August tasting Solihull Fine Wine Society.

At PJT's, blind as usual, we all knew they were Riesling.

Hugel & Fils Riesling Jubilee 2004 Alsace
A bright well made wine with a restrained Riesling nose, full and fat, hints
of lime and pineapple. Opened up after half an hour to reval more apple
nose.

"Steingarten" Riesling, Barossa, 2005, Jacobs Creek!!!
Paleand petillant, hint of petrol and sweetness, an awful mouthful of cheap
spritzer, a hen party wine. This is supposed to be a "Heritage" wine from
Jacobs Creek. The 2006 even got 4* in Decanter.

Maximin Grunhauser Riesling Kabinett- Herenberg, Dr Carl von Schubert, 2001
Pale straw with a few crystals, apples and pear nose, a wonderful zingy
mouthful, fresh fruit, excellent

Maximin Grunhauser, Riesling Kabinett- Abstberg, Dr CVS 2001
Stunner in glass bright, honeyed nose of pears and limes, full fat fruit and
good acidity. long........yum

Maximin Grunhauser, Riesling Spatlese- Abstberg, Dr CVS 2001
Bright and viscous, huge legs, an organic honey and apple nose, could almost
be a vintage cider, good balance of acidity and unctous fruit.....long, ?
too young, still more complexity to come?

Rudesheimer Kirchenpfad Riesling Spatlese, Joseph Leitz 2001
Bright, a strange nose of almonds and sherbet, complex dumb layers of fruit
and acid, too young, will be superb.

Nackenheimer Rothenburg Riesling Spatlese, Weingut Gunderloch 2001
Viscous straw, an amost botrytic barley sugar, orange peel nose, then a
mouthful of marmalade and barley sugar, cloying, not enough acidity

Maximin Grunhauser Riesling Auslese- Abstberg, Dr CVS 2001
Sang in the glass, just looking at it, you knew this would be superb, and it
was. At last some petrol and apples, some citrus. Wow, what an entrance of
fruit acidity and sugar, Fantastic. so long WOTN

Rudesheimer Kirchepfad Riesling Auslese, Joseph Leitz 2003
Very pale, a strange salty iodine seashore nose, not unpleasant, just
unexpected. A very sweet mouthful of sugar, hiding fruit, a little cloying.
Too young?

Almond Grove Noble Late Harvest Riesling, Robertson, S Africa 2007
Deep gold, a nose of rhubarb, rhubarb and more rhubarb, almost cough linctus
palate, bitter. foul...I thought it was an Ontario icewine

and then an afterthought, brought by a member, who had found it at the back
of his cellar.
Ch Chalon, Vine Jaune. 1976.
Bright yellow gold, an oxidised sherry nose of flor, almost undrinkable
after the Rieslings, searing acid and so dry. Yet two members got it on the
nail........the last time I had it was in Vancouver with Bill Spohn, I
cannot remember the vintage, but it was drinkable.

--
John T

On Aug 14, 6:02�am, "John T" > wrote:
> August tasting Solihull Fine Wine Society.
>
> At PJT's, blind as usual, we all knew they were Riesling.
>
> Hugel & Fils Riesling Jubilee 2004 Alsace
> A bright well made wine with a restrained Riesling nose, full and fat, hints
> of lime and pineapple. Opened up after half an hour to reval more apple
> nose.
>
> "Steingarten" Riesling, Barossa, 2005, Jacobs Creek!!!
> Paleand petillant, hint of petrol and sweetness, an awful mouthful of cheap
> spritzer, a hen party wine. This is supposed to be a "Heritage" wine from
> Jacobs Creek. The 2006 even got 4* in Decanter.
>
> Maximin Grunhauser Riesling Kabinett- Herenberg, Dr Carl von Schubert, 2001
> Pale straw with a few crystals, apples and pear nose, a wonderful zingy
> mouthful, fresh fruit, excellent
>
> Maximin Grunhauser, Riesling Kabinett- Abstberg, Dr CVS 2001
> Stunner in glass bright, honeyed nose of pears and limes, full fat fruit and
> good acidity. long........yum
>
> Maximin Grunhauser, Riesling Spatlese- Abstberg, Dr CVS 2001
> Bright and viscous, huge legs, an organic honey and apple nose, could almost
> be a vintage cider, good balance of acidity and unctous fruit.....long, ?
> too young, still more complexity to come?
>
> Rudesheimer Kirchenpfad Riesling Spatlese, Joseph Leitz 2001
> Bright, a strange nose of almonds and sherbet, complex dumb layers of fruit
> and acid, too young, will be superb.
>
> Nackenheimer Rothenburg Riesling Spatlese, Weingut Gunderloch 2001
> Viscous straw, an amost botrytic barley sugar, orange peel nose, then a
> mouthful of marmalade and barley sugar, cloying, not enough acidity
>
> Maximin Grunhauser Riesling Auslese- Abstberg, Dr CVS 2001
> Sang in the glass, just looking at it, you knew this would be superb, and it
> was. At last some petrol and apples, some citrus. Wow, what an entrance of
> fruit acidity and sugar, Fantastic. so long WOTN
>
> Rudesheimer Kirchepfad Riesling Auslese, Joseph Leitz 2003
> Very pale, a strange salty iodine seashore nose, not unpleasant, just
> unexpected. A very sweet mouthful of sugar, hiding fruit, a little cloying.
> Too young?
>
> Almond Grove Noble Late Harvest Riesling, Robertson, S Africa 2007
> Deep gold, a nose of rhubarb, rhubarb and more rhubarb, almost cough linctus
> palate, bitter. foul...I thought it was an Ontario icewine
>
> and then an afterthought, brought by a member, who had found it at the back
> of his cellar.
> Ch Chalon, Vine Jaune. 1976.
> Bright yellow gold, an oxidised sherry nose of flor, almost undrinkable
> after the Rieslings, searing acid and so dry. Yet two members got it on the
> nail........the last time I had it was in Vancouver with Bill Spohn, I
> cannot remember the vintage, but it was drinkable.
>
> --
> John T

thanks for excellent notes. A little surprised at the '01 Gunderloch
lacking acidity. Mostly great lineup, I'm jealous!

John T wrote:

Great tasting, John! What a lineup of wines. I'm not terribly
surprised that some of those great '01s are still babies.

>
> Rudesheimer Kirchepfad Riesling Auslese, Joseph Leitz 2003
> Very pale, a strange salty iodine seashore nose, not unpleasant, just
> unexpected. A very sweet mouthful of sugar, hiding fruit, a little cloying.
> Too young?

Too ripe, perhaps? It wouldn't be the first '03 to suffer that fate.

>
> Almond Grove Noble Late Harvest Riesling, Robertson, S Africa 2007
> Deep gold, a nose of rhubarb, rhubarb and more rhubarb, almost cough linctus
> palate, bitter. foul...I thought it was an Ontario icewine

LOL!!

I'm with you on the vin jaune, too. I love sherry, but...

Mark Lipton


--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

On Aug 14, 5:02*am, "John T" > wrote:
> August tasting Solihull Fine Wine Society.


> Maximin Grunhauser Riesling Kabinett- Herenberg, Dr Carl von Schubert, 2001
> Pale straw with a few crystals, apples and pear nose, a wonderful zingy
> mouthful, fresh fruit, excellent
>
> Maximin Grunhauser, Riesling Kabinett- Abstberg, Dr CVS 2001
> Stunner in glass bright, honeyed nose of pears and limes, full fat fruit and
> good acidity. long........yum
>
> Maximin Grunhauser, Riesling Spatlese- Abstberg, Dr CVS 2001
> Bright and viscous, huge legs, an organic honey and apple nose, could almost
> be a vintage cider, good balance of acidity and unctous fruit.....long, ?
> too young, still more complexity to come?
>
> Maximin Grunhauser Riesling Auslese- Abstberg, Dr CVS 2001
> Sang in the glass, just looking at it, you knew this would be superb, and it
> was. At last some petrol and apples, some citrus. Wow, what an entrance of
> fruit acidity and sugar, Fantastic. so long WOTN

Yes, Maximin Grunhauser often will keep well and can be slow to
mature. I still have one bottle of the 1971 Herrenberg spatlese, and
it likely still is holding well. Both the Abtsberg auslese and BA 1976
are wonderful rich wines from a very ripe year and still are holding
well. Also from nearby Trier, the Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberger BA
1971 still is quite good and holding.

> and then an afterthought, brought by a member, who had found it at the back
> of his cellar.
> Ch Chalon, Vine Jaune. 1976.
> Bright yellow gold, an oxidised sherry nose of flor, almost undrinkable
> after the Rieslings, searing acid and so dry. Yet two members got it on the
> nail........the last time I had it was in Vancouver with Bill Spohn, I
> cannot remember the vintage, but it was drinkable.

There seems to be little middle ground for Ch. Chalon and Vin Jaune in
general. Most seem to either like it or hate it. I still have a little
Ch. Chalon 1970 and 1961. It is about as intense and unique as wine
gets. To find something even more extreme, you likely have to go to
the eau de vie gentaine. I recently finally located a bottle of it
from Miclo. It has a very earthy bouquet that is extremely intense and
is made from long roots of the plant. I have read that those who
distill it often reserve one still only for it, because it leaves a
residue that gives nearly any other eau de vie distilled in the same
still as gentaine considerable gentaine character. I had to wipe down
the top outside of the bottle with alcohol after opening the bottle,
because it made the whole room where I store wines and spirits smell
of gentaine.

.. I had to wipe down
the top outside of the bottle with alcohol after opening the bottle,
because it made the whole room where I store wines and spirits smell
of gentaine.


gentaine I assume is Gentian?

JT

On Aug 15, 2:37*am, "John T" > wrote:
> . I had to wipe down
> the top outside of the bottle with alcohol after opening the bottle,
> because it made the whole room where I store wines and spirits smell
> of gentaine.
>
> gentaine I assume is Gentian?

I reversed an a and i but otherwise the spelling is as appears on the
bottle. The spirit was not from Miclo. I was writing from memory and
must have had another eau de vie in mind. I have the bottle before me,
so I will type exactly what it says. The label is in French only, and
for all I know Gentiane may be an old name used in some region of
France. Perhaps someone who speaks French well can tell us.

"Eau de Vie Gentiane Superieure, 45% Vol., Ancienne Maison Joseph
Michel, Marcel Michel Fils Succ r, Distillateur a Chapelle des Bois
25240". A small label on the neck says: "Chapelle des Bois, Haut-
Doubs, Franche-Comte".

I just sniffed the upper neck of the bottle and I still can detect a
trace of the gentiane, although it no longer perfumes the room since I
cleaned the bottle.