2001 Emrich-Schönleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese
Nice match with chicken stir fry, even my wife who loathes Riesling had good things to say. Color is a bit off-putting, very deep gold - but the wine was fresh and expansive. Not a Riesling expert, but this came off as very balanced, in a great place right now.
1997 Rousseau Clos de Bèze
I wasn’t sure how to approach this bottle given the rep of 1997 red burgundy, so I did a little trial. I slow-ox’ed the bottle for 2 hours prior to a dinner of duck breast, and initally found the wine on the tight side, but showing lots of promise. Plenty of tasty fruit and depth, but nothing too interesting or complex. A second glass with dinner confirmed that it might need a little coaxing, so I decided to pour a little more than half bottle into a decanter. What a difference. Almost immediately upon being decanted, you could whiff spices and earthy components that were non-existent just two hours prior. The transformation is difficult to put into words, but this became magnetic and energetic, with cherry, spice and eucalyptus, so precise and detailed. Each sip was like a gift, just delicious.
