TNs: Serious whites and some other wines over the weekend

SOME SERIOUS WHITES - (17/9/2021)

A serious white theme where there was something for everyone. I think my preferences deviated from the group quite a bit - I didn’t like the 2007 Unendlich and Boillot so much but liked the 2019 Unendlich and Keller a lot more. Think the Chapoutier was the only one that everyone liked.

  • 2007 F.X. Pichler Riesling Unendlich - Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
    Crumbly cork and a dark golden colour, for me way too advanced but others didn’t mind it so much. Smelled like a sweet wine actually, rather flat on first pour but got better in the decanter. Very impressive depth but the fruit and acidity was rather muted. No oomph or magic to the wine but I think this was not a representative bottle.
  • 2019 F.X. Pichler Riesling Unendlich - Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
    I liked this a lot more than the 2007, definitely showed its class. Terribly young so I left it in the glass for two hours, it transformed into something much more expressive with some gloriously vibrant fruit of mainly peaches, together with some honey on the nose. Had a restrained power to it that I always love. Definitely a brooding sort of wine, it had an impeccable balance to the structure, acid and fruit. Would love to try this in a decade or two’s time.
  • 2010 Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
    A negoce bottling. Impressive weight and density that led almost everyone to a grand cru, but didn’t show much of Puligny that I suppose was down to the warmer year - I thought it was a warm plot from a cool year since I didn’t get the sweetness of 2010s. Made in a powerful old-school style that ended up a little one-dimensional for me without tension, and the oak didn’t come across seamlessly.
  • 2015 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc Le Méal - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
    I haven’t cared for the Chapoutier’s reds that I have tried but this was superb. Most of us pegged this as a Rhone easily, with its low acidity and lovely unctuous texture. Rich mouth feel that enveloped the mouth, very good intensity of fruit despite the low acid that drove it towards an astounding finish. Still a baby at the moment, but given the ageing trajectory of Rhone whites I think it might not be a bad idea to drink this now before the wine loses its vivacity.
  • 2009 Weingut Keller Dalsheimer Hubacker Riesling Auslese - Germany, Rheinhessen
    This was outstanding for me but I think others didn’t like it as much as I did. Still remarkably youthful with minimal development in terms of colour and taste. For an Auslese this was remarkably restrained without the thick texture that I usually associate with such high pradikat wines. I was afraid that this would be shutdown but it was very expressive with very harmonious citrus fruits that didn’t cross the line to become exotic. Think others felt that it lacked acidity and finish but for my palate the balance was spot on.
  • 2020 Azienda Agricola Serragghia (Gabrio Bini) Zibibbo Bianco - Italy, Sicily, Sicilia
    Perhaps the first natural wine that I get. Very distinctive wine, I hated this at first by itself as the natural wine aromas such as lychees, passion fruit and orange were rather overbearing for me. But with food the wine really blossomed, the flavours and tannins of the wine married well with the Asian food that we had. Not a typical wine for sure but as a beverage it’s excellent, was finished in no time.

  • 2013 Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG (16/9/2021)
    An estate that is located further up the hill who has benefitted from global warming apparently. Textbook Chianti, some dried fruit and tart cherries. Good drink but not going to get any better from here.
  • 2013 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Nahe (16/9/2021)
    Under Stelvin. Donnhoff always has a briney, saline quality and a strong citrus signature for me, and unfortunately this bottle showed that a little too much of those traits to give a disjointed feel to the wine, with the sweetness sticking out in particular.
  • 2015 Domaine des Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Morgon Javernières Morgon Côte du Py - France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon (16/9/2021)
    Having had 2011 and 2018 Bojos recently, I think this is the Goldilocks age that I prefer, where the fruit is still vibrant but the wine has shed the baby fat. Very lifted nose with VA that was well-managed (although I do understand Brun can be variable). Ripe, red plummy fruit but still superbly balanced by the freshness and acidity. I think this might be best Bojo that I have had.

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This sounded a bit weird to me. These are not natural wine flavors in any way - you can’t make a natural wine that wouldn’t normally have these aromas/flavors and then they’d appear if you leave out sulfites during the vinification.

However, they are textbook varietal characteristics of Zibibbo aka. Muscat. So it seems the wine you described was just varietally correct, be it a naturalist or not!

Cheers Otto for the correction - may have been loose in my usage of terms there but would those descriptor apply to skin contact wines?

I do get lychee and grapefruit from natural producers from Loire for example so not sure what to attribute them to.

Well, grapefruit can come from basically anything, be it white or orange, natural or conventional. That fragrant grapefruit juice aroma I get most often from Alsatian Gewurztraminers, though. However, I didn’t notice any grapefruit descriptors in your Zibibbo note, nor do I know what Loire naturalists you’ve had (especially ones with grapefruit notes).

But when it comes especially to lychee, it’s a very distinctive note that I can’t remember having in wines not made from aromatic varieties, but almost invariably in wines made from Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Ruchè, Aleatico, etc. Can’t remember ever having lychee in a Loire white, though.

I’m not surprised by this. I think Chapoutier makes excellent whites, whereas the reds seem to be mundane. The whites changed sometime in the mid-2000’s I think and are more expressive than they used to be years (30 or so) ago.

Glad to hear, since this has been my experience as well! For example in our blind Viognier tasting with bunch of Condrieus with a handful of other Viogniers, Chapoutier performed remarkably well and I was surprised to learn it was Chapoutier, since I have gotten used to Chapoutier making rather ho-hum reds.

Interesting.

My experiences with Chapoutier reds is not nearly enough to pump my fist up with the rest of those here, Taliban-style in the back of pick-up trucks vehemently protesting against them, but now am a little intrigued about the whites, which I can’t recall having more than (maybe) once.

Good to hear positive views on the Chapoutier whites. My last few experiences were that the whites sort of fell apart with age, e.g. the 2007s at 12 years old (flabby, oxidising and alcoholic). I would have expected the 2015 to be at an awkward age and stage, so glad it was showing well.

Cheers Otto the info, FWIW the Loire whites I’ve tried that have those lychee, orange aromas in particular were 2018 Bernaudeau Ongles and Kenji Hodgson Aussigoins!