Yesterday, my wife and I along with other friends went to visit another friend’s new home. Beautiful setting and a great home. While there, these wines were consumed:
2001 JJ Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese
Pale yellow in color, clear and bright. Very nice nose of lemon rind and a slight whiff of petrol. Clean and mineral driven. On the palate, this is slightly sweet. Still young but drinking well. Easy to drink. Just a hint of spritz that immediately blew off. 50+4+12+117+7=90
2001 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr
More of everything, good and bad. Deeper golden in color. The nose has a hefty dose of sulfur still. Classic wet rocks and also some lemonade notes. Medium bodied. On the palate, this is much tighter but has much more stuffing. Really developed more over the course of the afternoon. It took a while for the sulfur to blow off though. Still could use some time. 50+4+13+18+8=93
2007 Fulcrum Pinot Noir Anderson Valley
Ruby/purple in color. This wine is young and tight and took a while to show much. The nose has dark cherries and black raspberries. With air it got a slight earthy note. Full bodied. On the palate, this is a pretty large fruit forward Pinot. Cherries, dark cherries, root beer and some raspberries. A bit of heat but that calmed down with air. Very well crafted wine, if not my personal favorite style of Pinot. 50+4+12+17+6=89
1999 Kay Brothers Hillside Shiraz
Purple in color with some ruby hues. The nose has a ton of oak. Plenty of black raspberry fruit left and plenty of alcohol. Somewhat disjointed on the nose but not as bad as the palate. This was a hot jammy mess for my tastes. I don’t mind a shiraz now and then, but this had heat and oak and while the fruit was still there, it was cumbersome and unpleasant to drink. Back in the day, this was a RP95 point QPR ($25 IIRC?). NR
2006 Turley Petite Syrah Howell Mountain Rattlesnake Ridge
Deep purple in color, magenta at the rim. The nose is big but nice. Black raspberries, leather, slightly jammy. Very nice texture. On the palate, this is easy to drink. No sign of heat. As the bottle was opened, this shut down more and more though. This needs a few years or lots of time in a decanter. Nice PS though. 50+4+13+18+8=93
1957 Plum Brandy? (Home made)
A colleague of my wife’s was given this. Apparently made by a first generation italian american WWII POW in germany who lives near Akron. We were wary of it (that’s why I shared it with friends of course). What a great surprise! Orange/red in color, a bit cloudy. The nose had peaches, apricots, plums and no real sign of spirits. Viscous. Slightly cloying but just enough acidity to cut thru it. Complex and easy to drink. I found more apricots and sugared orange flavors. Long finish. Impressive, whatever it was. 50+3+12+18+7=90
2005 Sine Qua Non Atlantis Fe2o3-3e Roussane
Golden in color. The nose has a lot of peaches and some honey notes. Not as thick as many from SQN, this is a bit more spry. On the palate, more apricots than peaches. A bit lacking in the acidity I would like but a very nice wine for sure. I did not want a second glass though. Like eating a luscious rich dessert that one or two bites is all I could handle. 50+4+13+18+7=92