TN: Riesling and Jura on a Sunday Afternoon
Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 11:56 pm
Felt ill Sat and so was looking forward to a light tasting of mainly German Rieslings. As usual though, things got out of hand and so another 6 bottles were opened. Way to much for 3, especially as the host, who opened all the Jura wines, found out he had pneumonia this morning
Pewsey Vale Eden Valley Riesling 2011 87pts
Pewsey Vale The Countours Museum Release Riesling 2006 89pts
Preferred the younger wine initially, with its exotic tropical fruit and its easy drinking style. Quite fruity though and misses the tension of a top Auz Riesling. The Contours needed time to open up. When it did it was a rounder, more complex and better balanced wine. Oily texture, just a hint of petrol on the nose, talcum powder, more lime than stone fruit. Quite nice and we actually finished the bottle, which is a good sign
Schloss Leiser Niederberg Helden Spatlese 2001 89pts
Schloss Leiser Niederberg Helden Spatlese 2002 93pts
Big difference in colour here, with the 01 having a touch of brown to it. Looks like its starting to oxidase. Butterscotch on the nose, but there is still bags of fruit here and a decided sweetness. The 02 was much paler in colour and much younger. Sweet peachy popcorn, but enough acidity to keep it fresh. Yummy and to me a liquid version of the Red Hot Chili Peppers “Californication”
Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 1999 91pts
Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuht Auslese GK 1999 94+pts
½ a percent difference in the alcohol levels here, but there is a marked difference in the tastes. The standard bottle again seem young, with unctuous fruit. Its not up to the 02 Leiser wine though and while it still needs time, its never going to have the wow factor that the GK bottle has. Despite being very primary, the GK is incredibly easy to drink. Creamy, stone fruit, but with a noticeable streak of acidity that gets you excited. Give it another 10 years and this will be in 98pt+ wine. You´d need incredible will power though to be able to leave it that long…
Dr Loosen Urzinger Wurtzgarten Auslese GK 2001 96+pts
Dr Loosen Urzinger Wurtzgarten Auslese LGK 2005 95+pts
These were both half bottles. The 01 was a class above the others for me today. Yes it had the sweetness, the joy giving acidity and the unctuous fruit, but there was a balance that took it to another level. I use this a lot with great sweet wines, but there is a sense of joy that comes when you taste a great one and here I was almost giggling like a happy small child at Xmas. The 05 might end up being a better wine as it had all the components of the 01, but the sweetness was just a bit too high and it needs time to better integrate. Both wines will continue to improve.
Domain Jaques Puffeney Arbois Poulsard 2013 88 pts
Domain Jaques Puffeney Arbois Poulsard “M” 2012 87pts
Domain Jaques Puffeney Arbois Troussau 2014 89pts
Ramon had never seen Jelles wine room, so we all headed in and Jelle asked the question “So whats Next ?”. I thought some 60´s or 70´s Bordeaux might work well, but in the end we opened up these 3. Puffeney sold his vineyerds recently and Jelle bought a mixed case from the local importer to see if any were worth chasing up. Shame he had already drank up all the whites, as I never find red Jura to be as interesting. The 2 Poulsard wines were opaque in colour and much lighter than the Trousseau. The 13 was my favourite, with a whiff of toilets, a lean taste of steel and cranberry. Natural wine lovers would approve. The ´12 Cuvee “M” was thicker, with notes of Rhubarb and wild strawberry. A better made wine, but I missed the funk. The Trousseau was the classiest of the 3 and much more like a good red burg. Cherry fruit, silky texture and a warm finish. Will age well,
Domain Jaques Puffeney Vin Jan 2008 87pts
Marie and Dennis Chevassu Vin de Garde Chateau Chalon 2004 93pts
Auguste Pirou Chaeau Chalon 1998 89pts
Jelle had 1 bottle left to test from Puffeney so sent me up to get the Vin Jaune. In retrospect his “Bring a couple of others as well “ was probably not the wisest of comments as we all had had enough. Still, one of the advantages of these wines is that once open, they can keep for at least a month in the fridge and generally will improve for the first couple of weeks. Generally speaking these wines are hard to describe as they are just so odd. The 08 had an exotic nose of banana and curry, but was surprisingly lean on the palate, with dominating acidity. The 04 was much better, with a curry/sherry nose and a layered, silky texture. The finish is long and salty and it’s a sipping wine that needs contemplation (and some Arbois cheese). The 08 had a similar complexity as to the 04, but the balance and the quality of the fruit was not quite there. By this time though, despite drinking 2 pots of tea, the combination of alcohol and palate fatigue had set in - I think I’d rate all 3 slightly higher if I tried them again next weekend.
Thankfully we did not finish all this – I´d be comatose in bed if we had. The 2 Auz wines came with screw caps and at the the end of the night I was able to fill 1 up with a blend of both the 99´s from Loosen and another mixing the 2 Leiser wines with the 01 Urzinger Wurtzgarten – which will be topped up by Ramon with another open 01 Riesling when he gets home. Tried in the past – usually when drinking magnums – and the plan is to open both blends up sometime later in the year. My guess is that they´ll be still be great…
Pewsey Vale Eden Valley Riesling 2011 87pts
Pewsey Vale The Countours Museum Release Riesling 2006 89pts
Preferred the younger wine initially, with its exotic tropical fruit and its easy drinking style. Quite fruity though and misses the tension of a top Auz Riesling. The Contours needed time to open up. When it did it was a rounder, more complex and better balanced wine. Oily texture, just a hint of petrol on the nose, talcum powder, more lime than stone fruit. Quite nice and we actually finished the bottle, which is a good sign
Schloss Leiser Niederberg Helden Spatlese 2001 89pts
Schloss Leiser Niederberg Helden Spatlese 2002 93pts
Big difference in colour here, with the 01 having a touch of brown to it. Looks like its starting to oxidase. Butterscotch on the nose, but there is still bags of fruit here and a decided sweetness. The 02 was much paler in colour and much younger. Sweet peachy popcorn, but enough acidity to keep it fresh. Yummy and to me a liquid version of the Red Hot Chili Peppers “Californication”
Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 1999 91pts
Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuht Auslese GK 1999 94+pts
½ a percent difference in the alcohol levels here, but there is a marked difference in the tastes. The standard bottle again seem young, with unctuous fruit. Its not up to the 02 Leiser wine though and while it still needs time, its never going to have the wow factor that the GK bottle has. Despite being very primary, the GK is incredibly easy to drink. Creamy, stone fruit, but with a noticeable streak of acidity that gets you excited. Give it another 10 years and this will be in 98pt+ wine. You´d need incredible will power though to be able to leave it that long…
Dr Loosen Urzinger Wurtzgarten Auslese GK 2001 96+pts
Dr Loosen Urzinger Wurtzgarten Auslese LGK 2005 95+pts
These were both half bottles. The 01 was a class above the others for me today. Yes it had the sweetness, the joy giving acidity and the unctuous fruit, but there was a balance that took it to another level. I use this a lot with great sweet wines, but there is a sense of joy that comes when you taste a great one and here I was almost giggling like a happy small child at Xmas. The 05 might end up being a better wine as it had all the components of the 01, but the sweetness was just a bit too high and it needs time to better integrate. Both wines will continue to improve.
Domain Jaques Puffeney Arbois Poulsard 2013 88 pts
Domain Jaques Puffeney Arbois Poulsard “M” 2012 87pts
Domain Jaques Puffeney Arbois Troussau 2014 89pts
Ramon had never seen Jelles wine room, so we all headed in and Jelle asked the question “So whats Next ?”. I thought some 60´s or 70´s Bordeaux might work well, but in the end we opened up these 3. Puffeney sold his vineyerds recently and Jelle bought a mixed case from the local importer to see if any were worth chasing up. Shame he had already drank up all the whites, as I never find red Jura to be as interesting. The 2 Poulsard wines were opaque in colour and much lighter than the Trousseau. The 13 was my favourite, with a whiff of toilets, a lean taste of steel and cranberry. Natural wine lovers would approve. The ´12 Cuvee “M” was thicker, with notes of Rhubarb and wild strawberry. A better made wine, but I missed the funk. The Trousseau was the classiest of the 3 and much more like a good red burg. Cherry fruit, silky texture and a warm finish. Will age well,
Domain Jaques Puffeney Vin Jan 2008 87pts
Marie and Dennis Chevassu Vin de Garde Chateau Chalon 2004 93pts
Auguste Pirou Chaeau Chalon 1998 89pts
Jelle had 1 bottle left to test from Puffeney so sent me up to get the Vin Jaune. In retrospect his “Bring a couple of others as well “ was probably not the wisest of comments as we all had had enough. Still, one of the advantages of these wines is that once open, they can keep for at least a month in the fridge and generally will improve for the first couple of weeks. Generally speaking these wines are hard to describe as they are just so odd. The 08 had an exotic nose of banana and curry, but was surprisingly lean on the palate, with dominating acidity. The 04 was much better, with a curry/sherry nose and a layered, silky texture. The finish is long and salty and it’s a sipping wine that needs contemplation (and some Arbois cheese). The 08 had a similar complexity as to the 04, but the balance and the quality of the fruit was not quite there. By this time though, despite drinking 2 pots of tea, the combination of alcohol and palate fatigue had set in - I think I’d rate all 3 slightly higher if I tried them again next weekend.
Thankfully we did not finish all this – I´d be comatose in bed if we had. The 2 Auz wines came with screw caps and at the the end of the night I was able to fill 1 up with a blend of both the 99´s from Loosen and another mixing the 2 Leiser wines with the 01 Urzinger Wurtzgarten – which will be topped up by Ramon with another open 01 Riesling when he gets home. Tried in the past – usually when drinking magnums – and the plan is to open both blends up sometime later in the year. My guess is that they´ll be still be great…
