JosephPhelpsVnyds Scheurebe NapaVlly LateHrvst (10.3%; RS: 12.2%; SaH: 30.0%) StHelena 1983: Deep golden/burnished bronze color; fairly strong botrytis/apricotty/peachy beautiful BA-like slight herbal bit pencilly/cedary quite complex nose; quite sweet very strong botrytis/peachy/apricotty slight cedary/pencilly rather BA-like seamless complex flavor not quite as high-toned as the R; very long/lingering quite sweet/BA-level very botrytis/apricotty/peachy slight cedary/pencilly beautiful complex finish that goes on & on; a bit more herbal than the R; beautiful/complex BA-like level wine w/ no signs of oxidation whatsoever; a beautiful intense BA.
A wee BloodyPulpit:
Had some WineBerserker friends over for some heavy-duty apps Thurs afternoon. Think we opened about 13 btls (for 5 people), mostly reds. We started w/ the SandiSkerk Ograde '16, one of the finest skin-contact whites around. We opened this w/ the dessert, a RedChile Pecan bar soaked in (too much) Bourbon. I didn’t work.
This BA was much lighter than expected. Mostly old Calif BA/TBA’s this old have turned a very dark brown like molasses. I suspect, given his German winemaking background, WalterShug used more SO2 than most Calif producers were using. Hence the oxidative color was protected against.
Tom
I was fortunate enough to have the '85 version of this wine 9 years back due to the generosity of Berserker, Eric Ifune. It remains one of the best California wines I’ve ever had. I mean, its remarkable by itself that a ever back then major house like Phelps would bother with a barely known grape from Germany but to then make a terrific late harvest wine with it. I assume its all gone now.
We had the '85 of this in January and it was weird enough that I didn’t even write a note on it. It was totally blown off the table by a 375ml of '82 Phelps Special Select Late Harvest Riesling.
