Sing, O Muse, of limestone. Chalky, friable, pale as morning fog. Birthplace of great profundity, site of royal lineage (see Romanee-Conti, Sancerre and Mesnil). Humble rock transmuted into potions of absurd dimension.
The Scene: Leon Beyer, Sr., working the land his ancestors worked before him, joins his friends, themselves also philosopher-kings (it is France, after all) around a simple but tasteful rustic wooden table. They drink a Grand Cru riesling from his Pfersigsberg vineyard. The bottle slowly works its way towards emptiness. These men appreciate its spiralling scent of pear brandy and broken rock. They admire its marathon length, notes of dusty oyster shell and taste of just-right green apple. It's aging magnificently. They sigh blissfully. Leon announces to the meditative crowd, "I was think of calling it 'The Oyster-Shuckers'." The men cringe but give it the thumbs-up.
White wine of the month for May 2007.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
05 Mueller-Catoir Riesling Kabinett, Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten, Pfalz
My first love in Riesling, and very likely to be my greatest. You know how these things work out. It doesn't hurt that all the wines I've had from this vineyard taste like genius. They seems to coalesce into perfectly synchronized wines tasting like the creme(just the creme) of exotic, masala tea dusted orchard fruits, dissolved silver, agave liqueur and a microscopic fireworks celebration. Top that for insane taste descriptors.
Goddamn it's expensive kabinett, but it's so freaking good. Since it's an 05, the weight is a little higher up there, but it's actually not even at an 04 Spat in terms of body, which is a huge (and wonderful) surprise. I know that M-C is undergoing a transformative period as the old, great master has left and the new guy is from Schlossgut Diel (ewwww). I can't be certain if its because I've not tasted older M-C's that I can't tell the difference, but the new shit is that chronic. There may also be something to the idea that the vineyard can express itself through different winemaker regimes. Whatever it is, its awesome. My favorite flavors in wine are found in this bottle. But $38!!! Jesus!
Goddamn it's expensive kabinett, but it's so freaking good. Since it's an 05, the weight is a little higher up there, but it's actually not even at an 04 Spat in terms of body, which is a huge (and wonderful) surprise. I know that M-C is undergoing a transformative period as the old, great master has left and the new guy is from Schlossgut Diel (ewwww). I can't be certain if its because I've not tasted older M-C's that I can't tell the difference, but the new shit is that chronic. There may also be something to the idea that the vineyard can express itself through different winemaker regimes. Whatever it is, its awesome. My favorite flavors in wine are found in this bottle. But $38!!! Jesus!
2002 Heymann-Loewenstein Riesling "Uhlen R", Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Bought this on closeout from Eric at Chambers. Very cool shit. Grand Cru, Grosses Gewachs trocken Riesling that has no problem balancing its tremendous must weight with power and focus on the palate. Already a roiling, dieselly mass of violet and apple fruit, it seems likely to careen into the future on a relatively safe rail. The violet is what gets me. It's such a rhoney, garriguey kind of aroma, I guess I never expect it in whites. Even chenin produces something more akin to the nondescriptor "white flowers."
It has that dried honey, overweight German plutocrat kind of structure, but almost like what a normal lieblich Spatlese could taste like with 15 years to dry it out. But it lacks that museum dust and slight astringence that I've got from the fatless Spatleses with age. Still vibrant and complete. Normally a wine that's meant to retail for $50+, I bought 3cs cheap and sell it for half that.
As a side note, the website of the producer is cleanly designed, multilingual and a great resource for slate porn and other wells of interest for Riesling-philes. Highly recommended. Here, I discovered that the vineyard sits on martian-looking meteorite stone at 115% inclination. Badass.
It has that dried honey, overweight German plutocrat kind of structure, but almost like what a normal lieblich Spatlese could taste like with 15 years to dry it out. But it lacks that museum dust and slight astringence that I've got from the fatless Spatleses with age. Still vibrant and complete. Normally a wine that's meant to retail for $50+, I bought 3cs cheap and sell it for half that.
As a side note, the website of the producer is cleanly designed, multilingual and a great resource for slate porn and other wells of interest for Riesling-philes. Highly recommended. Here, I discovered that the vineyard sits on martian-looking meteorite stone at 115% inclination. Badass.
2005 Hexamer Riesling Spatlese, Schlossboeckelheimer in der Felsen, Nahe
Matt told me this would be in my wheelhouse, and boy was he ever right. I did taste it before and buy it, Matt. Gorgeous stuff. Nahe rieslings come closest to ambrosial heights as any region of German wine. Misty mineral strawberry peach lemonade. It makes me think of plucking a perfect, dew-laden berry in a fog-shrouded glade in elf territory. Although elf territory is politically neutral, there are great risks involved with traversing there, notably bags under the eyes and tooth sensitivity of epic proportions. This one looks like it could age with grace and confidence for a couple decades, like a young, composed Ribera del Duero. Definitely gonna buy more of this stuff.
Monday, April 23, 2007
2006 Pey-Marin Riesling "The Shell Mound", Marin County, California
I can't divorce my sense of this wine from the sense of my interaction with Sue Pey when I tasted it. Weird, isn't it. In trying to talk to Sue, the conversation was so disjointed, off-kilter and unnatural, that the wine came across that way as well. It seemed to be starting and stopping and changing directions and speeds frequently. It's very aromatic for riesling, almost in a Chenin-y kind of way, because it's got a Creamsicle/orange blossom aroma that's very floral, but also very translucent-top-with-no-bra. It's feminine, but forthright, like a Cougar.
The wine shifts gears, showing off a lot of different attributes but few that I typically associate with riesling. It's very steely, very tangy, very minerally, very very. It comes from a celebrated German clone called Neustadt 90 (which Sue types up in a very Teutonic font). It leaves a long, dry, chalky streak across the tongue with it's acidity. I'm not sure if I like it. It seems like it would appeal to a grapefruit eater. It seems to include all the elements of a good white wine, that they'd all be necessary ingredients, but I didn't see, er, taste, the transitions, the integration, the whole.
That said, I would still drink a lot of it. The Shell Mound (named because the area was submerged in prehistoric times, leaving a lot of ocean-floor buildup in the soils) tastes like a hypothetical Loire or Marlborough Riesling that is wound up, tightroping and on tippy-toes. I bought 2 cases. $23
The wine shifts gears, showing off a lot of different attributes but few that I typically associate with riesling. It's very steely, very tangy, very minerally, very very. It comes from a celebrated German clone called Neustadt 90 (which Sue types up in a very Teutonic font). It leaves a long, dry, chalky streak across the tongue with it's acidity. I'm not sure if I like it. It seems like it would appeal to a grapefruit eater. It seems to include all the elements of a good white wine, that they'd all be necessary ingredients, but I didn't see, er, taste, the transitions, the integration, the whole.
That said, I would still drink a lot of it. The Shell Mound (named because the area was submerged in prehistoric times, leaving a lot of ocean-floor buildup in the soils) tastes like a hypothetical Loire or Marlborough Riesling that is wound up, tightroping and on tippy-toes. I bought 2 cases. $23
Monday, April 16, 2007
04 Schmitges Riesling Spatlese, Erdener Treppchen, MSR, Germany
Was recommended this one by Joe at DeeVine - if I recall correctly, they are the first US distributors for Schmitges, which always makes me giggle - I think of the Schmitt's Gay commercial from Saturday Night Live in the mid 90's.
Nice, slick modernist packaging makes me believe this is not an old operation. A narrow waistband label sits at the bottom of a flat, flared bottle. It has a distinctive look. 7.5% ABV.
Was excited about '04 Spat as I'm cultivating my taste and I find that the higher I can drive the acidity in wines, the more I'm able to distinguish the different expressions in the wine as well as the different acts in the play. So to speak. A fat wine with little acid or submerged acid is almost a chore to understand. I've literally had to work it around the mouth, wearing away the sort of silicone sweetness until I could get to the inner core. I see now why some people describe this as baby fat. It really does obscure the wine.
True enough, it's an exciting wine and a great deal for that kind of juice. It pops out of it's top with old-vine thick, punchy aromas. It smells so strong, it makes one think of a wildflower honey, syrup or glaze. It's almost heady. I like it when there's some horsepower to the nose. I drink it and it's great. Really dynamic. Lots of acid play all throughout, and it does different things. At the outset, it's almost like it primes/awakens the taste buds. Then it hits a strong tropical sour note to get the mouth watering. This releases a bunch of mixed apple flavors, pineapple, a variety of hints of more tropical, custardy flavors I can't nail down, and then bursts in another phase of acidity, this time with a gush of limoncello flavor. Like a great lemonade or lemon liqueur.
I think it's a good find, and can be purchased from my store or directly from DeeVine in SF.
Nice, slick modernist packaging makes me believe this is not an old operation. A narrow waistband label sits at the bottom of a flat, flared bottle. It has a distinctive look. 7.5% ABV.
Was excited about '04 Spat as I'm cultivating my taste and I find that the higher I can drive the acidity in wines, the more I'm able to distinguish the different expressions in the wine as well as the different acts in the play. So to speak. A fat wine with little acid or submerged acid is almost a chore to understand. I've literally had to work it around the mouth, wearing away the sort of silicone sweetness until I could get to the inner core. I see now why some people describe this as baby fat. It really does obscure the wine.
True enough, it's an exciting wine and a great deal for that kind of juice. It pops out of it's top with old-vine thick, punchy aromas. It smells so strong, it makes one think of a wildflower honey, syrup or glaze. It's almost heady. I like it when there's some horsepower to the nose. I drink it and it's great. Really dynamic. Lots of acid play all throughout, and it does different things. At the outset, it's almost like it primes/awakens the taste buds. Then it hits a strong tropical sour note to get the mouth watering. This releases a bunch of mixed apple flavors, pineapple, a variety of hints of more tropical, custardy flavors I can't nail down, and then bursts in another phase of acidity, this time with a gush of limoncello flavor. Like a great lemonade or lemon liqueur.
I think it's a good find, and can be purchased from my store or directly from DeeVine in SF.
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