Ooh, combine a low dosage style with the lean 2004 vintage and you get a pretty snappy wine! Light weight, full of herbs and ginger, tart lemony fruit, racy acidity and excellent mineral finish. I always worry about these wines being too austere, but this one is not. Bravo-should do well for the next decade.
Magnum (and a beautiful one at that). Light yellow. Surprisingly developed aromatically compared to the last time I had this with a full dose of petrol. Medium weight but great dry extract and intensity, and as before, no shortage of acidity. Like a primordial mix of all that is good in a bone dry Riesling, very difficult to pick out individual fruit elements. Our host opined that paradoxically, this was more open than recent bottles out of smaller formats; on the nose this was true, but by the end of the bottle, this was still pretty tight and relatively closed on the palate. Let's just say that there is still no rush to broach this all time classic.
Magnum. Healthy full ruby. Heady, ripe red fruit and a bouquet of spice-this could not be anything but a southern Rhone wine. Just a tad of surmaturite but no heat. Lush, creamy and complex. Just fabulous at its current point of evolution, much as it has been on 2 other occasions this year.
Orange golden color. Exciting nose of bright citrus, vanilla bean, almond paste, perfume and spice. Less of the coconut, apricot character of really ripe years. Concentrated but medium weight for a d'Yquem. Beautiful balance and length due to strong acidity. Moderate sweetness, definitely not that unctuous or liquoreux. I really liked this and found it easier going than some of the bigger, sweeter examples I've had from other vintages. This also seems about completely mature now without a lot to gain from extended cellaring.
2004 Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Vintage
France, Champagne
Ooh, combine a low dosage style with the lean 2004 vintage and you get a pretty snappy wine! Light weight, full of herbs and ginger, tart lemony fruit, racy acidity and excellent mineral finish. I always worry about these wines being too austere, but this one is not. Bravo-should do well for the next decade.
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2001 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile
France, Alsace
Magnum (and a beautiful one at that). Light yellow. Surprisingly developed aromatically compared to the last time I had this with a full dose of petrol. Medium weight but great dry extract and intensity, and as before, no shortage of acidity. Like a primordial mix of all that is good in a bone dry Riesling, very difficult to pick out individual fruit elements. Our host opined that paradoxically, this was more open than recent bottles out of smaller formats; on the nose this was true, but by the end of the bottle, this was still pretty tight and relatively closed on the palate. Let's just say that there is still no rush to broach this all time classic.
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2004 Château de Saint Cosme Gigondas Valbelle
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas
Magnum. Healthy full ruby. Heady, ripe red fruit and a bouquet of spice-this could not be anything but a southern Rhone wine. Just a tad of surmaturite but no heat. Lush, creamy and complex. Just fabulous at its current point of evolution, much as it has been on 2 other occasions this year.
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1997 Château d'Yquem
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
Orange golden color. Exciting nose of bright citrus, vanilla bean, almond paste, perfume and spice. Less of the coconut, apricot character of really ripe years. Concentrated but medium weight for a d'Yquem. Beautiful balance and length due to strong acidity. Moderate sweetness, definitely not that unctuous or liquoreux. I really liked this and found it easier going than some of the bigger, sweeter examples I've had from other vintages. This also seems about completely mature now without a lot to gain from extended cellaring.
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