Dinner at Dish in Hartford with Spencer, Eli, Steve and David. My first time there and the food was very, very good (I particularly loved the pork shank with maple bourbon beans, which went great with the reds). Fun company, food and wines - a really great evening despite the music which was abysmally bad (the Tom Petty covers led to pain that not even copious alcohol could reduce).
1997 Rudi Pichler Riesling Smaragd Terrassen
Shows very bright, youthful white fruited flavours with softer smoky and honeyed notes adding complexity. Quite creamy in the mouth with moderate acidity and a slight honeyed sweetness on the back end. Very nice.
2000 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile Vendange Tardive
Stunning; beautiful honeyed and floral aromas lead into an incredibly complex palate with sweeter peach, melon and apple flavours up front and then a tart kick of lemon and saline notes on the back end as this finishes with very little sweetness. Ridiculously young, but this is fantastic to drink with an incredible freshness and purity to the fruit flavours and tremendous balance.
1997 Wendouree Cabernet Sauvignon Clare Valley
The aromatics start out dark with some earth and coal smoke over red fruits and black olives, but brighten up with air as the fruit gains intensity and a strong eucalyptus and spearmint note emerges, and an hour later this smells like a plate of cherries and currants served with a mint cookie. Fabulous in the mouth with bright red fruited flavours given a cool, refreshing sensation by herbal and minty notes and plenty of acidity underneath. Surprisingly gentle tannins (for a Wendouree) with a long savoury finish. Phenomenal.
2003 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Intense Zinfandel-like aromatics, very ripe cherry and strawberry flavours with a faint candied note. Very rich in the mouth, almost chewy but feels one-dimensional and heavy with not much beyond the candied red fruits and very little acidity underneath.
1999 Clos Mogador Priorat
Deep purple-black in colour with huge aromatics of ripe red and dark fruits, chocolate, earth and a balsamic/VA note that adds complexity here. A powerhouse in the mouth with dark chocolate-covered plums and cherries and some savoury tarry notes on the back end, with large chewy tannins felt on the finish.
1996 Château Clerc Milon
Shows a lovely flavour profile of cassis, youthful red fruits, graphite and subtle, well integrated oak. Very elegant and polished in the mouth with bright acidity and grainy tannins underneath the fruit and a savoury graphite and earth-laden finish.
1996 Château Pichon-Longueville Baron
Meatier and richer than the Clerc Milon poured alongside; this has gorgeous aromatics with a fragrant new leather element on top of cassis, plum, graphite and herbal notes. The fruit feels very youthful, sweet and ripe in the mouth with leather, earth and some cocoa notes adding nice savoury elements. Really enjoyable, and the balance and structure suggests it'll stay that way (or get even better) for a long time.
1996 Château de la Genaiserie Coteaux du Layon La Roche SGN
Lots to enjoy here with a glass full of honey-drenched apricots and peaches, creme brulee and a faint paint-like/VA note in the aromatics. Slightly viscous in the mouth with the acidity barely perceptible beneath the massive honeyed sweetness; very tasty but hard to drink more than a glass.
