Dinner with good friends last night. We went to a Thai restaurant, but purposely kept the heat low to nonexistent to allow the wines to be the focus.
2006 Donnhoff Riesling Kabinett Trocken 'Grey Slate'
I'm not generally a fan of kabinett trocken, but Spencer brought this, and well it's Donnhoff so I'll be polite and try it. Surprisingly yummy, but perhaps not so surprising, as it's more like spatlese trocken in body and has very fine critrus aromatics and flavors riding over a bed of slate. Solid acidity, and in fact this really needs food. Good stuff though. I would buy this & add it to the cellar rotation.
2000 Knoll Riesling Smaragd Loibenberg
Somethign happened to this bottle, as it had a distinct petillant character and a volatile aromatic quality. Truly weird. Seems like some acetobacter got in there somehwere. Too bad, as this is a producer I always like.
1999 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spatlese
This is really starting to develop. Still a lot of apples and bright citrus on the nose, along with a hint of petrol, but the finish has this lovely creamy character. Still not the most vibrant Riesling in the world, but that's the '99 vintage speaking. This is not profound wine, but it's very drinkable and the finish is just plain delicious.
2000 Leitz Rudesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling Spatlese
This is showing better than any bottle I have had to date. Peaches, honey, spice and a very interesting spearmint note all mingle to gether on the nose. Something about the mint character makes it a fantastic match with the food, and it's slimmed down into a more refreshing drink (previously it was a bit heavy). Very yummy now.
And then there was one. This was a bit of a joke by Eli, but we're geeks, so soldier on we must.
2005 Mollydooker Shiraz 'Two Left Feet'
Well it has a screwcap. It's got that going for it. Eli opened this, sniffed at the open bottle & said "oof." That was about right. I do have a guilty pleasure of big wines. I like some of them if they are balanced (Sine Qua Non seems to get it right more often than anyone else). This was not balanced. This was the quintessential blueberry milkshake spiked with vodka. It was undrikable. Spencer, Eli and I all tried a glass & it was a unanimous decision - horrifying.
