“feinste auslese†being one level up from “feine ausleseâ€Â, similar to Auslese Goldkap today). Bright bronzy old gold in colour; toffeed, honeyed and dried fruits / apricots nose, rich, ripe, and botrytis infused on the nose; honeyed nougat, ripe, candied apple, smoky from botrytis and long bottle age, still some impression of residual sugar, lovely balance and energy still. Long, long finish. Terrific. 97.â€Â
We’d been fortunate to procure a bottle with good provenance and decided to have a tasting based around it with some wines generously contributed by the attendees.
The setting was a small restaurant called Brio in Pyrmont in Sydney. This is about the 4th time we have been here and each time we come away feeling guilty due to the great feed we get and how cheap it is. The girls that work the floor are fantastic and add to the relaxed and happy vibe of the place. The zucchini fries are to die for, and the meatballs, and the pork belly and the calamari... (http://www.briopyrmont.com.au/)
We had a fantastic night, full of laughs and good banter, although it must be noted that the benevolent Lord Quercus Suber certainly was not amused tonight.
The Champers guy was running late as is tradition for the champagne bringer, so we kicked off in the Marcel Deiss, the final line-up being
2010 Marcel Deiss Altenberg de Bergheim
2002 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill
1949 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr feinste Auslese
2009 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault Les Perrieres
2007 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots
1979 Dominique Laurent Meursault Genevrieres
1988 Weinbach Vendanges Tardives Riesling
1983 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile SGN
1978 Bouchard L'Enfant de Jesus
1985 Coudray Bizot Croix Rameau Vosne-Romanée
1961 Mascarello Bussia Sottana Barolo
1964 La Rioja Alta Reserva 904
1970 Saltram Hydraulic Pressings
1966 Wynns Shiraz/Hermitage
2006 Antinori Pian delle Vigne Brunello
2005 Rockford Flaxman SVS
2012 Andremily
1998 Alain Voge Cornas VV
1976 Schloss Vollrads Auslese Weißgold
2010 Marcel Deiss Altenberg de Bergheim – First nose was all straw, this receded to a honeysuckle, marmalade, pineapple, with a hint of kero. Quite sweet and very viscous/glycerol in the mouth with a big finish flavour wise. I reckon it’s a very under-rated producer and every bottle I’ve had since the first has only served to foster my opinion on/of them.
2002 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill – One of my favourite big house champagnes, this was probably erring a little on infanticide. Opened up cheesy and sulphur laden, with green apple, bread, lemon and barley. As I was nosing it I am thinking wow this smells quite advanced for its age, then I took a sip, all acid, steely mineral and racy I was shocked. I’m like how can it smell like that, and taste like this, is Pol Roger based out of Jura now?
Really interesting phase of its life. 
1949 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr feinste Auslese - The idea was to have the Prum while our palates were still fresh so we opened it up early. Let’s just say once the cork came off (after about 10minutes of slowly working it out) I could smell the wine from around 4ft away. Except it was cardboard I was smelling, with wet hessian, everyone was trying to be optimistic and saying it is a bit musty and it should blow off. So they decanted it. After a couple of flights I asked them to remove the corks and stuff as I could still smell them, it seemed to get worse as more air got to it. So if you want to know what noise a $2K bottle of wine makes when you pour it down the sink, it’s glug, glug, sob, glug, sob, sob… so we had to soldier one and make the most of the night although all were disappointed. In all 4 bottles were corked of the 19 we had. Long live Lord Quercus Suber!!
2009 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault Les Perrieres – Sweaty tropical fruits, mango, with lots of oak and butter, lemons, grapefruit with hints of jersey caramel and brown sugar as it puts on weight in the glass. I must admit I found it a bit out of balance at this stage of its life. Hopefully the oak will settle down and integrate more. Also against it was masterfully balanced lower tier Coche in the same flight.
2007 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Rougeots – Not every day you get to try a Coche, I was saying one day we’ll have to do one double blind to remove any label bias I/we may have. This opened up with a bit of funk and interest. Nice sweet oak, mixed with a flinty touch of sulphur with lemon, citrusy notes. Beautifully balanced, (nose, palate, acid, oak), it’s like an explosion of happiness in your mouth
- seriously it just has this innate ability to put a smile on your face. The real sense of freshness, purity, linearity, as it almost dances across the tongue like Mick Jagger strutting his stuff. (cue the Mick Jagger strut). The man is a genius. 
1979 Dominique Laurent Meursault Genevrieres – Sesame seed, hummous,, pistachio a real Middle East vibe of Falafel and other spices. I thought it may have a touch of taint although none of the usual bloodhounds picked up anything. Really refreshing and tight with nice acid, lemons, grapefruit. Reminded me of a nice Corton. Had a nice length although the fruit was beginning to fade.
1988 Weinbach Vendanges Tardives Riesling – Rich orange marmalade, pineapple, with a slight tartness about it. Quite rich on the palate although impeccably balanced, a real freshness about it. Had a nice residual sweetness to bind it all together which I found interesting. Len nailed it when he said it smelt a lot sweeter than it is, we were kind of expecting a heavy Auslese style wine from the nose.
1983 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile SGN - Corked
1978 Bouchard Vigne de L'Enfant Jesus – Burnt rhubarb, cherry, iodine, lots of searing acid, with classic aged characteristics. This was lean and taut with the fruit fading a bit, although what was left still provided a nice length. I thought it was showing quite well for its age.
1985 Coudray Bizot Croix Rameau Vosne-Romanée - Corked
1961 Mascarello Bussia Sottana Barolo – I loved the label on this, like an old school spaghetti western movie opening titles. It opened up with varnish and nail polish, cherry, and a slightly oxidised nose. Lots of tannin and structure still with a nice tangy acidity. A medium bodied wine that had good length and flavour and a bit of complexity making it more interesting.
1961 La Rioja Alta Reserva 904 – Coffee bean, plummy with dark fruits, kirsch, very old dusty leaf vibe. Tart, clean and acidic making it really clean and refreshing, no mean feat at 50+ years of age. Really nicely balanced. Interesting to compare it to the 1964 I had a couple of days later. Both were amazing.
1970 Saltram Hydraulic Pressing Shiraz – This was a Peter Lehmann Cellar bottle from his personal collection, which had been checked and filled/re-corked by his son. So the condition and provenance of the bottle was beyond reproach. Amazing colour with virtually no bricking (we are talking about a 45 year old wine here). Spicy nose with marzipan, oil of wintergreen/menthol, peppermint a truly regal nose if one could call it. Very soft on the palate, yet it still had heaps of soft tannin integrated into the wine. This was just so fresh and alive - it just goes to show you what good cellaring can do for a wine. Brilliant wine.
1966 Wynns Shiraz/Hermitage – This was served blind, it had a really nice colour and nose and had me guessing early 90’s Aussie Shiraz. (they don’t tend to age that well in general without a bit of cabernet to bulk them out). Blackberry, herbal notes, eucalypt, really good structure, seriously the fruit on this was amazing. To say I was gobsmacked on the unveiling would be an understatement. A truly special wine, and for it to be showing as well as this from 1966 defies all logic.
2006 Antinori Pian delle Vigne Brunello – Sweet kirsch, smoky, black peppercorns, with a real sour/sappy feel. Dusty/grippy tannins kept the plushness of the wine in check. I enjoyed this, and given another 5-10 years it would be a very nice wine.
2005 Rockford Flaxman Valley SVS – Very deep garnet, raspberry, vanilla, white pepper, very rich fruitcake, very in your face, with a huge length, the tannins are soft yet insistent. This was a classic big Barossan shiraz yet it had the Flaxman Valley finesse which gave it a big bruiser sense of elegance, a bit like being beat up by Mike Tyson in a dinner suit.
2012 Adremily - As lovely a wine as it was, it was really served at the wrong time of the night in hindsight. With palate fatigue hitting me, this was like being hit by a fresh reserve who’d just come on at the 70min mark of a rugby league match. This showed really young and very in your face like the SVS. Blackberry, sweet cassis, very confected to my palate, in the end I had to give up and concede it was way too young, this is a huge wine at any stage of a night, very SQN which it has connections with. I think Kev took the remainder of the wine home? Be interested in how it showed the next day or two.
1998 Alain Voge Cornas VV – Corked
1976 Schloss Vollrads Auslese Weißgold – I didn’t take any notes on this. I remember it being a really nice wine - as always with the older German Rieslings.
Some pics of the pizza we got at the end of the meal, because it seemed like a good idea at the time...
