GRAZ birthday tasting fun

Just the next day after my CdP 1990/98 I set up a nice and easy tasting at my home: some of the participants (from Germany) stayed in town, visited the Styrian wine region down south over the day – and came to my birthday tasting in the evening – together with some musical friends … including another composer, a very well known pianist and our 2nd violinist from our ensemble, just fun and nice talk.

Starters:

1. 2005 Vin de Pays de Vaucluse blanc – Domaine des Tours (E.Reynaud): nicely fruity, good acidity
2. Champagne NV Legras & Haas: fine creamy texture, very enjoyable, still better the next day (fridge)

Plates: sandwiches with „Verhackert“ (kind of roasted fat from pork), red, green and yellow paprika, baby onions, artichokes, sweet melon with ham

1st flight:
3) 1993 Vouvray Vielles Vignes – Dom.Bourillon-Dorleans: bright yellow colour, interesting mineralic nose, very good length
4) 1996 Chablis GC Bougros – Verget: full medium yellow, slight hints of apple juice, opened up nicely, very good length, but I think it suffered slightly from Premox …
5) 1999 Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet – Remoissenet: a step up, not only aromatically, flowery and stony, feminine but long and intense, worth 93p

noodle-salad with greek sheep cheese, capers and grapefruit –
salad with Styrian beetle beans, onions, aspic and Styrian pumpkin oil

2nd flight:
6) 1979 Hermitage blanc – Alexandre Rochette /Tain L´Hermitage): medium yellow, started nicely, full mature nutty Hermitage-nose … however proved to be slightly corked …
7) though as a surprise and a ringer: colour darker and more saturated than the Hermitage, very fine structure, even a tannic bite and well integrated acidity, seemed to be at least 15+ years old … however, it was:
2005 ERDE (Earth) – Sepp Muster (Leutschach, Southern Styria), a wine from Morillon (=Chardonnay), Sauvignon blanc and some % Welschriesling, fermented 9 months on its skins and stems in barrel, then aged for another year in wood, bottled into a clay jug like-bottle, expression of the philosophy of this very individualistiv wine-maker … first a bit „strange“, but got more and more interesting and was the most enjoyable wine so far together with the Bienvenue …
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8) 1973 Arbois Vin jaune – Henri Maire: a bit „dusty“ full yellow colour, hints of aged Sherry, very interesting and went well with the dishes

smoked creek trout with apple-horseradish

3rd flight:
9) 1998 Cotes du Roussillion Village „Muntada“ - Domaine Gauby: deep ruby purple with bright eye,
very youthful, chewy texture, spicy with hints of minerals, very long and intense, great potential (app.94p)
10) 1999 „Cabrida“ – Capçanes (Tarragona/Spain): 100% Grenache (edited!) - still black ruby, slightly overripe dark berries, velvet and still more chewy, but less elegant, very modern in style, impressive, but not my fav. style (92-93p)
11) 1995 Coteaux du Languedoc/Montpeyroux „Cote Rousse“ – Domaine L´Aiguelière: 100% Syrah, dark red with brightening rim, classical serious nose, even a bit Pauillac-like (there were guesses in that direction), very good mouth-flow, not as dense as 9+10, but great pleasure to drink (91p)
One guy guessed: „These are the 1998 CdPs from yesterday that weren´t opened …“

Lasagne (from the local restaurant)

4th flight:
12) 1985 Barolo – Montanello: quite bright colour, a mixture of red fruits with orange peel, acidity and tannic remains, there was one correct guess in direction Piemont … another proof that I did right in selling almost all my Italian wines years ago (one of the last bottles), but some liked it …
13) 1988 Gevrey-Chambertin „Les Cazetiers“ 1er Cru – Philippe Leclerc: quite full medium dark colour, aromatically not very expressive, only one guess Pinot Noir, some Cote-Rotie or Hermitage … still quite a tannic bite, not very elegant, but rather concentrated, still too young? It was good, but lacking elegance and sweetness … I wonder if it will be more delicious in 10 years … around 88p
14) 1994 Chateauneuf-du-Pape – Henri Bonneau: this was another matter, medium bright mature red, very nice nose of mature Grenache, fully expansive, sweet, mouthfilling, slightly leathery/barnyard but all in harmony, very delicious, 92p

cold vegetable soup (self-made)

(to be continued)

5th flight:

1. 1985 St.Estephe Cos d´Estournel: full ruby colour, less bricking than expected, a proof that another bottle tasted a year ago (not from my cellar) wasn´t representative and far too developed, nevertheless mature, quite noticable acidity, minty and cedric nose, very good length, slight „touch“ of Italian, lingering, 94p
2. 1990 Crozes-Hermitage „Thalabert“ – Jaboulet: still very dark ruby, a powerhouse of blue and black berries, palate has softened a bit, very mouthfilling, great chewy texture, indeed the „little“ Chapelle … 93p, but I liked it more than Cos personally still a great future (re-reading Parker: anticip.maturity now-2005 … haha )
3. 1982 Moulis – Chateau Poujeaux: lightest colour, bricking rim, fully developed but slightly muted nose, with hints of mushrooms and leaves, very good palate impression, slightly lacking sweetness, I had a much better bottle last fall … 90-91?p … usually sweeter, more expressive and can perform at 93+p

Selected cheese

6th flight: Dessert wines
4) 1998 Orange Blossom Muscat „Essensia“ – Andrew Quady, Madeira/CA – 0.5 l : like its name a lot of „Oranges“ … peels and flesh, sweet with quite sharp acidity, very interesting but not everybodys darling, (does anybody know more about it?) …
5) 1976 Riesling Auslese „Longuicher Probstberg“ – Ewald Theod.Drathen Mosel-Saal-Ruwer/Germany: very mature, slight oxidation with petrol, medium sweet, good balance but too soft and no chance against the other two …
6) 1988 Ruster Ausbruch Welschriesling Ried Kraxner (Barrique) – Weinbau Landauer/Rust – 0.5 l : excellent full yellow colour, intense sweetness, a real fruit cocktail in the nose, very long on the palate, real class, very fine

home-made Tira-mi-su (thanks to my wife !)

See ya all again in 2011!

Gerhard

Ok, it might be that it´s not been that interesting … however, 90+ views and not a single short reply is very poor, borders even on impolite … if that´s the way to generate new members from “another” board – or keep the current ones … a complete failure!

I think that´s it – definitely my last report so far …

Thanks for the notes, Gerhard.
Great tasting
I must admit I agree with you on the wines I have tasted.
However I think Cabrida is Grenache?
Greetings
Claus

I enjoyed reading your report Gerhard (though the only wine I’ve had was the '85 Cos). Happy Birthday and many more!

I had to laugh at your description of the '88 Philippe Leclerc, only one guess pinot noir, most thinking it syrah. that pretty much sums up my impressions of Philippe Leclerc too!

Claus, you ´re totally right - a Freudian blackout of mine, I guess I already though of the following L´Aigueliere … of course it´s Grenache (edited in 1st post)!