WTN: Dinner with friends at Afghan Kebab House

Mikhail Lipyanskiy got a small group together for dinner at Afghan Kebab House II yesterday. Was great to catch up with the Count and Bob Fyke again, and meet Carlo Verner Andersen and his girlfriend who were in NYC and brought in a couple of stunning Grosses Gewachs from Denmark. A really fun evening with the company, food and wines all fantastic. Thanks all!

2007 Emrich-Schönleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs
Starts out with an amazing scent of flowers, rocks and ripe white fruited flavours, and the aromatics only get better with air as the fruit flavours seem to get richer and sweeter and a honeyed, beeswaxy element emerges. In the mouth it's power combined with silken elegance with really good acidity and an incredibly light, almost floating mouthfeel, finishing long and faintly creamy. Stunning wine.

2007 Schäfer-Fröhlich Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs
An iron fist compared to the gentle velvet glove of the Schönleber Halenberg; this shows a lot more intensity and power but without the same depth and array of flavours. The aromatics are all about the minerals; rocks, salt and rainwater, and then in the mouth it's all intense, focused citrus and white fruited flavours that seem to be infused with rocks. Amazing precision and energy here with lots of acidity and a very long finish. Fantastic wine that on the night was just eclipsed by the Schönleber.

2002 F.X. Pichler Riesling Smaragd Loibner Steinertal
Spectacular aromatics with intense white pepper and other spicy elements mingled with ripe white fruits, minerals and honeysuckle. Very rich and round in the mouth with layers of white fruits, lime, rocks and spices and a creamy element on the back end, but doesn't show the same focus and precision that some of my other bottles had.

1995 Domaine Jean et Jean-Louis Trapet Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée Vieilles Vignes
Drinking beautifully right now with a combination of still-youthful red fruits and more mature flavours of mushrooms, forestal earthy notes and faint leathery elements. Very light on its feet and silken-textured with bright acidity and resolved tannins, finishing long and savoury.

2004 Fontodi Chianti Classico Riserva Vigna del Sorbo
Awesome stuff; packed with sappy black cherries and plums mingled with leather, earth, sandalwood and floral elements. Fantastic balance and depth with good acidity and chewy tannins lurking underneath the rich, deep fruit flavours, finishing very long. Really delicious, and my favourite of the reds at the tablle.

2002 JC Cellars Caldwell Vineyard Syrah
Very ripe, dark fruited and minty in its flavour profile - concentrated and intense with some toasty and smoky elements emerging with more air. I struggled with this at the table, as I found this overwhelmed the food and the other wines, and showed a little heat on the back end.

2003 Ridge Zinfandel Essence
My palate was starting to fade by this point, so I didn't spend much time with this - I did find it very ripe and sweet though, dominated by red fruits, spices and hints of raisins and figs.

Nice grouping. I haven't had the VdS, but liked the regular Fontodi in 04.
I usually go to the West 50s AKH. AKH II is the one on Second? I think we passed you on way to Convivio (FDR was slow so we moved over)_

2007 Emrich-Schönleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs
Starts out with an amazing scent of flowers, rocks and ripe white fruited flavours, and the aromatics only get better with air as the fruit flavours seem to get richer and sweeter and a honeyed, beeswaxy element emerges. In the mouth it's power combined with silken elegance with really good acidity and an incredibly light, almost floating mouthfeel, finishing long and faintly creamy. Stunning wine.

2007 Schäfer-Fröhlich Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs
An iron fist compared to the gentle velvet glove of the Schönleber Halenberg; this shows a lot more intensity and power but without the same depth and array of flavours. The aromatics are all about the minerals; rocks, salt and rainwater, and then in the mouth it's all intense, focused citrus and white fruited flavours that seem to be infused with rocks. Amazing precision and energy here with lots of acidity and a very long finish. Fantastic wine that on the night was just eclipsed by the Schönleber.

Is this difference due to producer style, vineyard holdings, or both?

I've only had a bit from each producer and would roughly categorize (to myself) the Schönleber style as softer (and in some vineyards earthier/rustic) in comparison to the focus of S-F. I wouldn't have called either one of them intense or powerful but then again I've mainly tasted the off-dry wines and I can see how a GG would be both more intense and more powerful.

2004 Fontodi Chianti Classico Riserva Vigna del Sorbo
Awesome stuff; packed with sappy black cherries and plums mingled with leather, earth, sandalwood and floral elements. Fantastic balance and depth with good acidity and chewy tannins lurking underneath the rich, deep fruit flavours, finishing very long. Really delicious, and my favourite of the reds at the tablle..

You mentioned earlier that you had an irrational dislike of Italian wines but given your palate I think there is lots that you could get into. Sangiovese done well would appeal and of course Nebbiolo.

I wouldn't say dislike; more that I struggle to find consistency in a lot of the regions/styles (for my taste at least) and have been burned by them too often. I've had a lot of hit and miss experiences with Sangiovese, Aglianico and Nebbiolo - have had some very good wines from those grapes, but a lot of others that didn't deliver and left me wondering why I didn't focus a bit more on things like Victorian Shiraz, Rhone or other regions where I could get wines that delivered for me more consistently.

As for the point on intensity - I would say that Schafer-Frohlich's 07s (at least at the higher ripeness levels) are quite intense. I loved his Halenberg Spatlese as well, a really full-throttle, exotic and ripe wine but with fantastic balance. I've found the Schonleber style a little gentler and more elegant - it is a shame that those wines aren't particularly easy to find on the market (and these days the prices are really moving up).

I wouldn't say dislike; more that I struggle to find consistency in a lot of the regions/styles (for my taste at least) and have been burned by them too often. I've had a lot of hit and miss experiences with Sangiovese, Aglianico and Nebbiolo - have had some very good wines from those grapes, but a lot of others that didn't deliver and left me wondering why I didn't focus a bit more on things like Victorian Shiraz, Rhone or other regions where I could get wines that delivered for me more consistently...

I don't know what wines you've had but I wouldn't say Chianti or Barolo or wherever in Italy is necessarily any more or less consistent than other European regions (things might be different in Victoria if they are guaranteed longlasting sun every year ). It always takes time and energy (and money!) to find the right producers, for any region. Which is why I understand limiting one's focus. As you may have noticed, I've been a bit limited myself these days .

Yeah, I've just not hit the right producers yet. The 'big' names that I know are consistent are in a price range that I'm not willing to experiment with (as it is Burgundy, Austria and Cote-Rotie may leave me impoverished ). But I have had a good mix of wines with those grapes from producers like Scavino, Sandro Fay (Valtellina), Marcarini and Felsina - and a lot of those wines while solid never excited me enough to make me look out for more. Not to mention that I find those very challenging to drink young - unlike some Burgs and even Northern Rhones that do seem to offer a lot more charm when young.

For whatever reason most of the Italian reds that have really left a big impression on me (in a great way) tend to be the superTuscans or the other Bordeaux blends. The few higher-end ones I've had have blown me away almost each time, and at more 'reasonable' price points I've also loved Montevetrano and Falesco's Montiano.