5/1/23 THAI AND RIESLING STUDY - Tum Nak Thai (5/1/2023)
Thai food and Riesling with good company. I may be copyright infringing on Robert's #rieslingstudy, but this was definitely a Riesling study!
I arranged three flights of wine to pair with the food served.
1. Champagne and Dry Rieslings with Appetizers (Egg roll, Chicken satay)
2. Off-dry and Medium Sweet Rieslings with Entrees (Pad see ew, 7-hour Pork Shoulder, Thai green chicken curry, Red duck curry, Pad ped fish)
3. Sweet Luscious Rieslings with Dessert (Mango sticky rice and Meringata)
Champagne and Dry Rieslings
The Kellers stood out the most here, with good reason.
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NV Stephane Regnault Champagne Grand Cru Lydien No 45 Lieu-dit Le Chemin de Flavigny - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
No detailed notes - opened as a starter for Riesling night. Bright grower Champagne with great acidity and purity of fruit. Easy to drink, really enjoyable. (93 points) -
2009 Weingut Keller Kirchspiel Riesling Großes Gewächs - Germany, Rheinhessen
Nose of herbs, fresh cut grass, white peaches, cut hay and honey. Still showing high acid, great balance and brightness. Mirabelle, unripe yellow peaches, cut herbs and grass, ever so slight RS and honeyed tertiary note that smooths the edges. Long finish, showing beautifully right now with great development of tertiary and perfect balance. 94-95 (94 points) -
2015 Weingut Keller Abts E® Riesling Großes Gewächs - Germany, Rheinhessen
Nose of stone fruit and orchard fruit, also showing aromas of tropical fruit. Really youthful still, high acid, long long finish (longer than Kirch). Lemon peel and yellow citrus pith, crushed rocks, wet slate, salinity, yellow apples, unripe peaches, grapefruit and pomelo. Good medium bodied, well balanced and showing a strong minerality of Abtserde. This is how a great dry Riesling should show, just precise and steely. This was the favorite dry Riesling of the night. I think this still has time to go, but almost as beautiful as I tried last year. 94+ (94 points) -
2019 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Großes Gewächs - Germany, Nahe
Very aromatic nose, bright citrus peels, pear drops, cut grass. Bold salinity, salted preserved lemons, lemon pith and peel, lean apples, slight crème fraiche creaminess adding to the medium body. This is absolutely a baby and needs time, just not able to stand up against the Keller's today. 92+(++) (92 points) -
2019 Dr. von Bassermann-Jordan Pechstein Riesling Großes Gewächs - Germany, Pfalz
Minty menthol nose with ripe stone fruit and cut herbs. Palate showing a slight herbaceous spiciness along with ripe yellow apples and orchard fruit, wet stone and minerality on the long finish. Good intensity and weight, just needs time to meld harmoniously as the fruit is still overly bright and slightly bitter. 91++ (91 points)
Off-dry and Medium Sweet Rieslings
Aimed to pair with the food, which these all did their job fantastically.
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2012 Karthäuserhof Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Kabinett - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Beautiful fragrant nose of ripe stone fruit and white flowers. Off dry palate of cream, ripe Gala apples and white peaches, elderflower and blossom. Beautifully balanced, not too sweet, showing really well tonight with good complexity and clean med+ finish. 92 (92 points) -
2021 Weingut Hermann Ludes Thörnicher Ritsch Riesling Kabinett "Monster" - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Nose of white flowers, white peaches, lemon peels, slight melon sweetness. Sweeter than the other Kabinetts tonight, but with a stronger slice of acidity to balance it out. Sweet lemons and limes, kafir leaf, perfectly ripe stone fruit, white flowers, salinity and minerality. Quite sweet and sour, with med- body, med- sweetness. This has very racy acidity, very interested to see how this ages. Quite complex and really good today. 92+ (92 points) -
2021 Hofgut Falkenstein Niedermenniger Herrenberg Riesling Spätlese feinherb "Onkel Peter" #4 - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Quite similar to the Ludes in that sweet and sour style of balance. Nose of salted preserved lemons, mint and elderflower, citrus peels. Salty sweet lemons, key lime and ginger lime, unripe white peaches, wet slate minerality and a very citrus/lime puckering acidity. Doesn’t taste very sweet with the bold acid, beautifully balanced but some age will also help mellow out that biting acidity. Quite precise and very lean for a Spätlese, med body. 91-92+ (92 points) -
2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Honeyed nose along with sweet ripe peaches and dried apricots. Medium sweet, tertiary notes showing fully developed with hay, honey, dried apricots as well as ripe yellow peaches and white flowers. Impeccable balance, despite the sweetness, the yellow peachy acidity cuts right through. Really good delineation of flavors. This is one of the best aged JJ Prum I have tasted, until the 2001 JJ Prum Auslese GK tasted later this night. 95 (95 points)
Sweet Rieslings
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2006 Egon MĂĽller/Le Gallais Wiltinger Braune Kupp Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel Auction - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Really intense nose of dried apricots, ripe yellow peaches, honey, brown sugar, and caramel. Luscious sweetness, balanced by high apricot acid, med+ body, long long finish. This one shows as sweeter and riper than the Prum GK, but shows a more complex dessert wine palate. Sweet sugary apricots, honey, canned yellow peaches, golden raisins, baking spices. Probably the most intense fruit notes tonight, with that great peachy acidity, just perfect balance and intensity. No signs of slowing down. 96 (96 points) -
2001 Joh. Jos. PrĂĽm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
Sweet ripe peaches, honey, cut hay, ocean air nose. Sweet, med+ body (slightly viscous), astounding high racy acidity! Amazingly balanced with tarty peachy acid cuts through the sweetness. Honey peaches, dried apricots, cut hay/straw, light caramel, elderflower/white floral notes. This is an amazing sweet Riesling, beautiful ripe fruit, an impressive intensity, showing no signs of slowing down. 96 (96 points)
Consensus of top three wines of the night:
Keller '15 Abtserde GG and Keller '09 Kirchspiel GG
Tied between the '01 JJ Prum GK and '06 Egon/Le Gallais GK Auction for third.
There was not a bad wine tonight, however. Everything would be great by itself on any other night.
