Notes aren't entirely comprehensive (there was a delicious bottle of Arbois red with beautiful, finessed red fruited flavours that I could have drunk a lot of, and a corked cru Beaujolais (forget which) from Daniel Bouland. 2008 Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Gelber Muskateller Dezemberlese
Really stunning aromatics combining orange blossom, ripe citrus fruits, herbal and faintly spicy notes into one amazing scent; very light and polished in the mouth with bright Muscat florality and gentle citrus/grapey fruit underneath. Barely dry with really nice acids keeping it very fresh and precise, and finishing long with just a hint of sweetness. Perhaps the best Muscat I've had (though I don't have a particularly large number of reference points), I'm definitely going to have to look for this at retail!
2006 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett (AP #02-07)
Quite ripe (unsurprising, given the vintage), closer to Spätlese in its richness but really delicious with a seamless combination of ripe apple and pear fruit and subtle mineral, herbal and floral notes. The balance here is impeccable with bright acids and a sense of elegance and polish throughout that makes it so easy to drink - the bottle had disappeared within about 10 minutes.
2001 Selbach-Oster Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
Drinking absolutely beautifully right now. Can't ask for much more in a Mosel Riesling; this has layers of ripe Mosel fruit and slate overlain with developing smoky and petrol flavours with a sense of purity and clarity to the flavours and a lightness of touch. Wonderful wine.
2008 Müller-Catoir Haardter Herzog Rieslaner Spätlese
Wild stuff once again, a blast of tropical fruit, lemongrass and berries straight away with all sorts of other herbal and spicy elements developing with time; intense and very sweet and ripe but with rapier-like acidity keeping it in balance. Power with precision, and serious length. Fantastic wine that's really built for this sort of cuisine.
2005 Schlossgut Diel Scheurebe Spätlese
Rather disappointing. Certainly nowhere close to the hype I've read for this wine; it's very rich with bright white fruits and pineapple flavours, nicely balanced but there's nothing at all distinctive about it and no real Scheurebe character - it's a friendly, sweet wine that goes nicely with the Szechuan food, but not much more than that.
2006 Schlossgut Diel Scheurebe Spätlese
Funny, Jon was telling me how he found the '06 Scheu far more enjoyable than the '05 as we were pouring the '05 around - then Joel walks into the room with a bottle of the '06 in hand. Hard to believe it came from the same grape and winemaker one year later. This brings the Scheurebe insanity I was hoping for; spicy, herbal notes over wild tropical fruits with plenty of richness counterbalanced by its acidity, delicious stuff that disappears very quickly.
2008 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Galichets
Brought to match with the shredded beef with green pepper (the first dish with green pepper I actually LOVED) - worked very nicely, with bright cassis and dark berried fruit accented by herbal and some light green pepper notes on a silken, medium weight frame. There's a lovely sense of freshness to this with bright acidity, and it's a great food wine.
2003 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese 3-star
Very pretty aromatics; strawberry, cherries, spice and slate, full of bright primary fruit up front with touches of honey - if there's botrytis in this, it's really subtle and nicely integrated. In the middle it's a little awkward and hollow (something I've noticed with a few other 03s recently), quite tasty though the taste doesn't live up to the lovely aromatics.
2003 Hexamer Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Riesling Auslese 1-star
Starts out with ripe peach, apple and red fruited flavours accented by bright floral notes, gains power and depth with time as an intense minerally character emerges underneath, to the point it almost feels solid in the mouth. Very rich and sweet, but there's again barely a hint of botrytis here and there's a sense of real precision and freshness to the fruit.
edited to add:
2005 Clemens Busch Pundericher Marienburg Fahrlay Riesling Spätlese (AP 29-06, 13% alcohol and that's not a typo)
Jon said this had been fermenting about 28 months, and like a couple of other Clemens Busch wines I've had, it's more interesting than good. A little oxidative in character, the flavours lack freshness with the apple/pear fruit having a slightly baked quality to them and a yeasty, beer-like overlay. Some honey and dried spice notes in the aromatics and the back end hint at some botrytis, though this tastes almost completely dry. Certainly not boring, but not a wine I wanted to drink much of.
2006 Müller-Catoir Haardter Herzog Rieslaner Beerenauslese
A powerhouse of roasted pineapple, apricot and ripe tropical fruits drenched in caramel and spices. Intensely sweet and rich but really well balanced, finishing with serious length. Awesome stuff, only topped by the
1998 Müller-Catoir Gimmeldinger Schlössel Rieslaner Trockenbeerenauslese
Dear god... this is insane. Explosive in its intensity with a riot of tropical fruits, apricots and pineapple combined with all sorts of other honeyed, smoky and spicy flavour elements. Such complexity and depth here, with fiery acidity underneath cutting through the sweetness and keeping this from ever feeling too heavy or sweet, and an insanely long finish that just keeps going and going. Wow!