TN: Wines drunk during the Final

WINE TALK
1

2011 Ramonet Puligny Enseigneres - This was a couple of days old - I followed its evolution over those two days in the fridge, and it was consistently underwhelming. A touch too oaky and very anonymous, lacking concentration and aromatic intensity. A dud bottle? Provenance should be solid, it came from a good store.

2012 Schloss Saarsteiner Riesling Kabinett - From one of my favorite vineyards - I’ve never understood why this gets so little attention. This doesn’t have the depth of the 2012 Lauer Ayler Kupp Kabinett, or the explosive aromatics of the Prum or Willi Schaefer 2012s, but its not far off. Piercing, laser like acidity and a beautiful greenness - grass and herbs (more tarragon / borage than provencal)- underlie lime and pineapple. Perhaps the least ripe 2012 Saar Kabinett I’ve had yet, and that’s a compliment. Delicious.

2001 Chateau Beaucastel - Heat damage. Chocolate and caramel. Seemed ‘off’ at first and only grew more odd with several hours of air.

2000 Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot - Sweet plum and black cherry, lots and lots of rich chocolate, tons and tons of provencal herbs, and fresh acidity. VERY ripe fruit profile, but structurally this is fairly balanced.

2011 EMH Black Cat Cabernet - Leftovers from a EMH tasting that Corey had gone to earlier in the weekend. Excellent! Shows the warmth of the site with its black fruit, but this also is gloriously complex -at moments, this smells like crushing thyme leaves in your hand. Remarkably open for a young cab - perhaps not the structure for long agining - but this reminds me of the better mature bottles of Montelena I’ve had, so I’m not sure thats much of a loss. My favorite wine of the day.

2

I love the wines of Schloss Saarstein. Availability sucks though.

3

The 2001s are, IMO, among the wines of that vintage.

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I would not go that far, but they are very good.

5

No Malbec?

6

Who represents them? I can’t remember. Not Theise or Wiest.

7

Valckenberg.

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And Valkenberg is a mess.

9

Yes, it used to be Rudi Wiest’s distribution on the East Coast was the worst, but Valkenberg seems to have taken that crown now, hasn’t it?

10

By a long shot

11

This tasting was certainly much better than the game… [cheers.gif]

12

Be careful – you have two posters with German surnames (Buecker and Ammons).

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I haven’t opened any of my '11 Black Cats yet, but your note has me thinking it won’t be long!

14

I would say the 2011 Special Selection is way more “ready” or open now than the regular bottling being reported on here. I would describe my 2011s in general as leaner than my other vintages, but with a complex, herbal note that I am attracted to, and apparently Mr. Zylberberg was, as well!

I pulled the 2011 fruit in at a whopping 23.3 Brix early in the morning on October 3, which is by far my latest harvest to date. Around noon, as the fruit was going into the tank, the famous rains started. No, I was not clairvoyant, just fortunate!

15

Schloss Saarstein’s 1990 spatlese was one of my favorite from that vintage. Someone i tasted with back then had a daughter in school in Terre Haute and he tasted us on the wine and then took orders. Bought a bunch of 01s incl gka.