Had a fun afternoon of tasting, chatting, munching, and more tasting with a visiting wine lover from Kyoto.
Joel had a 2006 Bründlmayer Riesling Kamptaler Terrassen (Austria) open and ready to go. Wow. This wine has laser beam precision. At first blush it is crisp, clean, and linear. After a few seconds in the mouth is expands into this cone of vibrant pink grapefruit flavor and acidity buoyed by a stony center. Over time, the front end becomes much more generous but it remains piercing and clean. Overall, this is a pleasure to drink, particularly if you like significant zing (Acid Freaks unite!). The only Bründlmayer riesling I’ve had have been Zöbinger Heiligenstein (regular, Lyra, and Alte Reben) and had 5-7yrs of bottle age. While the ZH’s are a significant step up in complexity, I was pleasantly surprised by how much the Terrassen provides at its price point.
On the other hand, the 1996 Hugel Riesling Vendange Tardive (Alsace) just didn’t deliver. It poured as golden honey with an inviting nose to match. The initial flavor was of honeyed peaches with a hint of botrytis, it’s quite full in the mouth with noticeable acidity and a bit of rs. But there was just no finish to speak of and the wine was just dull and flat, particularly compared with the vibrancy of the Willi B. This bottle was of dubious provenance (read: NH State Liquor Store). Oh well, they all can’t be great.
Which leads us back to major yumminess with the 2001 Edmunds St. John Los Robles Viejos Rozet Vineyard (Paso Robles). Popped about 3 hrs before drinking. The nose is so inviting with a blend of Provençal herbs and dark fruit that we both sniffed this wine for 5-10mins before drinking. The entry is silky with layer after layer of dark fruit, ash, minerality, earth with a surprisingly significant but refined tannic structure. The finish is deep and evolving with spice, black pepper, menthol, and mint. This wine has years of life left in it but is really really good right now.