WTN: 05 Huet, 04 Barthod Bourgogne, 05 Bert Simon Kabinett

2005 Bert Simon Serriger Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

So far of the 2005's I've tried (limited number to be sure) this tasted the closest to a Kabinett weight from this vintage. I'm sure that if someone looks at the numbers it will be closer to Auslese than Kab, but that was my tasting impression. Lots of grapefruit pith and lime flavors, leans more to the tart and tangy side rather than being sweet, and not a lot of minerals right now. Refreshing, not profound. $13. 10% abv. I've saved some for tonight, so we'll see if any developments happen with air, as is often the case with these spritzy youngsters.

[Added edit] On day 2 this shows more complexity, with flavors of underripe pineapple and a herb note. The acidity seems more crytalline and I like this much more than when first opened. It reminds me a lot of the '91 Simon Serriger Herrenberg Spatlese I tried about a year ago. Maybe the terroir is starting to show through.


2005 Huët Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu France, Loire Valley

Very nice and open right out of the bottle tonight. Powdered stone and honeyed apple nose. Zippy palate, long finish with chalk and quince flavors. The most remarkable thing for me was I didn't notice any hint of alcohol in the nose or mouth or finish. Just a beautiful sec Vouvray. $25. 12% abv. I want to thank Huet lover SF Joe for pointing out that for current drinking, this bottle of Huet sec was a good choice.


2004 Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Bourgogne Les Bons Batons France, Burgundy

I read in Claude Kolm's excellent newsletter where the vines for this wine are located across the road from Clos Vougeot. Barthod, I guess, is best known for her Chambolle wines, and this reminded me of Chambolle Musigny with its red fruit and lace nose, and it was structured more like a village or 1er wine compared to other Bourgogne level wines I've tried.

A rich red fruit, raspberry nose. Also some pretty spice in the nose. Firm structured palate, with tart acidity that persists on the finish. Also some teeth coating tannins that suggest to me that this is structured to age well. Overall I love the nose here, but even for an acidhead like me the wine is out of balance right now. Needs some cellar time and some food. $24. 13% abv.


Cheers,
Marc

Marc - I was pretty sure I had the Huet in inventory, but I checked Cellar Tracker to verify. The strange thing is the drinking window displayed on CT is from 2012, but why wait, when the wine seems so lovely now. These drinking windows confuse me. Thanks for the note.

Marc - I was pretty sure I had the Huet in inventory, but I checked Cellar Tracker to verify. The strange thing is the drinking window displayed on CT is from 2012, but why wait, when the wine seems so lovely now. These drinking windows confuse me. Thanks for the note.

Um, Diane, I don't really know the CT thingy very well, but who puts up the drinking windows?

Cellar Tracker is a great tool to keep track of inventory. It's web based and members may enter tasting notes for all to read, but I'm not sure who is entering drinking windows.

I'd treat the CT drinking windows as a data bit, but not a particularly reliable one. After window on wine detail page it will say "community", if an average of CT user windows. You can click to discover how many users contributed. But it doesn't take long to figure how skewed those could be. Say one user likes Bordeaux young and fruitdriven, and puts 2006-2010 as drinking window on a modestly framed 2004. Another prefers tannins integrated, and puts 2014-2020. CT will show 2010-2015, and you might open just as its in a closed phase.

I agree the Huet LHL is drinking well now, enjoyed a 375 in January.

I'll look for the Barthod. Thanks for notes

[David M. Bueker]

Dale,

Where are you getting Huet in 375s?

Post Wines in Syosset. Got some halves of '05 LHL sec and '02 LHL demi-sec ($13 & $16 respectively) during their Jan sale. Unsure if they still have.

I'll look for the Barthod. Thanks for notes

Dale, speaking of cellar tracker and Barthod, there was a TN from brooklyn guy who found nothing but cedar flavors in the 2004 Bons Baton. I had a very different experience, but my wine was bought from a California store, and I've found that brooklyn guy's notes have been very reliable. Anyway, I have 2 more bottles but I'm putting them away for a while because the wine seems too unbalanced right now.

Marc