Laura and I spent Saturday evening with Thor & Theresa Iverson, David Cornwell & the ghost of David from Switzerland. We always have fun, and we always eat and drink well. Saturday was no exception.
Only a few minutes after arriving in late afternoon, Thor and I were into the first wine.
2004 Vodopivec Vitovska (Venezia Guilia)
What’s not to like about a 5 year old wine that’s the color of old brass. It did not smell like old brass, though as usual it did not smell like any other type of white wine on the planet. Laura took a sip and noted the tannins from the extended skin contact. She was not amused. Each time I drink a bottle from this genre of wine I am convinced that they are about half way to the aromatic complexity of great, aged Burgundy. There’s also a textural richness on the palate, and an underlying rusticity. This was amazing stuff, and very hard to forget (or follow).
NV Pierre Gimmonet Blanc de Blancs 1er Cru
Something had to follow the Vitovska, and what better than fine grower Champagne. This bottle must have had a few years on it, as it lacked a disgorgement date on the back label, something Gimmonet has been doing for a while as far as I know. It was still quite bright and fresh, with a strong mousse, but it also showed more breadth of aroma and flavor than some of the new release bottles of this wine I have tried. Blanc de Blancs can sometimes seem shrill in youth to my taste, but a few years of age brings more harmony, and that is when I prefer to drink the all Chardonnay Champagnes. Another wonderful wine makes us two for two.
Theresa served up some home made pasta with crab meat (YUM!!) to accompany the next wine.
2001 Marc Kreydenweiss Pinot Blanc Kritt ‘Les Charmes’
This had a distinct fatness to it that certainly suggests a high percentage of Auxerrois. Lemony, a bit creamy and ever so slightly sweet in its fruit expression, this was a very good partner to the crab and very enjoyable overall, if overshadowed by the first two wines.
We then adjourned to the living room for course number two, the annual tradition of cheese fondue. This was accompanied by more fine wine and a special guest.
2001 J. J. Christoffel Erben Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett
2001 J. J. Christoffel Erben Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett
Two kabinetts from the nearly legendary 2001 vintage, from a producer that perhaps best captured the vintage in the Mosel, and two vineyards that, while only a short distance apart, display strikingly different character. The Wurzgarten was almost gangly in its direct and somewhat all over the place expression of spice and fruit, while the Treppchen was more integrated, poised and polished. The Wurzgarten seemed more like a youthful kabinett, and really in need of three or four more years in the cellar to bring its disparate pieces together. There’s certainly enough fruit and sweetness to allow that kind of time. The Treppchen is absolutely ready to drink now, though again it has stuffing to burn, and might become more linear with time. 7 years ago I tasted these two wines and was absolutely certain that the Treppchen was the better wine, and time has done little to change that impression.
Thor opened a blind bottle, hoping to trip me up, and of course succeeding. David Cornwell and Theresa were both in the Beaujolais camp, but I worked my way to the Loire and Cot (Malbec). We were all wrong, as it was yet another bottle of the 2007 Dashe L’Enfant Terrible Zinfandel. I actually liked the wine this time, though the experience finally crystallized for me why I didn’t like it in the past – it’s not zin. If I am drinking zin there are certain things I am looking for, and essence of strawberry with tutti-frutti sweetness are not those things. I suppose if people keep serving it blind I could drink a lot of it (though I would eventually catch on), but I do not get the point of proving that zinfandel can be made to taste like it is not zinfandel.
David Cornwell then opened a bottle of the 1995 Ravenswood Cooke Vineyard Zinfandel. After a brief bout with volatility the fruit came out, along with dusty, nearly rocky earth tones and a brawnier, more texturally rich expression than the Dashe which spoke of exactly what it was: zinfandel, and very good wine. I would suggest drinking up soon before the volatility takes over.
For a while there had been a recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony playing on the stereo. A gift to Theresa from fellow board member David from Switzerland, it was a 1942 recording conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler. Wine conversation and jokes about Keith Olberman aside, it was rather compelling for the first three movements. But the final movement caused something that had never happened before (and likely will never again): Thor and I were essentially silent for 20 minutes. That is all the commentary that is needed regarding the sheer genius of the music and the performance. Thanks to David from Switzerland for providing the moment (if not the wine) of the night.
And thanks to another David, this time David Cornwell, for providing yet another in the amazing string of older Rhone wines that he seems to conjure from nowhere. This time it was a Northern Rhone.
1990 Clape Cornas
If only I had bought wines like this back when they were $20 or $25 for a bottle, I would now have a cellar full of gems ready to drink. Compelling in its aromatic blend of dusty fruit, earth and worn leather, this was more about balance and integration that any individual component. It seemed destined to accompany the bacon-garnished Coq au Vin (actually Coq au Riesling), though it brought plenty of its own bacon. Delicious.
We then entered into a long, difficult spell.
1996 Jasmin Cote Rotie
Maybe corked, maybe off in some other way.
2000 Texier Cotes du Rhone Villages Seguret
Oxidized at the hands of a plastic cork.
2001 Texier Cotes du Rhone Villages St. Gervais
Nearly wonderful, but oxidized at the hands of a plastic cork.
1994 Edmunds St. John Syrah Durell Vineyard
Very badly corked.
1999 Bosquet des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Classique
Certainly Chateauneuf, but lacking in any real meaningful element to grab a hold of. Perhaps it’s just in between stages of development, but I’ll never find out, as it was my last bottle.
1999 Paul Anheuser Kreuznacher Krotenpfuhl Riesling Beerenauslese
Utterly boring. Stultifyingly boring. Spiced apricot and nothing else boring.
But then there was chocolate fondue & all was right with the world.
