While warming up for some fantastic cold meats and assorted appetizers we greedily sucked down the following:
1994 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese
1995 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese
A true study in contrast, the '95 was all creamy richness with subtle peach and cherry fruit while the '94 was bright and refreshing with subtle peach and cherry fruit. Both had developed some smoky/petrol elements, but the wonder was the effect of the vintage, with '94 imparting its characteristic acidic freshness, and '95 tending towards a richer palate. Delicious wines, with my personal preference running to the '94.
These were followed by a 2001 Dirler Riesling, but the label was pretty much destroyed, and I didn't get the details. It had a real hard time following the Donnhoff though, as it had a drier, more minerla driven character that seemed out of place. It worked well with some of our apps though.
A 2001 Rheinhold Haart Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Spatlese came out next and was still showing quite young. Lots of apple, honey and citrus combined with still substantial (but balanced) sugar. This drank really well, though I would wait for more secondary development.
The 1998 Muller-Catoir Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Spatlese made its best effort to sweep the field. Fresh-picked pink grapefruit with some passionfruit accents blasted out of the glass and soared on the palate. The sugar in this wine has backed off considerably, and it was an engaging wine that still suited conversation more than eating. Delicious though, and my favorite white of the night despite being our contribution.
At this point Maureen tried to herd cats and develop some kind of order around the pouring of the reds. After threatening to call the IRS on the lot of us she was successful in laying out the following order for the 4 red wines:
1996 Truchot Charmes Chambertin
1996 Truchot Gevrey Chambertin Combottes
1999 Truchot Charmes Chambertin
1999 Truchot Gevrey Chambertin Combottes
It was really too bad we had to drink such rustic wines.
I can say that I was wowed by both bottles of Charmes & found the Combottes to be more stern in comparison, yet over the course of the evening they opened up, filled out and performed very well, suffering only in being placed next to the Charmes. Initially the '96 Charmes was the star of the show, with floral, red fruit and spice aromas soaring from the glass and making the act of drinking the wine largely superfluous (though we did it anyway). The '96 Combottes seemed hard and sullen in comparison, though as stated above it filled out and softened as time wore on. The '99 Charmes was like a young pup in comparison to the '96 with more forward fruit and an easy to warm up to personality. The '99 Combottes seemed closed when tasted along side. So I ended up taking a break from the Charmes, had some food (braised veal and roast chicken) and attacked the two Combottes. In isolation (and with air) they certainly showed more rusticity, but also more backbone than the Charmes, and the balance was very nice on both. The '96 was earthy and a touch spicy, while the '99 showed red fruit and spice but less earth. Both were significantly more giving on the palate than on the nose, and they worked very well with my veal. Returning to the Charmes (tough work but someone has to do it), I was once again struck by how elegant, refined but also full of personality both wines were. There was nothing "pretty" about them, but rather a hard-won elegance. This was a quartet of wines I could have sat with for days. Phenomenal and there's not enough thanks for Maureen's generosity (she provied all 4 bottles).We followed up with a three whites, a 1990 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese*** being the only one where I got all the label details. It was good, but showing a bit worn, as if it didn't have quite enough fruit/sugar to stand up to nearly 20 years of aging. I'm surprised, as the regular auslese has shown very well over recent years. The bottle was quite sound, and it opened up as time wore on, but never really hit any high notes. Odd.
But we were still more than well fed/drank, and quite happy to proceed into the DC night. Dino was excellent, and the wines fantastic
