October 13, 2023 - Barbaresco vs. Barolo (Chicago, IL): #18-02, 9% abv. Kind of an odd Spätlese -- neither here nor there, really. Feels dilute, but also relatively high in alcohol, and comes off heavy-handed but also lacking the sweetness so it drinks like a Feinherb.
March 9, 2021 - My last of these, and really good. Remains Spatlese sweet with excellent balancing acidity. Ripe peach. Lightly baked apple with a touch of brown spices. Some creaminess that I associate with age, but I see my note from 2010 mentions it too. A perfect match with a shrimp scampi made a bit sweet with Mattei Cap Corse Blanc Quinquina Corsican vermouth.
May 12, 2019 - Fully mature, though showing a lot softer than I would expect from a 2001. A light gold colour with lots of apparent development - savoury smoky and lightly burnished notes around gentle peachy fruit, and comes across almost halbtrocken in terms of its sweetness.
April 1, 2018 - Seder 2018. Thought it looked surprisingly advanced and then noticed I'd pulled out the 2001 instead of the 2011! A delight. Perfect maturity.
September 17, 2017 - Chatham. Wonderful wine. In my sweet spot as far as maturity with plenty of fruit, lots of acidity to balance out the sugar that remains, just a touch of petrol, and a finish that went on and on.
Why you cellar these wines.
August 9, 2016 - White fruit (peach, slight mango), almost auslese level sweetness. Nice floral. Good acidity. Lingering finish. Really enjoyable.
August 25, 2015 - At first this seemed a bit prematurely evolved, but with time this took on a wet cardboard/basement taste. Definitely corked. What a shame... all my three bottles drunk, and none really showed what I felt this bottling should show, given the producer, site and vintage.
May 29, 2015 - An odd wine. While enjoyable, it didn't quite seem to be what it should be, given the producer and the vintage. The depth and acids show the quality of the 2001 vintage, but there was an odd yeasty/apple cider note that detracted a bit. There was some slight spritz on the palate as well. Still, this had intensity, energy, electric acids and tangy length.
April 2, 2015 - Well, this was a bit of a disappointment. Not a bad wine, but this should be a lot better. A bit monochromatic and simple. Doesn't quite lift off on the palate; seemed a bit flat. Pleasant enough, but I need to revisit this again.
April 2, 2015 - Riesling and Madeiras at Marco's (Milford, CT): I've really liked this wine in the past, but this wasn't a great showing - plenty of ripe citrus and stone fruit flavours over a stony base, but this came across a touch blocky and one-note compared to what I normally expect from Leitz's Spätlese. Though having this after the two auction bottlings probably wasn't the best way to sit down and enjoy all it had to offer.