So once again I was responsible for dinner Friday. I had defrosted a
big thing of some very good ham we had saved a couple months ago, and
was trying to think of a plan. Somehow I started thinking about potato
salad with ham in it, though I never remember eating such a thing
(sounds straight out of a Garrison Keillor church potluck). When the
Cooks Illustrated weekly email arrived that afternoon with a recipe
for "French style potato salad, " I decided to give it a try. It turns
out that adding ham to this recipe (with green beans and a mustard
vinaigrette) works pretty well. Ham and mustard both suggest Riesling
to me, so I went with the 2004 Willi Schaefer Estate Riesling. Bright
and light, citrus (lime) fruit dominates, but little hints of apple
and mineral. Fairly sweet, but the acidity totally balances it out, it
goes down quickly without the sweetness standing out at all. 9% ABV,
perfect summer quaffer. Not complex, but delicious. B++

Saturday we had some good friends over for dinner. Betsy made a James
Boyce recipe for tomato/lobster/corn salad as first course, and we had
the 2002 Donabaum "Spitzer Point" Gruner Veltliner Smaragd. Much more
open than previous bottle of this, there's broad yellow plum fruit
with a touch of green pea. Some pepper and ginger notes, there's a
mineral/flinty base, but more fruity than earlier bottles. Good
acidity stands up to the tomato and citrus zest in the salad, but the
texture is broad enough for the lobster. B+

Main course was grilled strip steaks over an arugula/caper/horseradish
salad, with a side of "zucchini carpaccio' (mandolined strips of
zucchini in a marinade with avocado and pistachios). With the wine
internet contretemps re ESJ this week, I thought it a good time to
open the 2001 Edmunds St. John "Wylie-Fenaughty" Syrah. A bit tight
(and a bit light) when first opened, luckily I had allowed a couple of
hours before serving time for aeration. Perfect for the steaks and the
piquant salad. Dark berry and cherry fruit, some smoke and earth, a
little herb. Medium-framed, but mouthfilling. Good acidity, the fruit
balances it out nicely. Tannins are present, but ripe and supple. I
really enjoyed this (as did others). But then I've always been a bit
low brow (I like the Rocks and Gravel, too). Fantastic deal at $16. A-

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.

On Sep 2, 5:24?pm, DaleW > wrote:
> So once again I was responsible for dinner Friday. I had defrosted a
> big thing of some very good ham we had saved a couple months ago, and
> was trying to think of a plan. Somehow I started thinking about potato
> salad with ham in it, though I never remember eating such a thing
> (sounds straight out of a Garrison Keillor church potluck). When the
> Cooks Illustrated weekly email arrived that afternoon with a recipe
> for "French style potato salad, " I decided to give it a try. It turns
> out that adding ham to this recipe (with green beans and a mustard
> vinaigrette) works pretty well. Ham and mustard both suggest Riesling
> to me, so I went with the 2004 Willi Schaefer Estate Riesling. Bright
> and light, citrus (lime) fruit dominates, but little hints of apple
> and mineral. Fairly sweet, but the acidity totally balances it out, it
> goes down quickly without the sweetness standing out at all. 9% ABV,
> perfect summer quaffer. Not complex, but delicious. B++
>
> Saturday we had some good friends over for dinner. Betsy made a James
> Boyce recipe for tomato/lobster/corn salad as first course, and we had
> the 2002 Donabaum "Spitzer Point" Gruner Veltliner Smaragd. Much more
> open than previous bottle of this, there's broad yellow plum fruit
> with a touch of green pea. Some pepper and ginger notes, there's a
> mineral/flinty base, but more fruity than earlier bottles. Good
> acidity stands up to the tomato and citrus zest in the salad, but the
> texture is broad enough for the lobster. B+
>
> Main course was grilled strip steaks over an arugula/caper/horseradish
> salad, with a side of "zucchini carpaccio' (mandolined strips of
> zucchini in a marinade with avocado and pistachios). With the wine
> internet contretemps re ESJ this week, I thought it a good time to
> open the 2001 Edmunds St. John "Wylie-Fenaughty" Syrah. A bit tight
> (and a bit light) when first opened, luckily I had allowed a couple of
> hours before serving time for aeration. Perfect for the steaks and the
> piquant salad. Dark berry and cherry fruit, some smoke and earth, a
> little herb. Medium-framed, but mouthfilling. Good acidity, the fruit
> balances it out nicely. Tannins are present, but ripe and supple. I
> really enjoyed this (as did others). But then I've always been a bit
> low brow (I like the Rocks and Gravel, too). Fantastic deal at $16. A-
>
> 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.

Apparently Schaefer bottled 3 estate QbAs in 2004, this was #1 (AP
ends in 01 05)

DaleW wrote:

> Saturday we had some good friends over for dinner. Betsy made a James
> Boyce recipe for tomato/lobster/corn salad as first course, and we had
> the 2002 Donabaum "Spitzer Point" Gruner Veltliner Smaragd. Much more
> open than previous bottle of this, there's broad yellow plum fruit
> with a touch of green pea. Some pepper and ginger notes, there's a
> mineral/flinty base, but more fruity than earlier bottles. Good
> acidity stands up to the tomato and citrus zest in the salad, but the
> texture is broad enough for the lobster. B+

It's been a few years since I've had this wine, Dale, but it sounds like
it's really rounded into form. Nice notes!

>
> Main course was grilled strip steaks over an arugula/caper/horseradish
> salad, with a side of "zucchini carpaccio' (mandolined strips of
> zucchini in a marinade with avocado and pistachios). With the wine
> internet contretemps re ESJ this week, I thought it a good time to
> open the 2001 Edmunds St. John "Wylie-Fenaughty" Syrah. A bit tight
> (and a bit light) when first opened, luckily I had allowed a couple of
> hours before serving time for aeration. Perfect for the steaks and the
> piquant salad. Dark berry and cherry fruit, some smoke and earth, a
> little herb. Medium-framed, but mouthfilling. Good acidity, the fruit
> balances it out nicely. Tannins are present, but ripe and supple. I
> really enjoyed this (as did others). But then I've always been a bit
> low brow (I like the Rocks and Gravel, too). Fantastic deal at $16. A-

Thanks for this note, also, Dale. I have three bottles of this in the
cellar, having first tasted it in '06 with Rahsaan and Max H. in
Berkeley. It's fair to say that I severely underestimated it then, as
it is still quite unready. Thanks for the update -- I think that I'll
hold onto mine for a while longer (also a screaming deal at $16).

Your fellow low-brow[1],
Mark Lipton

[1] For those confused by this: In the latest issue of the Wine
Advocate, RMP slammed the wines of ESJ, calling one of them "low-brow"
and adding the remark "Where's the beef?" It has become a cause celebre
on the wine Internet.
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

"DaleW" > skrev i melding
ups.com...
> ...I went with the 2004 Willi Schaefer Estate Riesling. Bright
> and light, citrus (lime) fruit dominates, but little hints of apple
> and mineral. Fairly sweet, but the acidity totally balances it out, it
> goes down quickly without the sweetness standing out at all. 9% ABV,
> perfect summer quaffer. Not complex, but delicious. B++
>

Leicht mineralischer Pfirsich-Apfelduft. Süße, relativ klare Frucht mit
feiner Säure und spürbarer Kohlensäure, etwas Gerbstoff am Gaumen,
mineralische Noten, gut zu trinken, ordentlicher Abgang.

Light minerally Peach-Apple bouquet. Sweet relatively clear fruit with fine
acidity and noticeable carbondioxide, some tannins in the palate. Mineral
notes, good drinking, decent ending (literally translated from the German)

Very good, 80 points from wein-plus with their draconian evaluations

Anders

P.S. Willi Schaefer and son have done a great 2006. Any wine of that vintage
is a stunner... But he is getting pretty expensive, sigh...

D.S.

The one I described was A. P.nr 25831540205

"DaleW" > skrev i melding
ups.com...
> Apparently Schaefer bottled 3 estate QbAs in 2004, this was #1 (AP
> ends in 01 05)
>

Anders Tørneskog wrote:

> P.S. Willi Schaefer and son have done a great 2006. Any wine of that vintage
> is a stunner... But he is getting pretty expensive, sigh...

Anders, just consider yourself lucky that you're not trying to buy his
wines in a country whose currency just hit a 15-year low against the
DM/Euro

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com