Mucho thank-o to my friend who gave this bottle to me a couple of years ago. Brilliant Riesling.
Given the amount of tarnish around the capsule, I expected some “goo” (that’s the scientific term for leakage I think) to be under the foil or at least on the sides of the cork. Thankfully, it was the external humidity of storage that caused the corrosion. Phew!
Cork pulled smoothly and without breaking. Double phew!
Ah, what an aroma! Since we don’t know what “ambrosia” (apparently the food of choice of ancient Greek gods, Flannery Steak today?) smells like, I’m going to say this smelled of “ambrosia.” An ineffable flowering of complex polyphenols that defied accurate description. Sure, I could say “smelled like the essence of oranges and apples, carefully spiced, then run over by a diesel-powered bus,” but that’s not very romantic now is it?
So, I finally convinced myself to taste this saucy little tart in front of me.
Then I tasted the wine. Wow!
I was actually glad this was not the Auslese (still sleeping in my cellar somewhere with its friends) as the piercing acidity kept all the fruit in perfect harmony and balance. This is not a sweet wine by anyone’s standards! I marvelled at its bare bones beauty, thinking how wonderful it would be to savor every drop of this brilliant wine. And then the bottle was empty… My friends and cohorts got a look at the sublime grin on my face, dumped out whatever swill I had convinced them to try first, and filled their glasses. Oh well, I DID invite them over after all.
Spectacular wine, very happy to have friends to share and appreciate such an amazing bottle.