WTN: Short thoughts from a long weekend

[David M. Bueker]

Spent three days in New Jersey with our friends Beth and Joe. The nights of dining out & three nights of fine wines. I took no notes, but a number of wines were quite memorable. There were also a couple that were very good where I did not get label info (e.g. an '00 Brunello I liked very much, a Champagne from Morlet that was also very good). I reported separately on two Champagnes in the Bubble Bubble thread.

1996 Produttori del Barbaresco Mocagatta
Outstanding, but not even close to being ready, much less at peak. We opened this on Friday night & it barely budged by Saturday night. All the parts are there, but it needs tons of time. I have one more & will wait probably 10 years or more.

1992 Selbach-Oster Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Spatlese
Gracefully sliding into old age. It's dry and has lost most of its fruit, but retained character beyond just "old wine." There's a hint of creaminess on the finish.

2004 Bassermann Jordan Forster Jesuitengarten Riesling Spatlese
Delicious & surprisingly open after getting 45 minutes of air. Tropical fruit and lemon citricity make for a refreshing package.

2002 Closel Savennieres Clos du Papillon
Closed and unevolved. Thankfully.

1999 Zind Humbrecht Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain Gewurztraminer
Time to drink up. It's spicy and not very sweet at all, but bitterness creeps in on the finish.

2004 Goldeneye Pinot Noir Anderson Valley
Fruity and well balanced. Not heavy or alcoholic. Very enjoyable California Pinot. It picked up a bit of cola with air, but not in any distracting way.

1997 Brundlmayer Gruner Veltliner Alte Reben
Pulled from the glacial cellar 5 years too soon. This tasted like a new release.

2006 Leitz Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Spatlese
Sweet, but also loaded with extract and finished with good acidity. This was my wine of the weekend. Drink it now with lots of pleasure or age it for quite a while.

2006 Donnafugata Passito di Pantelleria Ben Ryé
Freshly dried apricots. Delicious.

I know I missed a bunch more good wines, but alas for no notes.

Short thoughts in response to those notes:
- I'm pleasantly surprised at how open some of the 04 Spatlesen are. I had great experiences with a couple of Auslese last month, then opened the Diel Burgberg and Pittermannchen Spatlese in the last couple of weeks and both have been quite lovely. Glad to see that note on the Jesuitengarten.
- I'm even more pleasantly surprised to see that Bassermann Jordan do make non-trocken wines!
- Note to self: Come by the Buekers' basement in 5 years time and check in on another one of those Brundlmayers.
- You drank with Beth and had only one Gewurz (unless others were forgotten/left out)? For shame! That Rangen does sound pretty disappointing (for a Gewurz from that caliber of producer and from such a legendary site).
- I really liked the Leitz wines that I had in '06. That Roseneck sounds fantastic, and I'm sure (if it has the balance of the other Leitz 06s I had) it'll age wonderfully.

David, I hope you report back on the 2002 Closel Papillon in a few years. I found mine delicious on release and they improved over time but I enjoyed them so much I was reluctant to risk hanging onto them. Are they long-term age worthy? I don't know. Pierre Rovanni didn't think so. I ckecked with the winemakers daughter and she indicated she and her mother didn't know as they were making the wine in a "new style." Recent and past Cellar-Tracker TNs range all over the map from hate it to love it and predictions vary from Great things lie ahead to Its almost dead.

I do wish I'd hung onto a few bottles just to see what happens.

Since my mind is on Barolo/Barbaresco at the moment, I was glad to read your report on the 96 Produttori. Will try to find some. The 96 Roagna we had a few weeks ago was excellent too. Must be the vintage.

[David M. Bueker]

'99 is not a great Alsace year, and I never thought many of the wines would "go the distance." 10 years was just a bit too much for this one. It was actually quite tasty for the first 45 minutes or so, but then the bitterness overtook the flavors. Drinking with Beth is an exercise in Riesling, not Gewurz. Dave Axler brought the ZH.

The Closel was not my bottle, so no further notes from me unless someone opens another. I do have a lot of the '02 Baumard Clos du Papillon, so we'll see where that goes. Savennieres is another area where variability seems to be running rampant.