Round two of my return to Berkeley was Clay Pot in Albany, and Lou and BettyLu, Hoke and Roxi, and Larry, Shira, and Laura were there to make sure it all went according to plan.
As if we had one.
There must have been some logic to our decision to start with the 2001 Rudi Pichler Grüner Veltliner Wosendorfer Hochrain Smaragd, probably because it was dry. It showed a lovely hefty plump dose of fruit, with lovely depth, a nice combination next to the Nigl that was a bit more ponderous and less “serious”…
To go with our crispy fried appetizers we circulated the 2001 Prager Weissenkirchen Wachstum Bodenstein Smaragd, which started off way too acidic for some of the pansies at the table, but with air it showed really lovely stuff. Long, balanced, mineral, and by the end of the night it was golden and great. I envy the couple who took home the leftovers.
Time for some r.s. so we open the 2001 Milz-Laurentiushof Neumagener Nusswingert Kabinett, which is a pretty wine at first. A nice floral citrus comfortable dose of mature riesling fruit. This was ready from the first pour, and went very well with the shrimp in their peppery citrusy sauce. But, it got lost in the shuffle as we moved on to the 1998 Kloster Eberbach Steinberger Spätlese Auction which was a lovely wine. So balanced. So ready to drink. Great grip, great composure, great class. Larry wants to nominate this for WOTN, which is a touch excessive for me as in my opinion it falls behind the Pichler, Nigl, and Prager. But it is definitely fourth!
2003 Baron Knyphausen Kiedricher Sangrub Spätlese is another Rheingau entry, but showing some problems. Caramel flavors, eradicated structure, not the best for the evening.
More problems with the 2001 Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Spätlese, which I brought to see exactly what was going on with these Middle-Vintage Grünhäusers, and it showed nothing special, soft, uncomposed, there was Plenty Leftover, so I can tell you how it evolves over the next few days…
More interesting was the 1998 Nigl Grüner Veltliner Senftenberger Piri Privat, which showed pretty well from the first pour, a nice elegant, ripe, balanced package of pungent controlled slightly-soft grüner. Maybe not the depth and long-term potential of the Pichler, but this was very fun tonight, and not just because I brought it…
At this point we had two red wines left and needed to order more food as an excuse. So, with the pork and pickled vegetables that sent Shira ducking for cover, we popped the 2005 Domaine de Pallus Chinon Les pensées de Pallus, a gift from Lou who proclaims it one of the best sub$20 wines he has tasted in a while. And I agree, this is nice stuff. Always happy to see a new Chinon worth drinking. Dark, ripe, clean, juicy, goes well with the dark Shanghainese sauces. Nothing serious or profound. In my opinion this won’t go long-term, and Hoke pegs it as a nice “little wine”, but I find it very enjoyable for the quaffable pleasure it affords. However, checking the Polaner website I discover this is the old-vines luxury cuvee for the producer, which is strange.
Even stranger is the 1996 Thunder Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon Bates Ranch, which immediately offers me pleasure, herbaceous woodsy meditative flavors with a relatively thick palate presence. But then others start screaming for the dump bucket claiming it is horrible vegetal crap. I wouldn’t go that far. But perhaps we need a palate re-calibration. So I’m back to the Pichler, Prager, and Nigl..
And back to Berkeley…