I went against all of my instincts and listened to my friend Dale “Mr Decant” McClaran and decanted this young whipper snapper for roughly an hour before drinking. I actually think it did this wine a great service (who knew Dale could be right…ever?) as it was beautiful from the outset. This wine can seem intimidating from the very regal label, to the 15 names in its title, to the actual wine in the bottle. But when you sit down and get to know it a bit better and more intimately, it’s definitely refined yet also down to earth and approachable. Immediate aromas of crushed rock, lemon and lime, and drips of honey. I was surprised there wasn’t more depth on the nose but after about 30 minutes in the glass clear and distinctive aromas of peach and pineapple began to surface which were a great compliment to the rock. In the mouth, there was so much minerality going on that I thought I was back in college freshman year sitting in Kane 220 not quite believing that I was taking ‘Rocks for Jocks’! As with the nose, there was a perfect marriage of richness and dryness/minerality/acidity. A wine like this just exudes class. I know it was consumed too young, but it sure tasted damn good going down. Oh yeah, I paired it with Kraft Mac n’ Cheese! 94pts.
Give those babies a few years and they get even better.
Ah Mr. Decant, has a nice ring to it, no? Anyway, you know I have been a major fan of the Domaines Rieslings for quite some time, and really glad that your first Cuvee Ste Cathy Schlossberg was a big hit; give this another 5 years and it should be flat out amazing I reckon, though I have yet to try the 08 version yet, to be remedied very soon.
Also, I’m not sure if they have changed their importer or not, but I wasn’t pleasantly suprised to see the prices for 2008 Weinbachs to be significantly below that of previous vintages, in fact you look around a bit, you can find the excellent cuvee Theo for around $24, an outstanding wine by any measure.
Based on the note, it seems Jared drank the Cuvee St. Catherine, but your comment suggests you think it may have been the Grand Cru Schlossberg St. Catherine. Just want to make sure which. Sounds pretty strong regardless.
Was it the microwave type, or the old-fashioned blue box with the radioactive orange powder? And did you go past al dente? That makes a big difference.
The bottle says Cuvee Ste. Catherine in gold above where it says Riesling Schlossberg in script and below that it says Alsace Grand Cru. I’m not sure which one it is. It’s all so confusing with these french wines!!
It was the old fashioned blue box kind. Very radioactive. My little girls definitely don’t like it al dente so it was cooked about 2-3 minutes too long. I took the pepper grinder to mine and it worked well with the Weinbach. The girls had diet Sprite with theirs!!
I’m sure Kraft M&C is EXCATLEY what the Faller ladies had in mind in crafting a special parcel late harvest Riesling from the middle of the Schlossberg Grand Cru slope. Jared indeed you had the Schlossberg Cuvee Ste. Catherine.
What would you recommend with Annie’s mac and cheese?
Deiss. Biodynamic.
Thanks for clarifying.