The Brussels Offline - a Gallop through the WineWorld

Chris Cook's House
Tasted Friday, August 12, 2005 by Mlermontov with 1,194 views

Introduction

This was the last of our BeNeLux offlines - and Chris Cook offered his house - whocould say no? He got us some great catered food (see pics) and Stafan brought tons of glasses (see pics :) ) It was great fun - i think we got home around 2 am :)

The wines were served bling in theme flights. That was both fun and frustrating :)

oh i am going to need help with these notes and pics (mostly cause there is a couple of people whose names i am not sure how to spell and the brunello flight is out of my knowledge range thus my notes are rather poor)

Flight 1 - Starter (1 Note)

This was a non-blind and since i love this grape - perfectlly yummy even if the '03 showed through

  • 2003 Veracruz Verdejo Rueda Ermita 87 Points

    Spain, Castilla y León, Rueda

    mineral nose with a bit of tropical fruit. the '03 is showing and the acidity is a bit low. still a grea summer wine with acctually more of a newbie appeal because of the "fatter" year. but i love this grape overall and find it a great value as well. good job

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Flight 2 - Riesling (3 Notes)

this is the only flight where anyone actually listened to me :) that was fun :) KIDDING... i was rather happy that i was able to nail the wines down decently. but the '93 confused me into thinking it was a '90 - mostly because it was trully an amazing wine. May not be the highest scoring wine of the night but thats the one i would have bought cases of - perfect mature riesling - i kept a glass all night and went back to it often to revive my palatte :) Thanks Ive !
The Franken Riesling was trully an educational experience - very very interesting wine - would love to see how it would age.

  • 2002 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 89 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    i am a bit underwhelmed - but this wine may be closed. I was guessing this was a kabinet from '02. didnt seem to have the "stuffing" for a spatlese. still very very nice wine that will probably develop into a 90-92 pointer in a few years. Rather tropical on the nose - but it is very young. nice acidity but not "sharp". I think i guessed either a Donnhoff Kabinet or a Mosel wine.

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  • 2002 Weingut Schloss Sommerhausen Sommerhäuser Steinbach Riesling Spätlese trocken 88 Points

    Germany, Franken

    Heh - i was rather happy i nailed it as a Franken. But then again - i knew it was german. if i would have not known that i would have guessed alsace. maybe even alsace tokay. almoust completly dry with light nose that is taking on some petrol (the only riesling give-away) Long finish and with time more fruit. Thick body - but carring the weight comfortable and no sign of heat which plagues trocken so often (to me... i am very alcohol sensetive)
    thanks Stefen for an education - will have to try more of these...but how in the world do you age them? that bottle does not fit into anything :)

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  • 1993 Schloss Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Auslese ** 92 Points

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    This may not be the highest rated wine...nor the one getting voted as WOTN..nor the most hyped...but Ive - you made my day with this baby... i couldnt put it down - i can drink this for decades. I think i guessed mosel and early 90's/late 80's ... i dont remmeber..i have never had a '93 or a wine from this vineyard...but this wine screamed mosel. Flowers, petrol, apples - especially the granny smith kind... this had it all...smooth body with still lots of sweetness left but great balance and an unending finish. This could probably age for many more years... just a perfect textbook riesling - i kept a glass all night and went back to it often to revive my palatte :) Thanks Ive !

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Flight 3 - Spain (3 Notes)

Spain trully suffered the fall at this tasting... both flights were interesting but not great... rather dissapointing showing for Spain.

  • 1994 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva 89 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    lots of oak - but not unbalanced - just lacking some fruit. Still good structure but fading fast...some red fruit poked through and the nose was a giveaway Rioja. I liked it but not loved it... but withing 30 minutes it trully started to fade...rather sad when the bottle was revealed. I thought it was a crianza from a lesser year...

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  • 2001 Bodegas AAlto Ribera del Duero AAlto 91 Points

    Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero

    this had to be a ribera... very powerfull, tons of fruit and lactic? nose. but the finish is rather short i thought...others didnt agree. Hm... again rather upsetting when the bottle was revealed. needs time is my guess.

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  • 1994 Bodegas Muga Rioja Torre Muga 92 Points

    Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja

    i liked this wine the most. To me it was a good Rioja..maybe not as good as it could be but it was clean, resolved tannins, good structure and lost of complexity. the only thing it lacked is fruit - not that there was no fruit but one would really wish for a bit more. It got better with time prompting me to think that it might have been in a bit of a funky stage... in any case - i really liked this wine.

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Flight 4 - Spain #2 (3 Notes)

Flight 5 - Malbec (3 Notes)

i threw in Bressia here although we had it later just to keep the argentinian wines together

  • 1995 Bodega Weinert Malbec 92 Points

    Argentina, Mendoza

    this was an education - wow... very complex wine - chocolatte leather good red fruit. nice structure and something i couldnt quite peg down. delicious.

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  • 2002 Michel Rolland Malbec Val de Flores 93 Points

    Argentina, Mendoza, Valle de Uco

    WOW... this is almoust a dessert wine! OMG - so much sweet tannins and red fruit - its literally dripping with frut and chocolate! well integrated oak and long finish... will this age as well? hmm... i think i need to get some malbecs into my cellar.

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  • 2001 Bodega Bressia Profundo 92 Points

    Argentina, Mendoza, Lujan de Cuyo, Agrelo

    WOW... another beauty from Argentina... YUM! Claudio was the king of red wines tonight - his flight was surelly superior to all others :) Well integrated tannins and oak. good fruit - malbec is showing as prominent (is it high % in the blend?) but the others are adding structure and backbone. If this will age well it should be a true gem.

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Flight 6 - Italy (4 Notes)

  • 1997 Piancornello Brunello di Montalcino 93 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    Stefan - hats off to you - this is great wine although i think all of the italians were too young. Great minerality and pure fruit. High acidity that does not distract at all. Finish could be longer - but that may be there with time.

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  • 1997 Il Poggione (Proprietá Franceschi) Brunello di Montalcino 90 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    more dry cherry and acidity here, less on the nose and a bit less balanced. Rustic and a bit angular. Still a good wine with lots of interesting points.

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  • 1995 Pieve Santa Restituta (Gaja) Brunello di Montalcino Rennina 92 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    this may not be the most interesting brunello but its trully the most baklanced of all of them. Great power as well - delicious wine. how can power and elegance go together in one wine... thanks guys - my first red Gaja wine (with the first ever Gaja wine being the SB at the rotterdam tasting)

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  • 1999 La Poderina Brunello di Montalcino 89 Points

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    young angular, acidity out of whack. there is a lot there but very hard to judge... needs lots and lots of time

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Flight 7 - Dessert (3 Notes)

fun...not anything amazing - i dont think i actually had more than a whif of these since i was still playing with the reds. But then again - i know what these wines are like.

  • 2004 Hermann J. Wiemer Riesling Select Late Harvest 89 Points

    USA, New York, Finger Lakes, Seneca Lake

    nice, short finish, tropical nose. auslese concentration. TERRIBLE qpr at its price level... try only for the education value - it can be passed off as a 2003 german wine with a bit short finish/low acidity. both weimer wines were fine everyday wines that compare well with the german counterparts...but they are almoust 2 times more expencive than the germans (the dry is closer to price but the sweet one is way overpriced - i know that the winemaker has pretty much no way out here but thats not much of a selling point) (0 views)

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  • NV Massandra White Muscat 87 Points

    Ukraine, Crimea

    actually i was very impressed - this was similar to a vin santo or to Greek/Samos Muscat. Some oxydation but nice grapy flavors and sweetness. finish of decent length. its a fun wine to try and is decently priced as well

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  • NV Massandra Kagor 85 Points

    Ukraine, Crimea

    medicinal nose - this is mainly cabernet sauv. Decently sweet palatte..nothing profound here but interesting to try...this is a wine that russian would usually drink with the meal not as dessert ...

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Closing

Thanks again to Chris - for letting so many drunks into your home :) and to Stefan for the multitude of glasses. It was great to meet all of you guys - trully a great vacation and a great wine education as well!

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