2005 Vollenweider Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spatlese
The last glass or so froom the bottle I reported on earlier. This was more open and expressive than on Thursday, so perhaps it had been a bit closed down.
2002 Nikolaihof Riesling Federspiel Vom Stein
A bottle that I had somewhat lost in my cellar, and it showed the worse for wear. Completely oxidized in a White Burgundy sort of way. Too bad, as this was wonderful in its youth.
1996 Muller-Catoir Haardter Herzog Riesling Spatlese
This was one of the most delicious wines I had ever tasted when it was released. Now it is a chameleon, constantly changing, and whirling around its core of razor sharp acidity. First it's oddly milky, as if some actual milk had gone sour in the wine. Later it's buttery in an almost ML Chard kind of way. Finally it finds its fruit, explding with lemon and lime mixed with pineapple tropical notes. Through it all we were given a tonsilectomy by the acidity that neary made our gums bleed. 13 years on it seems as though this wine still needs a lot of time, but the question is can it stand it without becoming a total shell of itself.
1996 Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Hengst
Salil's contribution, and a fantastic one at that. The rosewater and spicy lychee aromatics worked very well with our Indian kebabs, and the wine was nearly dry with a long, long finish. It gained more intensity with air, and kept its balance, finding even more fruit as teh evening wore on.
2001 Robert Weil Kiedricher Grafenberg Riesling Spatlese
Also from Salil, and a little bit grumpy that we woke it up this soon. So into the decanter it went, shedding some reductive notes and just beginning to show some slightly evolved fruit. Best recommendation here is to hold, as 2 hours of decanting cleared the reductiveness, but did not really wake the wine totally from its slumber. Should be great in time.
2004 Truchot Morey St Denis 1er Cru Clos Sorbes
What can one say but Truchot. There's not a bit of the 2004 problem in this wine, and it's so open and giving on the nose that you would swear it must not be real. There is no need to actually drink it, but if you must the wine is pure silk. It's amazing that a 5 year old Burgundy can have this much nuance and complexity, but again that's why one must just say Truchot.
And then the Donnhoff Auslese was corked.
