It was my turn to host Leo’s blind tasting group this month, and we had a full table at Seasonal where chef Wolfgang put together a fantastic menu with veal sweetbreads, foie gras on brioche, veal cheek goulash and a dessert of crumbled caramelized pancakes with apple compote. Great food and wine service to go along with some fun wines and great company. A fantastic evening, great to be able to open a fun lineup for the group and I’m already looking forward to hosting my next one.
Flight 1 - Welcome wines
2006 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett
2009 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett
The '06 showed a little advanced with lots of petrol and smoky elements, plenty of ripeness but good acidity beneath and nice balance. Outclassed I thought by the '09, which had incredible focus, purity and energy - just a superb bottle of Riesling.
Flight 2 - Bubbles
N.V. Agrapart & Fils Champagne Les 7 Crus Blancs de Blancs Brut
2008 Les Chais du Vieux Bourg Crémant du Jura Delire des Lyres
2002 Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Fiacre
The Agrapart was disappointing compared to previous bottles - perhaps served too cold, but showed rather one dimensional and dull. The Chais du Vieux Bourg was lovely, savoury with some interesting earthy and crackery elements amidst the bright fruit and a lovely value.
'02 Fiacre was the class of the flight by far for me (though a number of folks preferred the Cremant du Jura), showing great depth - lots of doughy and yeasty flavours, vanilla cream and fresh fruit, great balance and persistence.
Flight 3 - Wachau Smaragd
2009 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel
2010 Alzinger Riesling Smaragd Steinertal
2008 Prager Riesling Smaragd Achleiten
Flight of the evening for me.
The Singerriedel was outrageous, showing an incredible fragrance with Gewurz-like exotic florality and spice, layers of ripe fruit and minerality. Incredible power and depth conveyed with a sense of real freshness and superb balance. Outstanding wine and my favourite wine of the night.
The Alzinger seemed a touch closed at first, but came around with a little more time to show bright herbal and floral-tinged fruit over a mineral base. Lighter and leaner than the Singerriedel, but also lovely to sit down with. I’m looking forward to revisiting this in a few years.
Unusual showing for the Prager, which I thought had a hint of botrytis - some honeyed and apricot notes on top of the standard fresh citrus fruit, spice and stoniness I always find from the Achleiten bottling. Nicely balanced, though obviously still very young.
Flight 4 - The mostly-Jadot flight
2001 Louis Jadot Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Ursules
2006 Philippe Pacalet Pommard
2003 Louis Jadot Morgon Côte du Py Château des Lumières
Leo pegged both the Jadot wines blind as his favourites immediately (and I think even guessed Jadot as the producer on the Morgon initially). Didn’t enjoy the Morgon quite as much, but the Ursules was stunning - incredibly fragrant, polished and drinking beautifully with layers of fresh red and dark fruits, savoury leathery and earthy notes and gentle spicy accents combining seamlessly. There’s certainly lots of time ahead given the richness and tannin, but the bottle last night was superb. The Pacalet was very good, showing really fresh, pure strawberries and raspberries with a sweet baking spice seasoning, but outclassed for complexity and finesse by the Ursules.
Flight 5 - Old Syrah
1996 Noël Verset Cornas
1996 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Cornas Domaine de Saint Pierre
1993 Edmunds St. John California Syrah
The two Cornas were at opposite ends of the stylistic spectrum - the Verset really wild, meaty, bloody and funky and the Jaboulet I thought was completely anonymous, with ripe fruit up front and drying woodiness at the back and nothing suggesting Cornas. The Verset was certainly the most polarizing wine of the night with powerful brett, iodine and skunky aromas at first; with some time the funk cleared a little and showed bright red fruits, green olives and vivid leathery and bloody notes, with a remarkable sense of lightness coming through on the palate that was a compelling contrast with the wild, rustic flavours.
Wine of the flight though was the old ESJ - pretty much everything I’d want in an older Syrah; fragrant, polished and medium weight with spice, mature leathery and earthy flavours and gentle red fruits and olives combining into a seamless whole. Superb balance and finesse, guess those thirsty pagans with big ideas know what they’re doing. Bravo Steve!
Flight 6: Dessert Riesling
2004 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spätlese (magnum)
Wanted a lighter-styled dessert wine after all that wine, so went with a mag of Spätlese which certainly didn’t disappoint. A beautiful floral and peachy fragrance leading into a palate full of ripe Riesling fruit, gentle honeyed and mineral elements, moderate sweetness and remarkable purity and freshness with bright acidity keeping it very well balanced and all too easy to drink (evidenced by the fact that the mag was almost empty by the end of the night).
Lots of fun hosting, thanks all for your company and a fantastic evening.