Biryani night (Chicago, IL): For my palate (which obviously changes depending on my mood), these old ZH wines can get a little bit ponderous. I think tonight, I felt the weight more and it didn't work for me as well as I would have liked. This is on the riper side of the scale, and there's some nice fat fruit both on the nose and palate. The relatively higher alcohol takes away from the lift the acid would have provided. It's tasty, but didn't work for me tonight.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
In the "more interesting than tasty" category of wines. This wine scores high marks for concentration and complexity. The flavors taste (over)ripe and tropical. I discerned papaya, dried apricot, honey, raw ginger, and flint. The wine has a bitter edge that I don't like, and the overall tasting profile didn't appeal to me either.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
The Rotating Dinners, I.8: Alsace (Chicago, IL): This was much more herbaceous than the 1993. Lighter, to be sure, with a bit less density. Brighter, as well, the acidity here was a little bit fresher. However, this didn't quite have the concentration and fruit, and I thought it came across a little boring, like there wasn't much to say. A few of us at the table had the relative descriptions of the 1993 and 1994 switched, so who knows if we were all talking about the same wine? In any case, I repoured this one to verify that I had the right one.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Riesling and Thai food (Sen Yai Sen Lek): Drank a small glass a a tasting. There is great complexity here. The palate is dry, consistent with Alsace with just a tiny bit of sweetness to balance the acidity and minerals. Really nice, although I'm not sure I'm a buyer at current pricing.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Monthly Tasting Group: A Bevy Rieslings and Thai Food (Sen Yai Sen Lek, Mpls): Medium dark golden color. Drank a small pour. This was probably the one wine that I was anticipating the most tonight. While it was good and I enjoyed it, it didn't really wow me. The nose was stronger than the palate, orange peel, orange, spices, wispy minerality; more subtle minerality and orange, citrus palate, tart
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
TN: Terrific wines (Loire, Germany, Austria, Alsace & Rioja) as Jeff & Dena Morris return to NYC. (Royal Seafood, NYC): Continuing the theme of muscular wines, this one takes first prize! Truly a monumental dry wine. It's large scaled with incredible depth and length. Ripe pineapple and stone fruits dominate the nose and palate with a strong earthy character and framed by a towering wall of structure. The flavors last and last and finish with a pleasantly bitter pith note. Tremendous showing and my non sweet WOTN. A.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Mostly-Riesling jeeb with Jeff and Dena Morris visiting NYC (Royal Seafood, NYC): This is spectacular. A powerhouse of a Riesling - almost bone dry with incredibly fresh, vibrant pear and lemon fruit at the core, augmented by an array of stony, saline, smoke, and peaty flavours - almost reminiscent of some Islay single malts (minus the spirity notes). There's remarkable power and intensity to the flavours, yet it feels remarkably light and finessed on the palate, never heavy nor austere as I find with so many dry Rieslings. Amazing wine.
Dinner at home with Bryan & Michelle. Very typical Rangen with lots of earthy, peaty notes. As expected for this wine. Rich and big on the nose and relatively dry and acidic on the palate and long finish. Plenty of life ahead for this wine. 50+13+13+9+9=94
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Celebration for Bud's Seventieth Birthday (Eketahuna, New Zealand): Beautiful example of aged Riesling with 10 grams per litre of residual sugar. A point at the moment - this bottle enjoyed excellent bottle age character, stunning Riesling varietal fruit, great minerality and a strong acid backbone. The sugar contributes to a lush and opulent finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Seemed a little plump and heavy at first. with air, it got much lighter footed. fine petrol notes and a range of ripe tropical notes. I think mark's note below was based on earlier observaions: Nit-picking pehaps, but on our end of the table, we found that the Z-H, which seemed a little fat and perhaps tired at first, developed nicely in the glass over the course of the day. It got lighter and brighter and more alluring. Not all I had hoped for, but a very interesting evolution.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
massive petrol going on with this wine. Flowery undertones with almost a honey glazed feeling. Great mild sweetness to this wine that just lasted a good while on the mid palate. great overall wine
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Petrol, white flower, and honey nose, with a real impression of sweetness to the nose. Rich and viscous, but great purity despite the weight. Firm mineral finish. Really good.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Kapow! Impressions the same as from '04 almost to a T. More intensity of orchid on the nose, if anything. Incredible texture to the finish. Just a dynamite wine and 2nd this night only to a '76 La Mouline.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I admit that I am not the biggest lover of ZH. To me the wines can be just too much of a good thing. This bottle however was singing. The color was starting to really turn gold but the palate was still fantastic. Its a big wine but there is still enough acidity to keep it together. A great flavor pallet of stone fruits like apricots and peaches as well as over ripe pears. Long fininsh with a decent hit of RS.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Bernard Antony Ceremonie des Fromages with Steve & Barb. Light to medium gold in the glass, this wine was a pleasure to drink as it always is. Medium to full bodied and displaying aromas and flavors of stones, minerals and the Rangen signature peaty/earthy notes. Very ripe and rich while fully dry. A great balance. Long finish. I can never get enough of these '94 ZH wines. 50+13+13+8.5+8.5 = 93
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
New Year's Eve at Steve & Barb's house: Medium gold in color, this wine screams Rangen with loads of minerals, stones and peat/earth. This is matched by a laser acidity in this still very young dry wine. Extremely rich and concentrated this will get even better in time. Really great stuff! 50+13+14+9+9 = 95.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
(Pittsburgh Offline 10-9-04) Amazing. Clear petrol and orchid stink on the nose. Thick and rich with an illusion of sweetness. Good acidic body, long and soft finish with more floral, slate and slight citrus. Complex, delicious and more soul than I expect from ZH.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Big Pinot Tasting: Apricots, and other tropical fruits, but great acidity. Nice minerality on the finish. Seems to need a bit of time for the acids to mellow and the complexity emerge.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Rich mineraly fruit taste. Flinty, perhaps too much so. Decent acidity. Good... but great? Maybe poor storage on this bottle (it seemed somewhat tired)? It looked like it was sitting on the shelf at Amity Wines & Spirits for some time. Perhaps these wines need age...
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
12/15/2022 - VinoGeeko wrote:
Nose was lovely. Palette was off - over the hill :(
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/23/2022 - aaacerbic Likes this wine:
Fully mature in my view but really delicious still. Much better than a bottle of 1990 we had a couple years ago.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/23/2020 - nywine68 wrote: 91 Points
Bright gold color. Remains lively with plenty of acidity. Orange peel with nutmeg and some white pepper. Good depth of flavors and medium length.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/18/2020 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Gorgeously hugely complex nose. A huge amount of acidity on the palate still. Still fresh on the palate.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/22/2019 - nywine68 wrote: 90 Points
Gold color. Mature but still vibrant. Orange peel with a hint of spice. Not particularly complex or much depth and length.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/31/2019 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
Biryani night (Chicago, IL): For my palate (which obviously changes depending on my mood), these old ZH wines can get a little bit ponderous. I think tonight, I felt the weight more and it didn't work for me as well as I would have liked. This is on the riper side of the scale, and there's some nice fat fruit both on the nose and palate. The relatively higher alcohol takes away from the lift the acid would have provided. It's tasty, but didn't work for me tonight.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/1/2017 - rmalloy wrote: 88 Points
In the "more interesting than tasty" category of wines. This wine scores high marks for concentration and complexity. The flavors taste (over)ripe and tropical. I discerned papaya, dried apricot, honey, raw ginger, and flint. The wine has a bitter edge that I don't like, and the overall tasting profile didn't appeal to me either.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
4/5/2017 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
The Rotating Dinners, I.8: Alsace (Chicago, IL): This was much more herbaceous than the 1993. Lighter, to be sure, with a bit less density. Brighter, as well, the acidity here was a little bit fresher. However, this didn't quite have the concentration and fruit, and I thought it came across a little boring, like there wasn't much to say. A few of us at the table had the relative descriptions of the 1993 and 1994 switched, so who knows if we were all talking about the same wine? In any case, I repoured this one to verify that I had the right one.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/27/2016 - galewskj wrote: 91 Points
Riesling and Thai food (Sen Yai Sen Lek): Drank a small glass a a tasting. There is great complexity here. The palate is dry, consistent with Alsace with just a tiny bit of sweetness to balance the acidity and minerals. Really nice, although I'm not sure I'm a buyer at current pricing.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/26/2016 - rocknroller wrote: 91 Points
Monthly Tasting Group: A Bevy Rieslings and Thai Food (Sen Yai Sen Lek, Mpls): Medium dark golden color. Drank a small pour. This was probably the one wine that I was anticipating the most tonight. While it was good and I enjoyed it, it didn't really wow me. The nose was stronger than the palate, orange peel, orange, spices, wispy minerality; more subtle minerality and orange, citrus palate, tart
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/18/2016 - BradKNYC wrote:
TN: Terrific wines (Loire, Germany, Austria, Alsace & Rioja) as Jeff & Dena Morris return to NYC. (Royal Seafood, NYC): Continuing the theme of muscular wines, this one takes first prize! Truly a monumental dry wine. It's large scaled with incredible depth and length. Ripe pineapple and stone fruits dominate the nose and palate with a strong earthy character and framed by a towering wall of structure. The flavors last and last and finish with a pleasantly bitter pith note. Tremendous showing and my non sweet WOTN. A.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/18/2016 - salil wrote: 97 Points
Mostly-Riesling jeeb with Jeff and Dena Morris visiting NYC (Royal Seafood, NYC): This is spectacular. A powerhouse of a Riesling - almost bone dry with incredibly fresh, vibrant pear and lemon fruit at the core, augmented by an array of stony, saline, smoke, and peaty flavours - almost reminiscent of some Islay single malts (minus the spirity notes). There's remarkable power and intensity to the flavours, yet it feels remarkably light and finessed on the palate, never heavy nor austere as I find with so many dry Rieslings. Amazing wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (1)
10/17/2015 - JeffGMorris Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dinner at home with Bryan & Michelle. Very typical Rangen with lots of earthy, peaty notes. As expected for this wine. Rich and big on the nose and relatively dry and acidic on the palate and long finish. Plenty of life ahead for this wine. 50+13+13+9+9=94
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/25/2015 - JeffGMorris Likes this wine:
Drank at the big Zind Humbrecht dinner at home ( with Olivier in attendance! ) With the third course.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/6/2015 - drwine2001 wrote:
Some Wines from a Spring Trip to France; 4/4/2015-4/11/2015 (Paris and Burgundy): Deep yellow. Viscous, medium weight, off dry, peachy fruit, excellent acidity and flintiness. Mature but fresh with only a trace of nuttiness at the end.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/7/2013 - Burgundy Al wrote: 89 Points
Ninth Annual White Truffle Dinner (Chez Weber - Chicago IL): Tropical fruit aromas and flavors, also showing the sweetness of the vintage. Easy to enjoy, just a little one dimensional.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/22/2013 - Marc wrote: 94 Points
Celebration for Bud's Seventieth Birthday (Eketahuna, New Zealand): Beautiful example of aged Riesling with 10 grams per litre of residual sugar. A point at the moment - this bottle enjoyed excellent bottle age character, stunning Riesling varietal fruit, great minerality and a strong acid backbone. The sugar contributes to a lush and opulent finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/8/2010 - thomasito2001 wrote: 92 Points
Good stuff. Not dry.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/12/2009 - baroloboy55 wrote: 90 Points
Seemed a little plump and heavy at first. with air, it got much lighter footed. fine petrol notes and a range of ripe tropical notes. I think mark's note below was based on earlier observaions:
Nit-picking pehaps, but on our end of the table, we found that the Z-H, which seemed a little fat and perhaps tired at first, developed nicely in the glass over the course of the day. It got lighter and brighter and more alluring. Not all I had hoped for, but a very interesting evolution.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/28/2008 - zimmy07 wrote: 93 Points
massive petrol going on with this wine. Flowery undertones with almost a honey glazed feeling. Great mild sweetness to this wine that just lasted a good while on the mid palate. great overall wine
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/26/2008 - psmith wrote:
Petrol, white flower, and honey nose, with a real impression of sweetness to the nose. Rich and viscous, but great purity despite the weight. Firm mineral finish. Really good.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/26/2008 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
Kapow! Impressions the same as from '04 almost to a T. More intensity of orchid on the nose, if anything. Incredible texture to the finish. Just a dynamite wine and 2nd this night only to a '76 La Mouline.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/18/2008 - 14frimaire wrote:
From a pristine bottle. This is in good place, for those who like the style.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/1/2008 - Johann Von Mastiff wrote: 93 Points
I admit that I am not the biggest lover of ZH. To me the wines can be just too much of a good thing. This bottle however was singing. The color was starting to really turn gold but the palate was still fantastic. Its a big wine but there is still enough acidity to keep it together. A great flavor pallet of stone fruits like apricots and peaches as well as over ripe pears. Long fininsh with a decent hit of RS.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/5/2007 - JeffGMorris wrote: flawed
Dinner with Charles & Nigel at Charles' flat. Sadly, this was oxidized and had to be disposed of.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/13/2006 - JeffGMorris wrote: 93 Points
Bernard Antony Ceremonie des Fromages with Steve & Barb. Light to medium gold in the glass, this wine was a pleasure to drink as it always is. Medium to full bodied and displaying aromas and flavors of stones, minerals and the Rangen signature peaty/earthy notes. Very ripe and rich while fully dry. A great balance. Long finish. I can never get enough of these '94 ZH wines. 50+13+13+8.5+8.5 = 93
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/26/2005 - mdefreitas wrote: 95 Points
Cellar Reduction @ Scott's (San Francisco): Electric nose of minerals, ripe fruits and chalk. Wonderfully fresh and lengthy.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/31/2004 - JeffGMorris wrote: 95 Points
New Year's Eve at Steve & Barb's house: Medium gold in color, this wine screams Rangen with loads of minerals, stones and peat/earth. This is matched by a laser acidity in this still very young dry wine. Extremely rich and concentrated this will get even better in time. Really great stuff! 50+13+14+9+9 = 95.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/9/2004 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
(Pittsburgh Offline 10-9-04) Amazing. Clear petrol and orchid stink on the nose. Thick and rich with an illusion of sweetness. Good acidic body, long and soft finish with more floral, slate and slight citrus. Complex, delicious and more soul than I expect from ZH.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/23/1999 - mdefreitas wrote: 92 Points
Big Pinot Tasting: Apricots, and other tropical fruits, but great acidity. Nice minerality on the finish. Seems to need a bit of time for the acids to mellow and the complexity emerge.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/11/1997 - mdefreitas wrote: 90 Points
Rich mineraly fruit taste. Flinty, perhaps too much so. Decent acidity. Good... but great? Maybe poor storage on this bottle (it seemed somewhat tired)? It looked like it was sitting on the shelf at Amity Wines & Spirits for some time. Perhaps these wines need age...
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment