WTN: Three wines with food

Grilled Italian (chicken) sausages, hummus, plain yogurt, grilled zucchini, sliced tomatoes and Naan:
1999 Juge, Cornas Cuvée C:
Feminine Cornas; it sounds contradictory but it tastes great; crunchy blackberry, turned earth, meat and ash aromas; the same in the mouth on an almost weightless delivery with good grip, complexity and balance; excellent length. A terrific wine that either is or is very close to, one of its drinking windows. 13% alcohol, imported by New France Wine Co. and about $35; worth it.
Chosen to pair with the grilled sausage but this did well across the spectrum of foods and the combinations of those foods in this meal. Fantastic with the sausage and hummus combination, very good with every other variation. A memorable meal.

Crackers with brie goat cheese:
1999 Nigl, Riesling Piri Privat:
A perplexing showing; nice balance, floral, varietally correct and of its place but its like somebody turned the volume down. I hesitate to call it thin or weak but it was more muted than I expected, especially since I tasted this many times during its first years after release and found it potent. No discernable corkiness. 13% alcohol, imported by Skurnik and about $40 on release; I’m not sure what to think.
Chosen on a whim – bad choice. First of all, a pungent cheese like goat doesn’t need the additional pungency of a rind. Not my kind of cheese. Further, the wine couldn’t stand against the power of the cheese nor did it come close to matching the flavors. And, as noted, it wasn’t all that impressive alone.

A ragout of sausage (chicken), white beans, tomatoes, onions and garlic served with Naan and a big salad:
1999 Gilles Robin, Crozes-Hermitage Cuvée Albéric Bouvet:
The beginnings of bottle bouquet with a marrowy, savory note on the nose along with solid northern Rhône syrah aromas; medium high acid, delineated flavors follow the nose, good balance, intense without weight and very long. Still has some grip. Nothing “mouth-coating” here as this delivers etched flavors without any chunkiness. 13% alcohol, imported by Eric Solomon and I paid anywhere from $9 to $20 for the bottles I have; a personal favorite.
Since I had good luck pairing Cornas with sausage I thought another northern Rhône might work here; it did. The acidity of the wine cut the richness of the dish and the flavors harmonized well. Not a great pairing but a very good one and certainly one I’d do again.

Best, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

It would be a tragedy for both of us, but I've heard (from very reliable sources who were just in Austria) that Martin Nigl (and others) thinks his Rieslings (not the Gruners) should be drunk up in the first 7-10 years which would put the '99s possibly in the beginning of the downslide (and the '97s nearly past it). I'm going to do lots of experimenting this fall.

It would be a tragedy for both of us, but I've heard (from very reliable sources who were just in Austria) that Martin Nigl (and others) thinks his Rieslings (not the Gruners) should be drunk up in the first 7-10 years which would put the '99s possibly in the beginning of the downslide (and the '97s nearly past it). I'm going to do lots of experimenting this fall.

Worth considering.
Work to do . . .
Best, Jim

It would be a tragedy for both of us, but I've heard (from very reliable sources who were just in Austria) that Martin Nigl (and others) thinks his Rieslings (not the Gruners) should be drunk up in the first 7-10 years which would put the '99s possibly in the beginning of the downslide (and the '97s nearly past it). I'm going to do lots of experimenting this fall.

David,
I have the '00 Nigl Riesling and have had an experience similar to what you mention above. In '02 I have a short comment "excellent, should be better in couple years". I drank a bottle in '05 but have no notes so it must not have been earth shattering. I opened a bottle last fall and it was terrible, steely acidicy with no balance, basically undrinkable. I have one bottle left and need to try soon but certainly will not be serving without a back up. Unlike you guys I am not a reisling expert but have always liked Hersch in Austria and the drier German trokens. The '00 was the worst ever, may have been due to the vintage but I will not be buying this producer again as I tend to sit on most wines and enjoy the older nuanced flavors.
Walt

[David M. Bueker]

'00 was not a good vintage. Do not base quality perceptions on that vintage.

Thanks Jim for notes. Was pondering the '99 Juge, sounds like it might be ready soon.

Sorry to hear about the '00 Privat, Walt, as I have one bottle. While I don't think of 2000 was a great Austria vintage, I certainly thought it ok to good. Maybe we can get Michael Pronay's opinion?

Thanks Jim for notes. Was pondering the '99 Juge, sounds like it might be ready soon.

May also have to try the '99 SC this fall. If this one is so good, maybe it will follow suit.
Best, Jim

Jim, a couple of us bought a case of the Juge when you first recommended it a year or so ago. Your note above led us to open another bottle last night, to accompany an impromtu meal of roast duck and spag bol (hey, it's midweek and we have children!). I'd have to say that last night's bottle was the most backward of the bottles that I've had to date. In all other respects, though, we picked up the same notes you describe, particularly the combination of intensity of flavor and weightless delivery. A most un-Cornas-like Cornas, it seems to me. Certainly a different approach to, say, Verset. I also notice that the MN store still has the wine in stock, but has bumped up the price since we bought.

I also notice that the MN store still has the wine in stock, but has bumped up the price since we bought.

Look again; I don't think its exactly the same wine.

About a year ago, I took a bottle of the 99 Juge "C" with me to a friend's house. Several experienced tasters thought it very closed and that it would need a good bit more cellar time.
So when I decided to open this bottle, I decanted it - not for a long time; maybe 45 minutes. And then, dinner took a while so the wine was probably exposed to air for about 2+ hours. Maybe that helped its showing or maybe bottle variation is to blame. Or maybe Mercury is in retrograde - I really can't say why it showed so well - but I'm happy it did.
Best, Jim

Sorry for the late chime-in, but I am afraid I cannot really add to the cause. My experience with aged Nigl rieslings is not that large.

Given the fact, however, that Salomon-Undhof rieslings from the early 1990s ("library releases") are simply perfect, given that Martin Nigl is an absolute top winemaker and that 1999 was a top vintage, my distant diagnosis can only be: fruit scalping from a less-than perfect cork ...