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DaleW DaleW is offline
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Default WTN: BiL's 50th, w/'59 Primitivo, plus Burg, Germans, "old" CdP,Bdx, Loire, Prosecco

On Sep 14, 10:10*am, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> On Sep 14, 9:29 am, DaleW > wrote:
>
>
>
>
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> > Last night Betsy's sister had a surprise 50th birthday party for her
> > husband. Despite it being 2 weeks before actual birthday, I think he
> > was suspicous when his quartet insisted on a long rehearsal right
> > before leaving this AM for some concerts in Bogota. Still, I think he
> > was mostly surprised to come home to couple dozen friends and some
> > "boats" of sushi. Rather than have Katherine rummage through his wine,
> > I had volunteered to be the wine supplier:

>
> > NV Sciarpa Prosecco
> > This was a blowout sale buy, and at $7.50/bottle I was happy to bring
> > over several. Light, citric, a little leesy, fine as an inexpensive
> > way to have bubbles, and decent match with sushi. B-/B

>
> > 2007 Pernot Bourgogne Blanc
> > Once again, just lovely, a midweight Burg with clean pear fruit,
> > excellent length for the level, wet rock finish. I bought a bunch but
> > should have bought more. B+

>
> > 2008 Geil "Bechtheimer Heiligkreuz" Scheurebe Kabinett (Rheinhessen)
> > (front label just Scheurebe Kab, back has vineyard)
> > Exotic fruit cocktail of a wine, sweet oranges, mangoes, a limey note
> > from the excellent acids. Not very long, but very good for $12-13 I
> > paid for this. B+/B

>
> > 2008 Willi Schaefer Riesling QbA
> > Wow, what a QbA! Just a hint of CO2, pretty Granny Smith and lime
> > fruit, very light, slatey/flinty. Brighter than sunshine acidity.
> > Floral, refreshing, delicious. B++

>
> > 2008 Pepiere Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Sur Lie
> > Initially a little austere after the Scheurebe, but as I adjust the
> > typical Ollivier style winner, saline minerality under clean lemony
> > fruit. She sells seashells by the seashore. B+

>
> > NV (I think, didn't see vintage) Anselme "La Fiole du Pape"
> > Chateauneuf du Pape
> > We've all seen this. The weird distorted bottle, the dusty/gritty fake
> > aged surface, the "torn" label. This was brought to my house recently
> > by a non-geek. You know, it's actually not that bad. Red fruits, some
> > herbs, a little leathery note, decent length. If it was in a normal
> > bottle that said 2001 Cotes du Rhone I'd have nodded wisely as if it
> > was just what I expected. As it is, certainly better than I
> > anticipated. B

>
> > 2000 Ch. Pericou (Bdx Sup)
> > For anonymous red wine, ok. For 2000 Bordeaux, rather poor. Red plum
> > and a little currant, a green/weedy note in background, a little
> > tannic rasp. Not very long. C+

>
> > 1959 Antonio Ferrari Solaria Jonica (Puglia) (500 ml)
> > I was holding this for Betsy's birthday in December, but she said take
> > it over (I have a couple other 59s in reserve). So this was released
> > about 5 years ago. The story is a Piedmont producer originally from
> > Puglia trucked a load of very ripe Primitivo to make a big wine. But
> > the fermentation stuck at 14%, leaving lots of RS. Wine then spent 10
> > years in botti, and then 35 years in concrete. OK, so I open it. Dark
> > color, but lively aromas. Toffee, figs, raisins. Some cocoa and ripe
> > berries. Kind of Madeira meets Amarone. It's sweet, but not full-
> > fledged dessert sweet. Powerful wine, thick. Pretty good, I'll give a B
> > + for quality, but an A for making people happy on occasion.

>
> > Fun evening, highlighted by a parody of S&G's "America" by a couple of
> > friends.

>
> > Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
> > wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
> > drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
> > promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

>
> Willi Schaefer has become my "go to" Gerrman maker over the last few
> years and I haven't been disapointed in anything of his I've had so
> far.


For me, too. Actually my "go to" list is a tie, pretty evenly divided
between Willi Schaefer, Donnhoff, and Zilliken. Selbach Oster is up
there too, I just see less. Leitz is my value guy. Haart, MaxGrun,
Prum, and F. Haag are great, but more occasional buys due to $$$.