Petrus in Blind Flight of Four – Part II

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I ask the guy sitting with me, “What do you think about the first two wines?”

“I prefer the first over the second.” he said, “It has more spiciness to it and this is the type of wine I usually like.”

Said and turned to talk to an old chubby guy next table. Expressing also good manner, I turned also to greet and talk with the old man. He told us that he tasted all of the four wines and has already looked at the answer and the Petrus is the … Please stop! I shut my ears and continue with the third glass.

 

Third wine: dry red fruit, raisin and tea leaves. Sweet acid and beautiful fruit on the palate. Light to middle body with good elegant structure and a solid finish. Frankly, this wine came a little bit flat and a bit out of balance after the second wine. It seems it lack some charm. However, after leaving it for a while, the wine open up and there came the missing complexity. Smooth chocolate, fine vanilla and a touch of mocha. I even get some violet. And, and, and … the wine is gone before I could confirm it. Darn!

The problem I’ve always had when going to wine tasting is this, many great wines slip through my mouth unnoticed; too many. I mean not the opulent type but the type which you need to invest time and really focus your palate to try to understand and appreciate it. This seems to be again the case. The great quality seems to reveal itself too late. For me, wine is a living drink. It develops continuingly, not only during aging but also in the glass.

 

Fourth wine: blueberry cake is my first impression. Definitely a new world wine and probably a Syrah. The wine is fat, the body is full, the fruit is ripe and it taste almost like dessert, blueberry cake. It’s a powerful wine; however, it doesn’t at all seem too much. The fruit is very polished and precise. The acid is lively and bright. The finish is super long and very refined. I love it!

After all the wines were tasted, it’s finally the time to make a guess. Out of the question is the last glass. The wine is definitely a new world and has no merlot character. Sine Qua Non was my guess. I have heard of this wine and its rocket sky price but I would never have thought it would be this good. This is by far the best US wine I have tasted; full power with pure, precise and super elegant fruit. Next out is the third glass. Its impression is moderate tonight but my guts told me that there is something in it, some sleeping potential. However, my palate told me that the first two are definitely from Bordeaux and only two clarets are on the list. I go for Flor de Pingus, the second wine from the most celebrated vineyard in Spain.

Now only two are left un-guessed. Actually, after I had a first sniff of “the wine”, I was pretty sure that it was it. I have reconfirmed by sipping it and I was more positive. Yet, I waited and tasted all of the four wines. The second glass must be it. It has the preciseness, pureness and the clarity I associate with first class wines. Great wine has distinct personality and it imprint a “winemarks” on your palate. This is what this wine did to me and this is why great wines are so special and sought after.

 

The four glasses were served on a piece of A4 paper marked with number from 1 to 4. The answer is on the back of the paper. I flipped it and bang …, I got them all right! This rarely happened and, that night, I walked happily back home.

Petrus in Blind Flight of Four – Part I

One busy afternoon at work, I received a newsletter from my favourite wine merchant that they are organizing a tasting for their wine bar’s 6^th anniversary that evening. Looking at the four wines on the list and then at the numbers, I decided to go. Definitely, tonight’s going to be an interesting night.

 

First wine: spices, dry cherry and a bit of plum. Cool subtle minty and very spicy nose. On the palate, good and beautiful fruit with refreshing acid. Very elegant. Smooth middle body with ripe and firm tannin. Long good finish. Probably a Bordeaux but … not this one.

I entered the cosy, yet classy, wine bar at around 19:00. The wooden furniture was dark brown with light cream leather upholstery. The shelves and cabinets, placed along the walls, were of the same tone and full with bottles of fine wines and liqueurs. Right in the middle stands the bar. Wine glasses were placed neatly on its top in four rows waiting to be filled. The guest is just arriving and, since I went alone due to short notice, a waiter with a familiar face kindly asked me to be seated with another guy who also came alone. I thought to myself, “A guy…!!?! One on one!!?! What the hell. Drinking fine wines alone is like doing a hat trick with no one cheering on the stadium… And we who walk through the cold rainy winter evening just to take two sips of four wines each normally speak the same language and get along quite well. After some awkward conversation and a glass of tasty welcome Sekt, we decided to begin the flight of four which, of course, one of them will be my first Petrus. And, guess what……. it’s going to be blind.

 

Second wine: plum, black cherry and bit dirt with meaty and animal smell. On the palate jammy, almost fruitcake-like and very concentrate; yet, the fruit is very pure, beautiful and elegant. The plumy character is very precise and dominant. The body is middle to full with exceptionally silky and very ripe tannin. The finish is middle long, very firm and elegant. Although this is a very fine wine, I felt it lacks a bit of something. Could this be it? I wonder.

 

The list I read in the newsletter contains four wines, one from Ribera del Duero, one from California, one from Saint Emilion and the last one from Pomerol. To be more precise, a 2007 Flor de Pingus, a 2006 Sine Qua Non Raven Syrah, a 2005 Chateau Patris and a 2002 Petrus. Not a very good vintage though. 2002 is probably among the most moderate in the last decade and my experiences with Bordeaux wines from this year have always been so la la ones. Besides, the other three wines are as well excellent wines with fame, especially the SQN Raven Syrah. Still, I hope. it’s a Petrus… I should be able to distinguish it somehow. I read it somewhere long long ago. The soil the grapes were grown on is rich of blue clay.

 

to be continue.

Kuehling-Gillot, Niersteiner Pettenthal Riesling GG, 2008

I came across this great Rheinhessen Estate around the end of last year in a tasting of German Groesses Gewaechs in Siegburg. Its wines strike me with great mineral, ripe fruit and  smooth round texture, very typical to Rheinhessen.

Color: Light yellow gold

Nose: Smoky, dry-woody and petrol nose with lots of spice. Refined smell of exotic fruits, white peach and grapefruit. Subtle hint of flower in the background add this wine elegance.

Mouth: great mineral supported by full exotic fruit flavor. Very smooth, round and chewy texture with good balance and concentration. Finish like a good GG with mineral that grips and linger on your palate.

Laziness Got in the Way and 2009 Wuertz BiB

It has been almost one year since my last post. This is partly due to a lot of work, but mostly to my own laziness. Surely a lot of good bottles were empties, few bad bottles drained and many tasting notes jotted, yet remain unpublished. Lately, I have been on the search for wedding party wines and came across one interesting candidate, fulfilling both my “price” and “packaging” criterion. It’s a 2009 Bag-in-Box from an energetic wine-maker from Rheinhessen, Dirk Wuertz. And guess what … it even comes from a bio vineyard. This is going to be my first BiB and I’m really looking forward to tasting it. One 3 Liter box is already on the way and my tasting note will surely follow.

 

The box does indeed catch my eyes. Though, frankly, I would prefer a naked girls instead of ….. errrr a naked winzer.

Saar versus Mosel. Mineral versus Fruit. Acid versus Acid.

Versus, versus and versus. Three time versuses are in the title of my tasting note today. Both wines are from my favourite wineries from the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer area, now, of course, the three melt into just one Mosel area. The first one is since long one of my favourite; the second one, I just felt in love with only recently. One dominated by mineral, the other by fruit. One full and complex, the other light and refreshing. Versus implies competition but both wines today imply what a German Riesling does best; to truly and beautifully reflect the terroir, the interpretation of the soil and one year climate in a bottle.

Van Volxem, Volx Riesling Erste Lage, 2008

Color: Light gold.

Nose: very charming nose dominated by salty, nutty mineral with hint of spices. Aromas of riped fruit, apricot, orange and grapefruit, with subtle delicate floral scent. Very aromatic and complex with irresistable mineral tone.

Mouth: Luscious mineral with delicious fruit. The flavour is very complex and full. The acid is stunning; yet the wine is harmony due to a little bit of rest sugar. Great play and balance between sweetness and sourness. The texture is very yummy; round, full and creamy. Middle body. The finish is long with good mineral and, again, with great acid.

This is a really tasty and complex wine with intense mineral. The wine develops more and more after the cork is popped out. The sharp acid, typical Saar acid, is balanced out by a little bit of sweetness. This is actually the noticeable feature of the wines from Roman Niewodniczanski. This vineyard has a very long history and was in the old time a monastery winery. It was then run by the four generations of the family Van Volxem before it was bought by Peter Jordan in 1993, who operates the vineyard under the name of Jordan & Jordan. In the year 1999, Roman, a great-great grandson of the founder of one of the biggest beer empire in Gemany, the Bitburger, bought it and revitalize the vineyard towards its former fame under its old name. Volx Riesling comes from a parcel that was, according to the Preußischen Lagenklassifikation from 1868, classified as a Grand Cru site. The soil is dominated by blue slate planted with vines that are over 60 years old.

Clemens Busch, Puendericher Marienburg “Rothenpfad” GG, 2008

Color: light gold.

Nose: light fresh fruity nose; lemon and lynches. Subtle honey floral scent with a little bit of jasmin. Spicy cool slate-ty tone. Very refreshing.

Mouth: fruity taste with mouth watery acid with a bit of mineral in the background. Smooth soft light texture. The finish is long with delicate fruit and yummy acid.

This wine is really refreshing. Close your eye while drinking it and you emerge directly in the middle of a grass field, inhaling the beautiful and fresh summer breeze. The vineyard is located in Puenderich in the middle Mosel area. The Rothenpfad comes from a parcel in the Marienburg site dominated by red slate, resulting in a wine with a spicy mineral tone. Clemens Busch is famous for his sweet wines. One Auslese from 2006 and one Trockenbeerenauslese from 2007 is the regarded by Gault Millau as wine of the year. I have had very little experience with his wines but, from now on, I will not waste my time anymore.

Philipp Kuhn, Mano Negra 2007

I have tasted this wine in a wine tasting organized by one of my favourite wine handler in my town, AixVinum (www.aixvinum.de). And like always, it was really difficult to really examine all the element of a good wine, which it deserves, in such an occasion. Especially when you were faced with 40 to 50 bottles of delicious wines. So what I normally do is to identify which wine I like and bought it home to reconfirm it later. Judging the wines using only my guts or Bauchgefühl. Just like what Philipp Kuhn use to paint his wines.

Philipp Kuhn, Mano Negra 2007, Pfalz

Mano Negra means black hand in english and stands for the black hands the winemaker gets from making this wine. This is a red cuvee made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Blaufränkisch aged in oak. Both are not typical in Germany, the former is well-known world-wide, while the latter is typically found in Austria. Surely you cannot find such a cuvee so often.

The color is dark reddish violet. The nose is round, soft and refreshing with intense sweet fruit; cassis, raspberry, cherry and blueberry, complemented by spice, pepper, coffee bean and sweet vanilla. A really friendly nose that comforts you. In the mouth, penetrating acid balanced out by multilayered sweet fruit; ripe cherry and blueberry, made more complex by hints of coffee bean, spice and vanilla. The texture is light, smooth and round. Great and enjoyable balance, with good smoothing finish.

This is a really charming and easy-to-drink wine, with just enough elements to keep you interested without being too serious. What I like is the play and balance between two grape; dark heavy Cab versus refreshing Blaufränkisch. And all this is made more fun by the oaky elements. I had this wine after a really tired week and it simply cheered me up. It was just like talking to your close friends on a big soft sofa in a lazy afternoon.

Keller, Kirchspiel GG 2008

Here goes my first tasting note on my blog. A wine from my favourite producer.

Weingut Keller, Westhofen Kirchspiel, Riesling GG 2008, Rheinhessen

Color: pale yellow gold.

Nose: a little bit of everything. Subtle nutty riped fruit; peach, lemon and apple. Light hint of honey. Charming chalky mineral. Still close and very reserved.

Mouth: good fruit.  Seducing mineral. Dazzling acid. Great chewy texture. Middle body. Bit salty on the toungue at the end. Typical Kirchspiel. Great balance between mineral and fruit. Long minerally clean finish.

Sum-up: fine elegant Riesling with great chewy structure, dazzling acid and seducing mineral.

Wet my Mind…

I starts this blog mainly because of my passion for wine;  therefore, I will begin it with one of my favourite Quote,

“Quickly…, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever.” — Aristophanes

Surely my mind often gets soaky after a glass or two, clever words hardly escape my lips. As stated at the very beginning, the birth of my first blog is due to passion, not at all wisdom. Hello friends! Hello strangers!! Hello world!!! Hear me if you want to!!!