My time in Ann Arbor is coming to an end, so to celebrate our departure from the world of 24-7 statistics, I extorted some money from friends, made some room on the porch, put out some simple bread, cheese, crackers, and simple spreads and enjoyed our last few hours together as we watched the sky, listened to the birds and crickets, watched the skateboarders and bicyclists whizz by on my street, and, in general, enjoyed each other's company away from all the crazy hustle-and-bustle. And we drank some wines.
After my friend worked out some address issues with her bank over the phone, we started with the 2008 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie [Melon de Bourgogne] (Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine AOC, Pays Nantais, Loire Valley, western France) which I selected especially for her as she had a preference for the überdry side of of wines. It was a classic muscadet, smells of rocks and the seashore with a very expressive nose, and tasting rich and salty, refreshingly green, classic and delicious. And, what a finish! She loved, another found it as an enjoyable one glass apertif and it just made me think of the seafood I will enjoy when I make a trip to New England later in the week. With a friend in attendance from the Rheingau and the phenomenal on-the-shelf-at-original-prices deal they have for rieslings at the local wine shop, we moved east to focus on Germany and its rieslings. First up was the 2002 Robert Weil Rheingau Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken. Weil will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first wine producer I visited in Germany, and, for all events and purposes, was my introduction to German wine. This one did not disappoint, though I was quite curious to see how a halbtrocken would fare over 7 years. The nose was fantastic, rich and fruity, kind of a chrome aged feel to the nose, that oddly did not dominate the taste of the wine as much as I had expected, Instead it offered excellent acidity, excellent balance, and plenty of body. You could taste the faded sweetness and the drier place it was in right now was a very good place. A fun wine--even my sweet-wine averse friend found this one pleasant to quaff. For some unknown reason, whenever I see a Baron Knyphausen I am drawn to it, and never seem to recall my experiences with this producer haven't been at that positive. Whatever. For $11, it was worth a shot to try a bottle of the 2002 Baron Knyphausen Kiedricher Sandgrub Rheingau Riesling Spätlese. The nose was weird--my friends found it offputting and I found it only of intellectual interest of a riesling in its later years in perhaps not the best of nursing homes, but still, it was once young, no? Carmelized, tasting of faded rusty bolts, certainly on its last legs, but the drinking of it offered much more pleasure than the introduction would make one suspect. It made for an interesting drink for me and I think at the end of it, we all found it enjoyable enough--but other wines called. My friend from the Rheingau saw the 2003 Schloss Schönborn Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg Rheingau Riesling Spätlese Gräflich Schoenborn'scher Eigenbau on the shelf of a local store and evidently had a very warm memory of having a late 90s version of the wine in some hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Germany with his girlfriend. His nostalgia was well-placed as the wine was clearly the wine of the evening and one of the best wines of the year for me. At home in California I have a bottle of the 2005 A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberger Riesling Auslese which I plan to use to bring a friend into the world of riesling. The Adam wine just makes me smile. The Schönborn had precisely the same effect. It is of little use to describe the wine. More interesting would be to observe my reaction to it--I smell it and I cannot stop a huge grin from taking over my face. My friends think I am shaking my head at whatever the conversation is about, but it's actually just my disbelief in what there is in this wine. Phenomenal in every way--if you have a bottle of this lying around, make yourself very happy for an evening and share it with someone. It makes me giddy. A hard act to follow, but it isn't a contest and everyone doesn't want the evening to end yet, so out comes the 2002 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Riesling Auslese #29 . It did not disappoint, it is a phenomenal wine as well, though I'd prefer to try it again in 10-15 years again than to have another bottle in the near future. It is tight, firm, with phenomenal texture, and, shockingly to me, still tastes of baby sugar that I taste only in freshly bottled rieslings. There is plenty, and I mean plenty to enjoy about it right now, and we all agreed this was a phenomenal phenomenal wine, but it's beauty will continue to develop. If I had another, I'd let it sit.
Then some more friends arrived, an interesting Romanian wine was opened and sampled, and it was time to return to the bustle for some sad goodbyes as everyone starts to head their separate ways. But we noted the moment with a beautiful evening that offered a chance to reflect.
