Last week Gustav & Tove generously invited a few of us over for dinner, and we brought along a few bottles to try and match the superb four-course meal. All of the following wines were bottled under natural cork unless noted otherwise.
1981 Krondorf Eden Valley Riesling: The fill level for this bottle was fairly low, I think I heard it was about 7cm or more below the capsule. Bright amber/orange colour. The nose is lovely at first, with lots of spicy ginger, dried flowers/herbs characters and marmalade, gradually evolving to over-ripe bananas as it slowly maderised with breathing. The palate still retains that freshness that defies its age and the bottle’s condition, orange peel, marmalade and an amazing lick of milk chocolate, leading to a long grainy finish. Nobody could see this one coming, not even David & Pam – it set a high standard for the night that a few surpassed.
1995 Grant Burge Thorn Eden Valley Riesling: Dark amber/orange. Initially this looked promising, but very quickly it was damper and drier than the Krondorf, and while there was spice and lemon drops it never looked like reaching the same heights. Its best days are behind it, and was shown up badly tonight.
2005 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Gewürztraminer, Alsace AOC (Indice 1): Bright yellow. Lanolin/oil, sweet Turkish delight/musk and guava on the nose, later some fragrant lemon zest; the palate’s light and spicy with the same florals and a slender finish, the 14.5% alcohol sticking out with breathing. There were some elements that matched the Tom Yam Gong entrée, but it never really won me over as a whole.
2003 Grosset Watervale Riesling (Screwcap): Still a bright straw/yellow. Sweet nose at first with attractive nutmeg/spice characters, but then it tightened it up with more classic brown lime, toast and mineral characters, and later on tinned tuna. The palate was incredibly well balanced with zesty lime and cutting acid, matching the entrée perfectly. Outstanding, the best of the whites – any doubters of Grosset or the ‘03 vintage should get their gums around a good bottle of this.
2003 Fattoria Poggerino Chianti Classico: Light to medium blood red. Sweet raspberries/berries and jubes with a hint of cloves, red liquorice and carnations. A very nice, clean, medium-weight palate with all the features of the bouquet and a dry, tannic finish – an impressive wine, but it was well and truly blown away by the following, as was everything else I might add.
1974 Yalumba Christobel’s Blend, Signature Series ‘Claret’ (sic): Medium brick red. Ever changing – beautifully floral at first, then smoky, only medium-weight but chewy, velvety then silky, minty and gamey, the finish incredibly soft and long, revolving between savoury/meaty and spearmint characters all night. By all accounts a wine like this shouldn't have been made - in what's widely regarded as the worst vintage in SA history, the vines across the Barossa were literally brown (because of the downy mildew) and yet somehow this freak popped out. The 1975 Stoddard & ACI Trophies were quickly followed by many others, and apparently a gold medal as an aged release in 1999. This bottle was staggeringly good – David, who tried his last bottle almost 20 years ago instantly exclaimed 'it hasn't changed!'. One of my best friends who's a Shiraz nut and shared a perfect bottle of '72 Grange with me last year said this left it for dead. It breaks all the rules - I swear it's more like what I’d expect from a Grand Cru Burgundy, the weight, the length, the peacock feathers of complexity, the way the tannins literally melt into the middle of your tongue... It doesn’t get much better than this, WOTN, and for that matter WOTY.
2006 M. Chapoutier Petite Ruche, Crozes-Hermitage: Medium red. Ripe, tangy raspberries with a hint of animal hair and other funky characters surfacing with breathing; sweet cordial-like fruit on entry, but also some briar/herbal characters too, sweet cherry/berries mid-palate and a dry, tannic finish. Good, but not as good as the following wine…
2006 Aliain Graillot, Crozes-Hermitage: Medium red. Tangy raspberries on the nose again, but also some apricot and milled white pepper, later on Vicks VapoRub! Meaty entry again with some dried apricot, followed by a slightly smoky mid-palate and a grippy finish with a hint of stonefruit and creamy oak. It’s bigger than the Chapoutier but more interesting and better balanced – I couldn’t help thinking that this was a little like Cote Rotie though.
1994 Henschke Keyneton Estate Shiraz Cabernet Malbec: Light red. Liquorice and menthol, then sweet coffee on the nose, developing some gamey characters followed by black cherries and minty/green peas. Medium weight palate with all of the same minty/menthol/liquorice flavours, finishing dry but well balanced overall. A very nice wine at its very peak – time to drink up.
1997 Greenock Creek Roenfeldt Road Shiraz: Medium to very dark red. Inky, dark chocolate and violets, then jammy mulberries, sweet coffee/biscuity oak with just a hint of tomato concentrate in the background. The palate’s just as full-on, spicy blackberries and baked red fruits, sweet liquorice/cloves, pepper and some minty alcohol warmth, finishing with creamy vanillin oak. A hedonistic style that’s still holding up, very impressive for the vintage.
R.L. Buller & Son Calliope Rutherglen Rare Liqueur Tokay: Musty at first, and although the high-quality rancio characters did their best to win out nothing could quite match the intensifying cork taint. It’s a pity this was the finish considering the wines and meal that proceeded it.
Cheers
Ian
TN: Dinner at Gustav & Tove's place 9/8/08
TN: Dinner at Gustav & Tove's place 9/8/08
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.
Great notes as usual Ian. I generally agree with your notes. The Grosset was the best match with the soup and was my WWOTN. I had great hopes for the Zind-Humbrecht, but it was a touch too hot (the nose was fantastic though..). I also thought the aged rieslings were very interesting.
The Poggerino performed well as usual - a magnificent food wine. The Christobels was really special and was a humbling drinking experience (and by far the RWOTN)! Now I don't really care any more for not having tasted a Grange while living Down Under. The Crozes-Hermitages were good, but nothing extraordinary (I agree that the Graillot was the best one). The Hensche and the Greenock Creek were very nice and it was interesting to taste an aged blockbuster. The Calliope was generally deemed faulty, but I had problems with identifying the fault. I actually thought it was quite drinkable. I generally sense TCA straight away, but this one I couldn't detect. Maybe my senses were a bit dumb at this stage of the evening.
cheers,
The Poggerino performed well as usual - a magnificent food wine. The Christobels was really special and was a humbling drinking experience (and by far the RWOTN)! Now I don't really care any more for not having tasted a Grange while living Down Under. The Crozes-Hermitages were good, but nothing extraordinary (I agree that the Graillot was the best one). The Hensche and the Greenock Creek were very nice and it was interesting to taste an aged blockbuster. The Calliope was generally deemed faulty, but I had problems with identifying the fault. I actually thought it was quite drinkable. I generally sense TCA straight away, but this one I couldn't detect. Maybe my senses were a bit dumb at this stage of the evening.
cheers,
Gustav the Norwegian
"Progress is not achieved without deviation from the norm" - Frank Zappa
"Progress is not achieved without deviation from the norm" - Frank Zappa
