Dinner with some friends. After a very agreeable Chiquet NV Blanc de Blanc, we went on to a 1996 Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-sec. I’m always a bit surprised by the dinky little corks Huet uses (fat, heavy bottles but short corks – what’s up with that?), but the wine was nevertheless in great shape, lighter gold than you’d expect for a 15 year-old wine. It had, for an Huet Vouvray, an atypical “lactic” aroma that I associate with full-on sweet wines such as Quarts du Chaume, but the wine itself was drier than sweet, more off-dry or sec tendre than a true demi-sec. Fresh bright acidity as you’d expect with a '96, medium bodied, it paired wonderfully with a starter course that included a poached egg, usually a tough matchup. No reason not to drink these now because they might start to decline in about 40 or 50 years.
1998 Müller-Catoir Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Riesling Auslese. From a .375. Brilliant, just a brilliant wine. Fresh orange heading towards tangerine, intensely flavored and perfectly balanced. Not showing any age at all, really. Only light to medium bodied, not at all unctuous. At 9% abv it was the perfect end to a dinner. I’ve never had a less that wonderful wine from M-C, at least through 2001.