Eleven of us met for dinner at a (semi) local Thai BYO on Tuesday night. In order to be cuisine friendly we restricted ourselves to a range of white wines, mostly focused on off-dry versions of Riesling. I was official scribe, but my notes are short (except for the last 3 wines).
Opening wines (served with assorted appetizers/salads):
Gaston-Chiquet Brut Reservé NV (Champagne)
This was delicious – bright acidity but also a deep apple core of flavors. I liked it a lot.
2004 Inman Family Pinot Gris (Russian River Valley)
Dry and crisp. Medium bodied pear and apple flavors. A touch of bitterness on the finish. Pretty darned good for American Pinot Gris.
1997 Zind-Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl Pinot Gris (Alsace)
Richer and a little heavier than the Inman, and only barely off-dry. Honeyed pear and roasted/smoky aromas and flavors. Very much a wine from Clos Windsbuhl, as I always get that smokiness no matter what the grape. This is mature and drinking well, though as usual for 1997, a little softer than I would prefer.
2005 Cruchet Vouvray Sec (Loire)
Initially I was really enjoying this for good balance and some solid apple and lemony flavors, but it did not have the intensity to stand up to the Thai appetizers (most of which were quite mild but very flavorful). I think I like it, but judgment reserved as I could not get a really good read on it.
The main courses started to come (some with heat, some not), so we moved onto what we thought would be sweeter wines (some were, some weren’t).
2002 Marc Kreydenweiss Riesling La Dame Weibelsberg (Alsace)
(There’s a Weibelsberg joke in here somewhere…) This was drier than I expected, but also very smoky and minerally. Very good, and it’s also a good value. More advanced than most 2002s at this stage, but you need something to drink now.
2001 Boxler Riesling Sommerberg L31JV (Alsace)
The young vines cuvee, but still very, very fine. Just a hint of sweetness, and broad apple and pear flavors with a hint of basil over the top. Excellent, and drinking well now, though it can surely keep and even improve a little more.
1995 Marcel Deiss Altenberg de Bergheim (Alsace)
I’ve never been a fan of the Deiss wines, but this was pretty good. Off-dry, a touch smoky, and still with plenty of primary fruit. I did find it a bit muddled, but there was good acidity, so a citrusy/appley core of fruit was set off quite well. Seemed like it was mainly Riesling (at least I did not get much in the way of Pinot Gris or Gewurz aromas or flavors).
2005 Cruchet Vouvray Demi-Sec (Loire)
Much like its dry counterpart above, this had a good core of fruit, but could not stand up to the intensity of the food. I would like to try it again with less flavorful dishes.
Somewhere in here a Veuve Cliquot was opened, but as I was knee deep in sweet wines I did not dare go back to it.
2005 Donnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Spätlese (Nahe)
I didn’t bring it. I didn’t bring it. That said what a wine! This has really opened up in the last several months, and it’s the best bottle of this I have had the chance to taste since release. I will admit that I still prefer the ’02 and ’04 (better acidity to my palate), but this does have everything. The peach and apple fruit with a touch of raspberry, a fantastic mineral base, and a fantastic, mineral infused finish just blew me (and Laura) away. What a wine. I prefer the Hermannshöhle in 2005 (though I usually do, so what else is new) but I am very glad to own some of this. One difference is that I will drink a bottle or two in the near term because it is so accessible, which is unusual for Brücke.
2001 J. J. Christoffel Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese (Mosel)
This was opened about 2-3 years too soon, but was still a very delicious drink once it had 30 minutes or so of air. Spicy (yep…Laura said spicy before she knew what it was) with ripe apple and peach flavors plus a hit of lime. Rich and well balanced by crisp acidity, with inner mouth intensity that built up over time. Classic auslese in style, and a wonderful wine to drink starting in about 2 more years (and for years beyond that) while waiting for the big boys of the vintage to come to maturity.
1997 Müller-Catoir Mussbacher Eselhaut Rieslaner Auslese (Pfalz)
We knew this was different from the orange gold color. I had planned to pull the ’97 Riesling, but in a hurry I failed to look at the gothic script closely enough and ended up with the Rieslaner. Smoky, spicy peach, pear and golden raisin aromas and flavors just blew up out of the glass. The extra acidic intensity of Rieslaner was a huge asset in 1997 and brought perfect balance to this wine. It’s in an amazing place right now, with all components integrated and the rustic edge honed just enough to give a civilized air to what can sometimes be a rough and tumble grape variety. Laura’s only comment: Wow! We still have some left in the cellar, but not for long. If you’ve got it, drink it, as there’s no getting better than this.
It was a really fun night!
I'm glad you found at least one that you liked 
Thanks for the notes.