German and Austrian wines on a warm, muggy day:
Berger 2008 Gruner Veltliner Liter
This has been one of my favorite warm weather whites for a few vintages now. Racy acidity balancing the bright apple-y fruit. Totally refreshing and straight out yummy!
Great for poolside or on a boat wearin’ flippy floppies drinkin’ Santana Champ cuz its so crisp.
Nigl 2007 Gruner Veltliner Kremser Freiheit
The Nigl is far more intellectual than the Berger. This is the naughty librarian, all serious at first, but gets more wild as it opens up! Intense minerality conceals quite a bit of the fruit at first, but as it warms and gets more air, it wakes up showing off a creamy, beany, pea-y (new word!) profile that also encompasses the citric/green apple fruit components.
Selbach 2007 Riesling Kabinett Fish Label
Soft, effusively happy wine. Like drinking honeyed sunshine. [d_sunny.gif]
Selbach 2007 Riesling Spatlese (Secret Saar Experiment)
Not so much of a secret anymore, Johannes made some terrific wine from an unnamed “famous” source in the Saar.
This is quite literally my favorite Riesling under $30 from anywhere. Scintillating acidity straight from a lime’s rind keeps this true Spatlese humming and never ever falling flat. Much less “sweet” tasting than the Fish Kabinett, this is complex and polished simultaneously. Totally jammin’
Jakob Schneider 2007 Riesling Kabinett Liter
Another liter bottle that ruins the market of “cheap” wine by being so darn good! I threw this into the tasting as the “gumdrop wine” since the others were either dry or close to it. This is so purely ~honest~ a wine that I didn’t bother writing down any notes. Absolutely non-judgemental wine. Just drink it and love life. 
“Do you have any Red Wine today?” After the third person asked, I opened a red:
Thorn Clarke 2007 Shiraz Terra Barossa.
Mostly because it was literally next to me, I opened this one.
“You want red? Here, try this one” Crack goes the screw top
Hey, I was surprised that this wine was actually DRY! I couldn’t remember my notes from Fran Kysela’s blowout tasting SuperBowl weekend, so I figured this would have as much RS as the Fish Label. I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.
Choco-raspberry surprise. Burn a dead animal and party!