Who came to visit for a couple of days, attending Max Gerstl’s German Riesling arrivage tasting in Zurich with me.
On Thursday night (and Friday after the Riesling tasting):
Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste-Hune 1997
From half bottle thanks to Fredrik. Pale golden green colour. Marzipan and what may be a minor botrytis rubberiness on the nose, brackish water, crab cake, salted pistachio, currently somewhat more subdued lime. Quite shockingly youthful still. Very minerally, a bit flinty – so salty with minerals in fact, every sip makes one thirstier until one ultimately reaches for a drink of water (reminiscent of the 1990 in this regard). Surprisingly high-acid for a 1997, some would say, but then, this is CSH. A bit leeky after 24 and 48 hours, some dried mushrooms (porcini perhaps). That veggie character may be less pronounced in standard size bottles, even so, this really demands more patience regardless of bottle size. But the terroir typicity is already coming out to a greater extent than when we last had this two and a half years ago. Rating: 92+!
Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes 2004
Every bit as good as last time. Black ruby with a raspberry-purple hue. Great purity and intensity of herbs, complex red fruit and bacon fat. Firm but noble, quite flavourful quality tannin, soft green tobacco leafiness. Quite refreshing acidity that is cutting through the glycerine, a mouthwatering combination of fruit and acids. Soft, beautiful laurel and thyme. The 16% alcohol seems the only problem, at least right after the cork is pulled. After 24 and 48 hours increasingly more floral with Kirsch Schnaps, cranberry and cherry, fresh vanilla pod and Provençal herbs, more open with well-integrated alcohol “Tobacco and herbs, not heavy”, Rainer says, “almost Riesling-like”. More minerally, even sweeter after 60 hours, and not a hint of oxidation. A great success for a 2004 CdP, one with impressive grip. Rating: 93+/94?
Roccolo Grassi Recioto della Valpolicella 2001
From half bottle. Plummy black-ruby. Honeyed and viscous now, quite cedary and a bit waxy. Quite sweet, rich and thick compared to when I last had it at release. Sound alcohol. Soft marzipan (at least partly due to oak) and tobacco leaf, raisined currants. Good medium-plus length. More evolved than the 2003, paradoxically less fresh, exhibiting less cut. Subjectively sweeter than the 2003, though, hard to tell if only because the 2001 is more evolved (fairly reminiscent of Bussola’s 1995 TB at this stage). After 24 and 48 hours faintly oxidative prune, chocolate and sweet dried banana, more raisiny. But very tasty indeed. Sufficient reason for Fredrik to cellar some of the 2003. Rating: 92+/~93?
Saturday night with more of my friends:
Maximin Grünhaus Riesling Auslese “21” Grünhäuser Abtsberg 2005
Thanks to Rainer, a wine he is proud to tell he bought “in buckets-full”. Sweet white apple blossoms, blackcurrant and cherry, viscous, thick, ripe acidity, lovely stone dust, long, rich, wonderful wine as always. Rating: 93(+?)
Case Basse di Gianfranco Soldera Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 1993
Thanks to Remo, a bottle bought from the collection of the Swiss importer. Garnet-raspberry-red with a watery orange rim. Not the greatest, best-stored bottle, that is, well-stored enough but without quite the finesse, depth and subtlety of the finest bottles. The superiority of the Intistieti vineyard (where the Riserva is from in contrast to the normale) barely showed in this bottle. But a pretty one, lightly sweaty, soft and sweetly red-fruity, with soft Tuscan herb notes, and sound blood-orangey acidity. Not at all, or imperceptively volatile. Great food accompaniment. Absolutely lovely after 12 hours. Soldera’s 1993 Riserva is one of his finest from the nineties, but I would recommend cellaring only bottles from absolutely pristine, cool storage any further. Rating: 93-/92?
Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Howell Mountain 1992
Thanks to Rainer. Opaque garnet-ruby, slight ruby-red at the rim. Smoky iodine and peat of singular intensity, hugely sweet and dry due to its combination of fruit density and tannin. Blackberry, sea salt, eucalyptus, pine needles and smoke. Some charcoal oak. Huge concentration. Palate-staining. Faint blood-orange acidity. Although even “bigger” (that is, more powerful and tannic) than the 1996, the 1992 is less complete, insofar as it is oakier, with slightly grainier and drier tannin, plus it is a fraction more rustic and less fruity-fresh. Drink or hold. Rating: 96
Guigal Côte-Rôtie Château D’Ampuis 2000
Thanks to Fredrik. Ruby, soft black hue. Soft horse sweat, some raw lamb, green pepper and Provençal herbs, spicy black olive. Some petroliness if not Argan oil to the softly floral fruit. The 30 (Fredrik says 38) months in new oak show to an amazingly modest extent, except for a tacked-on top note of vanilla that I neither found particularly fitting, nor obtrusive. The tannin quality is very nice for a 2000, fresh and quite racy, but not of the flavourful, finesseful and deep quality I look for. A bit short on the finish, although longer with airing. Holding up extremely well in the open bottle for almost a full week. Rating: 89+/~90
Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins 1998
Not a wine one could expect to have matured noticeably since release, really a bottle I opened after or because Fredrik told me both of his were cork-tainted (that already makes for a total of three corked ones between the two of us). At least the third-best Célestins I know, and consistently one of the longest wines I have ever had. The wine of the night by I believe universal agreement. The 1998 set a new record as it took an unprecedented four years to finish fermenting, versus the 1990's three. The close to 16.5% natural alcohol integrate with amazing ease, especially when I think of the plethora of modern-styled wines about which the same cannot be said. Still a bit too young, still a bit diffuse (a problem when it was bottled and marketed) on the nose, but still very enjoyable thanks to its combination of complexity, depth and balance. Faintly pruney touch to glossy garnet-red, soft watery-orange rim. Griotte and Marascha cherry, licorice, hazelnut coffee, cocoa powder, soft tobacco, all of extreme nobility and yet underlying rusticity. Cardamom, celestial spiced dried tomato, cranberry, olive oil, soft leather, faint iron and beef blood. Incredible what aromas and flavours one gets in this ancient-styled beauty. Citrusy freshness despite the huge size. Tea-like, incredibly deep and flavourful tannin. Warm and solid almost like a solid, without being in the least alcoholic – as predicted, the earlier Amarone character is already wearing off. 12 hours later more sous bois, more Kirsch, rum, sweet banana, Williams pear, cocoa powder, wonderful lightly nutty fruit complexity and minor sweatiness. Every bit as good after 24 hours in the double-decanted bottle. Not the power of the 1990, nor the incredibly smooth texture, mouthfeel and completeness of the 1989, but a potentially perfect wine in its own right (or close) that brings together some characteristics of those already legendary ancestors, and consistently so (except when, Fredrik would doubtless add, it is corked – one cannot help but wish Bonneau used higher-quality corks...). Rating: 97+
Romano Dal Forno Amarone della Valpolicella 1997
Thanks to Fredrik. Thoroughly opaque pruney black, purple rim. Rather closed at present. Marzipan, a yoghurt (albeit without the freshness of the already modern-day legend Recioto from the same vintage) touch to the dark chocolate and mocha, raisined black cherry, suggestions of banana leaf and graphite, noble and rustic tobacco smoke. Cinnamon and nutmeg, the 28 months (Fredrik says 36) in 100% new French oak show, although less than in earlier top vintages like 1989 and 1990 (Dal Forno boosted the already record-high concentration levels significantly from the 1994 vintage onwards). Almost strangling grip, albeit very finely grained tannin for such a monster. The virtual absence of residual sugar makes this extremely full-bodied wine hard to appreciate. In fact, the 17.5% alcohol at 4 g/l residual sugar (according to Fredrik) make this hard to swallow. Personally, I prefer the 1995 thanks to its residual sugar (subjectively still safely on the Amarone side of the spectrum, not a Recioto!), despite what Dal Forno himself thinks: „Per quanto riguarda il 1995, questo è uno dei pochi Amaroni con un residuo zuccherino più elevato, forse per questo preferibile agli altri, ma per me appartiene a una fase superata.“ After 12 and 24 hours sweeter, rounder, more chocolatey, prunier, a suggestion of coffee, but essentially an oversized, subjectively bone-dry monolith of an Amarone in need of additional bottle age. Rating: 96+/97(+?)
Tokaj Pendits Tokaji Aszú-Essencia 2003
Small 250 ml bottle thanks to Albino. A mere 460 liters of this wine were made. 330 g/l residual sugar. Full golden colour. Rich, thick, sweet, sugary, oily-viscous yellow summer flowers. “The exotism of a Rieslaner”, Fredrik said. Soft botrytis glue to the passion fruit. Sweet partly green banana, a little pineapple. Mild green tea. Very integrated, but in fact quite bright and intense, “electric” acidity, as someone said. Long, sweet and smooth finish. A raw, primary Aszú in need of bottle age. There is an abyss of depth here that may need decades to unfold. Rating: 96+?
Fonseca Guimaraens Vintage Port 1976
Another of those pristine, incredibly youthful yet complex (that is, evolved at the surface) bottles, so utterly free of volatility it just did not cease opening up fruit opulence for a week in the decanter. Such impressive opaque pruney ruby-black, red rim. Ridiculously concentrated, sweet, rich and thick, a Recioto of Vintage Port. Viscous plum and soft coffee chocolate. Full body. Very, very long, sweet and viscous yet tannic on the finish. Warming and luscious but not at all hot. A great, great bottle, one that would still have held upwards potential. Rating: 97+/98
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________
„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti