WTN: Many wines with Oswaldo at Grand Sichuan

[Dale Williams]

Oswaldo was in town, a group met at Grand Sichuan St Marks for soup dumplings, chong qing chicken, tea smoked duck, pork and chestnuts, and other assorted dishes, and had a rollicking good time. Surprisingly, we had wine:

The Pink
There was a corked bottle of La Kiuva (Vallee d’Aoste) rose. Damn.

The Bubbly
1996 Chidaine “Almendra” Montlouis Brut
I think I liked a bit more than table. Gentle petillance, apple turnover aromas, long mineral finish. B+

The Dryish Whites

2001 Boxler Sommerberg Riesling (L31E)
I like Boxler, except for pricing and not being totally sure how much sugar I’ll find. This is on drier side, just a whisper of sugar, with fresh fruit and gingery spices. I quite liked. B+

1999 Luneau-Papin “L d’Or” Muscadet
Soft for Muscadet, but nice flavors and good saline minerality. A good match with the cucumbers in scallion sauce. B

2009 Ch. Thebaud Muscadet
A joint project of Marc Ollivier and another vigneron, extended lees aging, I thought this delicious. Full but racy, dense citrus fruit and a mineral bonanza on the finish. A-

The Whites with Some Obvious Sugar
1997 Schmitt-Wagner Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Spatlese
Some calls of TCA, but I didn’t get. But not as good as last bottle I had- if it’s corked, under my threshold, but the pit fruit profile seems dull compared to previous showings. B-/C+

2001 Schmitt-Wagner Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Auslese
Lime and nectarine, some petrol, good acids, very nice. B+

2001 Muller-Catoir Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Spatlese
Zippy as hell, honeydew with a squeeze of lime and mint, exotic and long, A-

The Reds
2006 de L’Arlot “Clos des Forets St Georges “ Nuits St Georges 1er
Open, giving, fleshy with flab (good acids for a 2006), red fruits with some sandalwood and spice, good length, delighted to see I own a couple of these. B+/A-

2008 Digioia-Royer “Les Fremieres- VV” Chambolle Musigny
Apparently tight at first, it opened a bit. Solid, some tannin, nice but not compelling. B

1955 Ch. Giscours (Margaux) from 375
Jay brought knowing Oswaldo’s birthyear. What a great showing for a half bottle. Pretty red berry fruits, cigarbox, truffly mushroom notes. Good length, holds up well in decanter for hours, delicious. A-

1974 Charles Krug “Vintage Selection” Cabernet Sauvignon
Double decanted before I traveled to city. I had only stood up one day, lots of sediment, but I don’t think the decanting hurt. Nice but tired bottle, tannins fully resolved, low acid, some interest but I’ve had better bottles of this (and of course the F1 is better). B-

1997 Montevertine “Il Sodaccio”
This was declared corked, but again apparently well under my threshold. Fleshy, ripe, but some nice black cherry fruit, I liked a bottle last week a bit more. B/B-

1999 Carlo Giacosa “Narin” Barbaresco
Tannic, fairly ripe with a edge of heat (14%), a tad brutish, but hey it was cheap. B-

2010 Breton Franc de Pied Bourgueil
Very young, I didn’t give this the attention it deserved and didn’t write down anything, but liked.

Fun night, but best part was the company.


Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

[ChaimShraga]

How much does Boxler cost in the US compared to the competition?

[Salil]

Well, that was a very fun evening. Agree for the most part with your impressions. I thought the Scheurebe was outstanding and my favourite of the night. The L'Arlot was a beautiful wine - delicate, finessed and very gentle with real purity and a producer I'll be paying more attention to.

The Cowan Isa Sauvignon was interesting, though I thought it struggled with the food and in the company of some of the other whites. I was paying a lot of attention to the Boxler then, which had great balance and wonderful depth - as I mentioned at table, a producer I don't have much experience with, but would certainly like to explore more (if the prices weren't so high).

The Giscours seemed a bit tired at first, but I was amazed at how quickly it came around in the decanter. Thought the Breton FDP was very nice - bright, exuberant and at the same time very elegant and gentle, pairing very well with the shredded beef with green pepper (which is becoming my new favourite Cab Franc pairing dish).
I think I also liked the Charles Krug more than you did (though I certainly don't have your previous reference points on that wine) - certainly soft, but drinking so nicely right now with the structure completely resolved, and a very easy wine to sit down with and enjoy.

[David M. Bueker]

The first problem with Boxler is finding it.

After that, it is competitive with say Trimbach CFE.

[Salil]

The first problem with Boxler is finding it.

Chambers always seems to have a few bottles in stock. They've got various Rieslings and Gewurztraminers from '05 through '09 right now.

[Matt Richman]

Only Jay would have a stash of 57 year old wine in half bottle!