Weekly Drinking Reports commencing 3/2/2013
Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:47 am
I reported on the forum earlier in the week in a seperate full TN on the charms of the 2002 Leo Buring Watervale Leonay Riesling (Exceptional/95 points) - a wine that has, hopefully, started a long and illustrious second phase of its life.
Otherwise, a raid on the cellar for this weekend's visit from a good friend, paid dividends with my first bottle of the outstanding Pewsey Vale - their 2005 Contours Riesling - another cracker that has a long way to go but is certainly drinking extremely well now. In many ways, it reminded of the sheer class of the Leo Buring mentioned above, just without the intensity of vibrant lime juice but with more astute minerality and a delectable flintiness. I predict this Pewsey Vale will be an excellent keeper as well. 93 points
Late yesterday afternoon we opened for our house guest a magnificent bottle of German riesling - Willi Schaefer's 2007 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spatlese #12. Rendering a ridiculously good light bright straw green colour, this wine's gorgeous aromatics of crunchy green apple fruit, lime, orchard stonefruit with profoundly good tropical fruit top notes filling the olfactories. So easy to swallow with more of a kabinett lightness in weight, racy acidity and a wealth of tightly knit but refreshing fruit flavours aka the nose. Finished long, crisp and clean. 93 points 8% A/V. This wine went ever-so-well with my hors d'ouvres of smoked salmon, egg, sour cream, caper and cracked pepper on a wafer thin biscuit.
With a delightful homemade frittata (Wholegrain mustard, bacon, tomato, carrott, zucchini, onion, garlic and cheese) we enjoyed the evolving complexities of Domaine Leflaive's 2000 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon - thankfully showing no signs of premox - yellow butter colour, perplexing integrated scents and flavours of fig and green melon with subtle but entirely mesmerising worked barrel character with a delicate spine of counterbalancing acidity leading to a most attractive extended finish. 92 points.
We enjoyed fillet mignon for mains and I served my last bottle of 1979 Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste. Outstanding, as usual, excepting this bottle just lacked the added depth of fruit found in the last few bottles. Still remarkably robust for such an aged claret and worthy of 91 points.
After a most remarkable dessert of baked apple strudel and ice cream, I decantered half a bottle of the 1971 Stonyfell Metala Vintage Port - a blend of shiraz and cabernet grapes and a legend in the making. This exceptional wine continues to excel with a great depth of colour in the glass, profound aromatics of carob, chocolate, licorice, leather, sweet earth and clean spirit lift followed by a truly memorable palate staining performance with explosive but controlled flavour, imposing refined structure and a mountainous finish revealing incredible pedigree and unrelenting persistence. 96 points!
Otherwise, a raid on the cellar for this weekend's visit from a good friend, paid dividends with my first bottle of the outstanding Pewsey Vale - their 2005 Contours Riesling - another cracker that has a long way to go but is certainly drinking extremely well now. In many ways, it reminded of the sheer class of the Leo Buring mentioned above, just without the intensity of vibrant lime juice but with more astute minerality and a delectable flintiness. I predict this Pewsey Vale will be an excellent keeper as well. 93 points
Late yesterday afternoon we opened for our house guest a magnificent bottle of German riesling - Willi Schaefer's 2007 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spatlese #12. Rendering a ridiculously good light bright straw green colour, this wine's gorgeous aromatics of crunchy green apple fruit, lime, orchard stonefruit with profoundly good tropical fruit top notes filling the olfactories. So easy to swallow with more of a kabinett lightness in weight, racy acidity and a wealth of tightly knit but refreshing fruit flavours aka the nose. Finished long, crisp and clean. 93 points 8% A/V. This wine went ever-so-well with my hors d'ouvres of smoked salmon, egg, sour cream, caper and cracked pepper on a wafer thin biscuit.
With a delightful homemade frittata (Wholegrain mustard, bacon, tomato, carrott, zucchini, onion, garlic and cheese) we enjoyed the evolving complexities of Domaine Leflaive's 2000 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon - thankfully showing no signs of premox - yellow butter colour, perplexing integrated scents and flavours of fig and green melon with subtle but entirely mesmerising worked barrel character with a delicate spine of counterbalancing acidity leading to a most attractive extended finish. 92 points.
We enjoyed fillet mignon for mains and I served my last bottle of 1979 Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste. Outstanding, as usual, excepting this bottle just lacked the added depth of fruit found in the last few bottles. Still remarkably robust for such an aged claret and worthy of 91 points.
After a most remarkable dessert of baked apple strudel and ice cream, I decantered half a bottle of the 1971 Stonyfell Metala Vintage Port - a blend of shiraz and cabernet grapes and a legend in the making. This exceptional wine continues to excel with a great depth of colour in the glass, profound aromatics of carob, chocolate, licorice, leather, sweet earth and clean spirit lift followed by a truly memorable palate staining performance with explosive but controlled flavour, imposing refined structure and a mountainous finish revealing incredible pedigree and unrelenting persistence. 96 points!
