin, touch of male cosmetic scent, underlain by a little juicy plum at 10 days out. Originally the plum predominating with little else, showing this needs decanting at this time or opening a day or two before. Licorice, bitter orange, sweet/tart/fruit/tannin in balance, a little heat to my irritated mucous membranes but not to yours most likely. Medium to long finish confirms all this. Tannin to me accumulates as I sip it, so maybe much of it is originally fruit-bound. Drink 2018-2029. Much more drinkable than the 2008, I understand, and buttressed by my earlier tasting notes on that vintage. Longevity a guess, but may be exceeded.
Basis for score: a flawless (excellent) wine with comparable aditional organoleptic or sensory qualities for current or near term drinking and batting out of its league quality wise. Highly recommended when compared even with other traditional LBVs at this point in my experience. Style is like a more elegant and complex Warres Traditinal LBV of which I'm a fan of in selected vintages, such as the 1982 and 2003 but offering more at this stage of development for enjoyment. Also scores high for AOC and estate typicity.
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White - Sweet/Dessert
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2011 Château Vartely Muscat Ottonel Ice Wine
Vin de Calitate de la Rejiunia
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2011 Château Vartely Muscat Ice Wine, Moldovia, Central Region, 10 percent abv, 22 percent residual sugar (220 g/dl label value).
purchased Miami Valley W&S, Tipp City, OH. $25/375 ml; Sorocai Imports, Centerville, OH.
Coravin Vintage to LeTaster. Relatively light bronze- brown color, with some dark particulates 0.5 mm, spherical. Clearer and lighter in color at 5 days out.
Nose shows some honey, peach, varietal grapiness and a perceptible foxiness, and a touch of ethyl acetate suggested. No evidence of nonbotrytis ice wine fresh air-radish scents. Grapy-honied-slightly foxy, without any volatility detected at 5 days; and a vidal-like tobacco-peach profile like found in some Canadian Ice Wines.
Viscous, sweet but tartness to balance. Relatively neutral, with a hint of sweet-bitter lime/grapefruit, later showing a pleasant emerging juicy-saline midpalate. Marked down a couple points for lack of ice wine typicity and minor or only possible flaws. Good value for pleasurable drinking, but not to introduce a friend to the typical ice wine. The soaring acidity one looks for in Ice Wine is not exactly missing but is at this point buried under sweetness and fruitiness. A powerful, somewhat rustic-tending dessert wine but a good value for its price. 89 RPP/100. Drink now-2022.
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Spirits
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NV Jack Daniel's Single Barrel (L 13 17-0121 Jan 14 2017) Tennessee Whiskey, 47%
Grain more
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65.15 pabv, 130.3 proof. Kroger, Piqua, OH. High rye, quite woody, sweet and vanillic in the nose; somewhat sweet to palate, quite harmonious/complex.
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