Saturday Betsy and I drove to Jersey City, where Salil had made biryani in Jay and Arnold's kitchen. We were greeted by a nice group with some great smells and plenty of wine.

1993 Ampeau Meursault Perrieres 1er
Young, full, and bright, with hazelnut and pear flavors. Holds up very well over several hours. A-

First up was a complex dhal, which I enjoyed with a couple of reds

1993 Bernard Amiot Chambolle-Musigny
Pretty, taut, tart at first, more expressive later. B+/B

1989 Faiveley "Clos des Cortons" Corton-
Good showing, ripe but fresh, big bodied, sandalwood and black cherry. Holds well for hours. A-

1985 Drouhin Nuits-st George
A nice argument for aging village wines. Fruit is amazingly fresh, some smoked meat and leather, nice finish. B+

1978 Keenan Cabernet Sauvignon
I've had good bottles of this before, this one had a thoroughly soaked corked and didn't show well. At first musty (though not TCA) and a tad fecal, that blows off and a couple hours later more dark fruit emerges, but by then it seems volatile. Wonder if I had tasted at one hour mark? C+/B- at end

There were a pair of Juras which disappointed, both excessively oxidated. The 1983 Camille Loye "Cuvée Saint Paul" Chardonnay Arbois out-sherried the sherries (let's say a C ) but I think I liked it better than the tired and somewhat dirty 1988 Camille Loye "Cuvée Saint Paul" Trousseau Arbois C-

With amazing chicken biryani and the best raita I've ever had, the flow of Rieslings started:

2004 Selbach Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Spatlese
Shows young and simple, leave rest to rest. B/B-

2001 Selbach Oster Zeltinger Sonnenhur Auslese*
Zippy, frisky, fun. B+/A-

2002 Selbach Oster Zeltinger Sonnenhur Auslese*
A little less lively than the 2001, but more complex and deeper at moment. A-

2012 Merkelbach "Urgluck" Urziger Wurzgarten Spatlese
Great acids, lime and mineral, excellent - couple of people buy online while tasting. A-/B+

2012 Selbach Oster Zeltinger "Anrecht' Himmelreich
Auslese level sweetness, full and rich, floral and citrusy. B+

1997 Alzinger Loibner Loibenberg Smaragd
I got next to last pour and thought "wow this was popular" Turns out it was a leftover bottle. Surprised me by showing sweetness, but that was probably because room temp concealed acids. B?

1969 Zilliken Ockfener Bockstein Cabinet Auslese
Good color in bottle, but darkens quickly on opening. Tired and dragging. C+


1976 Baron von Kaulbars Oppenheimer Sacktrager Beerenauslese
Light (in both color and depth) for mature BA, honied and simple. I feel better about Zachys breaking a bottle. B-/C+

2012 Peter Lauer Unterstenbersch Fass 12
Rather dry, excellent length, I tried this in wrong order! Big herby powerful. B+/A-

1971 Kirchmayr Neuburger Solist.
I think others liked more than I, but while I found the piney profile not superappealing, this is amazingly youthful- I had thought this was a recent wine. B-

Jay put out cheese and a beautiful raspberry cake,
1999 Durkheimer Hochbenn Muskateller Eiswein
Very sweet, straightforward, tropical and musky. Needs a touch more zip B
2010 Peter Lauer "Scheidt" Beerenauslese
Big, full, less botrytis driven than I would have guessed, electric acids. B+


(I'm unclear if this is a 1895 or 1898 Solera) Henriques and Henriques Verdelho
Apparently opened a year! Nutty, raisiny, delicious. B+

La Bota de Palo Cortado " 21"
I tried to give this a fair shake, but I just don't get sherry, I trust others that this is an excellent example, but for me a C+

I didn't try the other sherry, the El Maestro Sierra 1830 Amontillado VORS

Really fun afternoon/evening. Great crowd, and Arnold and Kenny made sure Betsy didn't feel overwhelmed by winegeekiness. Absolutely fantastic food, and lots of great wine.

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.