One of those days - one for four

WINE TALK
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Didn’t realize yesterday how difficult it would be to get a simple white to pair up with some salmon burgers done on the grill (taking advantage of a nice, 50 degree day in January!).

The first cork pulled was a 2002 J & HA Strub Niersteiner Paterberg Riesling Spatlese. I have had bad luck with this winemaker’s wines in this particular vintage, and the streak continued yesterday with sherried notes and an advanced yellow-golden color. Not as painful per se as a spoiled grand cru Burgundy, but pre-moxed all the same, and down the drain it went.

I had higher hopes for wine #2, a 2004 Wagner Stempel Siefersheimer Riesling Vom Porphyr Trocken, that I have had a number of times previously, and always to great enjoyment. But not this Saturday, as the wine, while presenting a nice bouquet, was so dominated by acidity that it was virtually undrinkable. I hung with it for an hour or so to see if some air might tame this beast, but no luck. It may just be in a wierd place right now, and I put it back in the fridge to check out today, but chalk that up as disappointment #2.

Next up, the 2004 Stadlmann Zierfandler Mandel-Hoh, another wine that has treated me well in the past. But I was greeted here by a dull, faintly metallic nose, and a disjointed palated that has some lactic hints. At first I thought the screaming acidity of the previously wine had so scarred my palate that I couldn’t properly taste this latest wine, but after a brief break, I came back to it with similar results. This is probably a flawed bottle, but I again put it back in the fridge to see if an additional day wouldn’t somehow coax some life out of it.

That left the 2008 Pepiere Muscadet Clos des Briords, which thankfully didn’t suck - which was about all the enthusiasm I could muster after running that crappy wine gauntlet. The salmon burgers were tasty, though, and hopefully I’ll have better luck today with some Baroli headbang .

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Cali Pinot? I love it with grilled salmon. Just my $.02

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That’s what you get for drinking non-Italian wine, Bobulous! [tease.gif]

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Grilled Salmon without a fine Burg/Pinot? No wonder the wine gods were angry. [diablo.gif]

RT

5

Very sorry to hear about the Mandel-Hoh. This is one of my ‘go to’ Austrian wines year in and year out. Stadlmann also makes very cheap/good Neuburger Mitterwiese and Rotgipfler. Haven’t had any with much bottle age though. It would be a pity if even the Mandel-Hoh can’t hold up.

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You know, while I get the pinot noir with grilled salmon filet and/or steaks, I’m not as bullish when I have a simple salmon burger which I generally top with a dijon mustard mayonnaise and dill pickle slices. With that kind of combo, a white goes fine, at least IMO.

Chris, I haven’t re-visited this bottle, but I think it was flawed as opposed to being over the hill. That lactic quality on the palate was perhaps a sign that something bacteriological went amiss at some point, but I still have a few bottles of this left, so I am definitely hoping that it was not “adavanced old age”.

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The Pinot deities are a fickle and vengeful lot…just sayin that sometimes they require hommage.[notworthy.gif] Although I love those Briords, even the red ones.

RT