It’s not Riesling, it’s grauer burgunder, so it doesn’t belong here or in the German chardonnay thread, certainly not in the spatburgunder thread, and doesn’t really deserve a separate thread of its own, so I’m posting here because this is where I am most comfortable.
The 2016 Ziereisen Grauer Burgunder Jaspis von alten Reben was fantastically good with tarragon and mustard rubbed roast chicken last night. I mean, this was a pairing made in heaven. And the wine was pretty darn good on its own, with some matchstick elements on the nose, and an almost waxy texture, terrific minerality, good acid, and deep, rich, textured and nuanced palate. On its own it was surprisingly good. With the chicken, especially the tarragon, it was fantastic. I don’t really like Ziereisen reds very much, but this is an excellent wine.
Thank you! Our chickens are a strength, always perfect. This one happened to dry over three days, but we can get the same results with all day on the counter in front of Chicken Fan! Shown here in his guise as Capon Fan. The big fan was extra firepower.
This was perfect with King Ora salmon with dilled rice and just picked and shucked peas (the NYT recipe with a few modifications). The honeyed aspect of the wine married perfectly with the sauce on the salmon (basically a combo of mayo, honey, turmeric, garlic and hot pepper). Purchased from Kermit Lynch 20 years ago and cellared perfectly since. Just delicious.
German wine day at the locker, so I have something to post. It veered into Alsace riesling too.
My contributions
2017 Donnhoff Felsenberg GG - took a little while to open, this was singing
2001 Trimbach CFE - my last two seemed advanced, this was right on, just lovely
From Profish, a local wholesaler that also sells retail via a “meet the truck” delivery system. I used to buy it from Black Salt market but I save a few dollars/pound buying direct from the distributor.
Opened a ‘17 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Auction tonight, and it had that same over-the-hill, bordering on oxidized profile as the WS bottle. Two in a row could be coincidence, but now I’m starting to think it’s a vintage issue. Would love to hear other folks’ opinions on (recently opened) 2017 Kabi’s.
Edit: All the more disappointing considering the 2016 Abtsberg Auction I opened a few weeks ago was/is one of the best bottles I’ve ever had.
Edit 02: Opened a 2018 and it’s fabulous, like the 2016. Now I have no idea what to think. Judging by the MFW rating, I’m starting to think I just got two bad 2017 bottles in a row (my typical luck).
I don’t think it’s a vintage issue. Neither of those wines should be over the hill and the most likely culprit is damaged bottles. I’ve had several 2017 GGs recently that were great (admittedly not MSR wines, but still…)
But, maybe someone has some more specific knowledge?
Every 2017 we’ve had, albeit mostly dry, have been closed down, far from oxidized, with the result that we have not opened many in the last couple of years.
I completely agree, but I’m batting .000 with 2017. Definitely feeling gun-shy about opening any more bottles. For the sake of science, somebody needs to open a Prädikat 2017 stat!
I have opened quite a few ‘17’s recently. While the dry wines are mostly shut down, the fruity styles I have opened have been excellent - Shafer-Frolich, Dr. Thanisch Erben, and Merkelbach come to mind. I wouldn’t hesitate to open any based on my anecdotal experiences, at least at the Kabinett and Spatlese level.
I get that, but if the issue is damaged bottles (and not just shut down, which doesn’t match your symptoms), you should be eager to open them ASAP and clear out the offending bottles from your collection!
That’s the reason I’m torn…neither (2017) bottle was/is that bad. They just taste 20 or so years older than the vintage would suggest. I could see some people even liking it – “oxidized” might not have been the best choice of words. In fact, I’m going to bring the 2017 Grunhauser bottle to our local Riesling group meeting on Thursday and see what the rest of the crew thinks (along with other bottles, of course ).
).