Saturday night TNs: A couple Zierfandlers

My wife is making one of her “patented” dishes for dinner tonight, in this case boneless pork chops on a bed of mushrooms (both currently being marinated in white wine, in this case some 2006 Pepiere Clos de Briords), then topped with a mixture of extra sharp cheddar cheese and bread crumbs before baking. I always like to try something assertive from the white side of the house with this dish. She’ll be having that same Clos de Briords as her dinner beverage, but I decided to break out a couple seldom-seen wines, in this case two Austrian Zierfandlers. First up:

2004 Spaetrot Gebeshuber Zierfandler Modler Privat
Light yellow-white in the glass, with that white fruit cocktail over slate nose that I sometimes get from Austrian riesling. If I had to pick the most prominent fruit in this cocktail, it might be the tartness of a granny smith apple.

On the palate, this wine is bone dry, with a deceptive full-bodied effect on entry, featuring nice acidity & minerality. If one has to criticize, I would say that the wine has a shortish finish, but all-in this is a very nice package, and I’m looking forward to checking it out with some food.

Wine #2 in the line-up is the:

2004 Stadlmann Zierfandler Mandel-Hoh
Similar optic to the previous wine. The most upfront feature to this wine’s nose is petrol - I know some folks find this objectionable, but I have to confess that I am not one of them, so the early advantage goes to the Stadlmann. [wink.gif] This nose is really chiseled, if I can use that descriptive - very precise, and focused on crisp apple-y fruit.

Very light on the palate, and a touch sweeter than the first wine. Given how incredibly dry Clos de Briords comes across, especially young, it will be interesting to see how sweet this wine shows next to that. Nicer finish than the first wine, with lingering apple flavors on the palate - very nice, and I’m thinking this will be a particularly nice foil for that cheddar & bread crumb mixture. More later after I have some din-din.

Love Stadlmann Zierfandler. For what it’s worth, the 2004 Stadlmanns are supposed to have cork problems.

Steve, I haven’t had that issue yet (knock wood) and I’m half way through a case. If the next one I open up is corked, you’re the guy I’m blaming [thankyou.gif]