Morning all,
It has been quite a night for me, and whilst I may not be in the most utterly of coherent states I’ve just tried some amazing wines and I wish to tell all lovers of fine things about them. A good friend, my partner and I had three Alsace Grand Cru Rieslings, followed by a bottle of Burgundy then another bottle of Alsace Riesling, late harvest this time. I’ll give some brief impressions here and if these are the kind of wines that float your boat you can read the full rant (and listen to the podcast) on my wine site.
We started with an Albert Boxler Grand Cru Brand Riesling 2001. It was an intense wine of power and weight, but the harmony was stunning. So much ripe fruit, but so much minerality and mind-buggering amounts of acidity. Brilliant, I tell you, brilliant.
This was followed by a Grand Cru Brand Riesling 2001 from Zind-Humbrecht. This was bigger, more exotic and more opulent than the Boxler, but not quite possessing a similar degree of harmony. But then, its vibrant intensity could compel even the most jaded of Riesling lovers. Serious kit, I have to say.
The final wine of this flight was another Zind-Humbrecht, this time Grand Cru Rangen Clos St. Urbain 2001. Again this had a voluptuous nose of precisely the kind of buxom ripeness one seeks in a flash Z-H wine, but not quite the brilliant radiance of the two Brand Grand Cru wines.
We tried these wines again and again and our love for them only grew. We didn’t think that age had done so much for them, we even suggested they might have been more stunningly radiant soon after purchase, but they provided so much pleasure it would churlish to get to worked up about this. If I had more bottles I’d be ageing them for another decade just to see if they do actually age gracefully.
We then had an interval with a bottle of Pinot Noir, this is all we were told about it; I was supposed to blind taste and get it right (lawks!). It had a beautiful, slightly floral nose with elegant fruit and a rich earthiness. The tannic structure was certainly present, not too tough though, with good acidity and more of that beautiful fruit. Very attractive with a noticeable degree of class. I guessed Morey-Saint-Denis Premier Cru 2002 from Domaine Dujac, it was actually Morey-Saint-Denis villages 2004 from Domaine Dujac; I aimed too high! It was certainly one of the best 04 Burgundies I’ve had for a while, not too thin, too acidic nor too tough. A charmingly impressive village wine, especially for an 04.
We finished off with Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg ‘D’ Vendanges Tardives 2005 from Boxler. Wow, what a wine this was. Real late harvest character with incredible concentration of fruit, screamingly lovely minerality and a shed-load of acidity. A large scale palate but, as always with Jean Boxler’s wines this was mind-bendingly balanced. The acidity was so fresh and lively, the complexity so ravishing and the finish so long and complex. What a wine! My only bottle, alas. No, not ‘alas’, I loved drinking it and so did my friend and partner.
And that is surely what it is all about, don’t you think? I could have popped these with people who are less important to me, or with people who have more restrained oenophile tendencies, but that wouldn’t have been so enjoyable. If you can pop a bottle of something good with people who know, people who care, it is such a rewarding experience. We all enjoyed these wines and enjoyed each other enjoying them (if you see what I mean). We buy wine to share with our enlightened friends, and what a good thing that is to do.
I hope this slightly ‘tired and emotional’ (as a newt) post conveys some of the hilarious fun I’ve had tonight. I cannot recommend these wines, particularly the Boxler and Dujac flavour wines, highly enough.
Bed time, nighty night,
David.