With old & new friends
On either end of my trip there were two evenings with long time dear friends, as well as a few new friends. There were a lot of outstanding wines, even a couple that I basically missed. But some highlights are below.
2012 H. Goutorbe Cuvee Millesime Brut Grand Cru
Lovely Champagne with tons of bright, fresh character. It was the opening wine for our dinner at Two Fish in Medford, New Jersey, and I could have drunk it through the entire meal.
2021 Nigl Gruner Veltliner Privat Ried Pellingen
Didn’t get the attention it deserved due to being opened at the same time as my bottle of 1999 Trimbach CSH (reported on separately), but this was no slouch. A little bigger boned than I am used to from Nigl, but plenty of Gruner Veltliner cress/pea character, alongside more tropical fruit.
2022 Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc
Beautiful, floral aromatics, and much more lithe on the palate than I was expecting. Still shows richness, but not heavy at all. I’m not a big CNdP blanc drinker, but I did enjoy this.
2017 A. Christmann Konigsbacher Idig Riesling Grosses Gewachs
Tons of flavor here, mostly focused on peach and yellow plum, with a dash of bright citrus around the edges. Fine acidity and good body. Reasonable value in the overheated GG market.
2004 Albert Mann Gewurztraminer Furstentum Vieilles Vignes
I do love aged Gewurztraminer and adored this. Still showing a lot of lychee and pineapple character, with a bit of a burnished edge on the finish. Only moderately sweet at this stage. Yum.
1994 Muller Catoir Mussbacher Eselhaut RIeslaner Auslese
Always a treat to drink a Hans Gunther Schwarz wine, and this was no exception. Showing the typical horseradish and chili pepper edge of Rieslaner, this was toned down on the sweetness scale, but not short on depth of flavor – all roasted peach and orange zest. Delicious way to end an evening. Funny thing is the price tag on this half bottle said $36.99, which is $9 more than I paid for a 2021 Catoir Rieslaner Auslese.
At the end of my travels, I joined some of the same old friends, as well as some new, new friends for another dinner. This time the themes were Riesling for white, and Chateauneuf du Pape for red.
2019 von Schubert Maximin Grunhaus Riesling Sekt Brut
I brought this in order to test drive a bottle. Holy cow is it good! Still quite yeasty/primary, but also showing lovely fruit, and bright acids. I really didn’t want to move on from this, but then the bottle was empty, and I had no choice!
2009 Ratzenberger Bacharacher Posten Riesling Spätlese
I have not been drinking many 2009s. Not sure why, as 15 years is pretty much prime time for my tastes. This was quite easy to drink – almost too easy. I enjoyed it, but there wasn’t really anything distinctive about it. I know Ratzenberger is a very fine producer, so it’s odd that it was so easy to move through this one.
2001 Müller-Catoir Gimmeldinger Schlossel Rieslaner Spatlese
More Catoir Rieslaner on this trip? Why yes, I think I will have some. Maybe this is why I moved past the Ratzenberger, as it was delicious. Still youthful, and not showing that chili pepper note, but rather bright, ripe peach and a snap of pink grapefruit. This seems potentially immortal. Big thanks to those who brought it, and I wish I could have had more.
We then moved on to a series of Chateauneufs. I think I missed a white, and I am almost certain I also missed a red, but it was still a good time.
1998 Domaine Monpertuis Châteauneuf-du-Pape ‘Tradition’
Lots of comments for years that this was well on the downslope, but this particular bottle was lovely. Still showing dark fruit, lovely spice and warm herb character – delicious. No promises made about any other bottles, but this was my favorite red of the evening.
2001 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chaupin
Smooth, red fruited, with a little bit of dusty/stony herbal, but not much. Almost too easy, too crafted.
2001 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee Reservee
On the other hand, this was one of those funky bottles of Pegau. It was not completely over the top, but there was definitely the whiff of the south end of a northbound horse. Still showing plenty of depth and fruit, but the brett-averse would not have liked this bottle. I enjoyed it with the food but didn’t particularly care for it later in the evening when I had a bit of the leftovers on its own.