A recent dinner at China King had 7 of us working our way through several Peking Ducks and all kinds of other dishes while drinking down 15 really interesting wines. The wines were not served blind and there were no formal flights.
White wines:
2005 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Gobelsburger Steinsetz Kamptal. This terrific wine features a generous, deep and layered nose of lemon, lanolin, candied pineapple, grapefruit, white pepper and herb aromas that are also nicely lifted and energetic. In the mouth, it has great piquancy and drive, with a pithy texture and nicely-rounded body and long-lasting citrus and herb flavors that are a delight to drink.
2002 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec Le Mont. This is loaded with juicy aromas of yellow gumdrop, lemon zest, mineral and orange peel. On the palate, it expands very nicely to fill all corners of the mouth, showing fine energy to the giving yellow fruit and citrusy elements. It has just a slight trace of sugary sweetness but also a beautiful clarity to the pure fruit and mineral core. It’s perhaps a bit more evolved than the last bottle I drank of this, but I really enjoy it a whole lot.
2000 Kientzler Gewurztraminer Réserve Particulière. This is gently dark and toasty on the nose, with overt and expansive aromas of poached peaches, caramel, litchi and fun funky gewurz spices. It smells sweeter than it tastes on the palate, though it does have plenty of caramel, praline, litchi, peach and candied citrus flavors that have fine cohesion, pliant texture and good length. I think this is quite nice.
Red wines:
1998 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Rochioli Riverblock Vineyard Russian River Valley. The nose here is oh so pretty, with beguiling aromas of eucalyptus, cedar, pressed flowers, sweet cherry, raspberry and menthol. It’s lithe and beautifully-sculpted, with lovely sexy spice accents, too. In the mouth, it’s light- to medium-weighted, but packed with harmonious and gently-flowing flavors of raspberries, rhubarb and fine baking spices. This is in a perfect spot, in my opinion.
2007 Rainoldi Valtellina Superiore Sassella Riserva. I didn’t get a chance to drink this one.
2009 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny. This is very young and strapping on the nose, loaded with tobacco, leather, ash, horsehair and briery blue and purple berry fruit aromas that are direct and pure but already starting to show nascent complexity. In the mouth, it’s concentrated but classy, with cool blue and black berry fruit and fine minerality. It’s dark and promising, but not fully formed just yet and definitely best to wait another 4-5 years, in my opinion.
2001 Domaine Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée des Félix. I like this a whole lot on the nose, where it’s showing off lovely aromas of suede leather, tobacco, dusty earth, tomato plant, funky horsehide, herbs de Provence, cherry and cassis. It really appeals to my tastes on the palate, as well, where it delivers sour cherry, sweet cassis, savory animale and dried herb flavors on a medium-weighted frame. Gentle tannins still need some resolution over the long term, so I think this will perhaps get even better over the next few years. Still, it’s right in my wheelhouse today, and I certainly recommend it.
2000 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie. This is beautiful stuff to just sit and sniff, giving forth layers of blackberries, black raspberries, violets, tapenade, raw meat, singed iron and smoked herb aromas that are just wonderful. In the mouth, it’s cool and earthy, with more structure and stuffing than I recall from the last bottle I had. It’s full of sour cherry and dark cranberry fruit to go along with iron minerality, bittersweet chocolate and foresty undertones. It’s a real pleasure to drink, and it’s got plenty of years ahead.
1990 Bernard Faurie Hermitage. This wine is incredibly deep and contemplative on the nose, with old-fashioned, manly aromas of dark clay, black earth, fireplace ember, pepper and blackberry smoldering away. In the mouth, it’s dark, cool and masculine, with abundant tannins and a pasty texture carrying along serious-toned black fruit, bacon fat and dark earth flavors to a fanned out, leathery finish. It’s an individualistic wine that’s a treat to drink, but will give more pleasure as the tannin levels recede in the coming years.
2006 Finca Sandoval Manchuela. This is an opaque black color in the glass, leading out with aromas of sweet cherries, blueberries, sexy oak, cedar, spice and bacon fat. In the mouth, it’s plush, rounded and giving, but with a fair bit of drying tannin and extract to contend with. It has a fine sweet fruit core to go along with spicy accents and freshening acidity, but needs time to settle down and resolve itself a bit more.
Sweet wines:
1996 Domaine des Petits Quarts (Godineau) Coteaux du Layon Faye. Here we have a wooly nose of wax, honeycomb, lanolin, lemon rind, chalk, seashell, herb and mineral in a light, fresh and fun bouquet. It’s sweeter-fruited on the palate than the nose might suggest, with a pithy, matted texture to the flavors of candied ginger, sugar cube, dried pineapple, and a twist of interesting funk. It all leads to a plump, luscious finish that’s easy to like.
1996 Reinhold Haart Riesling Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Auslese. This is a tremendously enjoyable wine for my tastes, starting with the wild and fun bouquet redolent of lime zest, kerosene, peach, tropical fruits, blue slate and foxy funk aromas. It has great verve, bright tangy acidity and delicious flavors of apple juice, peach, honey and slate on the palate, which feels fresh and is impressively lengthy. I like this a lot.
1994 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain Vendange Tardive. This is exceptionally bold and sweet on the nose, with a huge bouquet of nectarine, baked peach, botrytis spice and caramel aromas lifting up out of the glass. In the mouth, it’s unctuous, thick, sweet and sticky, with luscious flavors of nectarine, candied peach, rock sugar and brown spices that are full-bodied, dense and really long. It’s simply delicious, as always.
1996 Alois Kracher Scheurebe TBA #3 Zwischen den Seen Neusiedlersee. This is another absolutely compelling bottle of Kracher. The bouquet of wild lavender, nectarine, brown sugar and caramel cream aromas is really nice, but on the palate is where it truly shines. It’s totally dense, thick and viscous, but with amazing verve and poignancy to go along with the crazy stickiness of apricot, exotic spice and fruit preserves flavors that are just sinfully delicious. It’s a treat for the senses.
2003 Château Rieussec Sauternes. The final wine of the night smells strongly of hard ribbon candy, mulling spices, apricot and dried tropical fruit—with a nice tangy, ticklish edging to the aromas. In the mouth, it’s loaded with mace and nutmeg spice notes surrounding a core of ribbon candy, honey, lavender water, mint and light brown sugar impressions that are thick-textured, weighty and generous. It’s kind of a wild and zesty ride for a glass of Sauternes, but the more memorable and enjoyable for it.
-Michael