Browse Month

April 2009

Gollum

[vineyard]Pierre Frick 2002 Pinot Blanc “Cuvée Précieuse” (Alsace) – Thick apricot with an incredibly dense texture that feels and tastes sugary, though I don’t think there’s much of any residual sugar here. Light oxidation only adds complexity. A really delicious wine, though one would be hard-pressed to identify it as pinot blanc. The next day, it has turned dark brown (it is sans soufre, after all), though this has no apparent affect on the organoleptics, which remain as the day before. (4/09)

VT prevention

Trimbach 2002 Gewurztraminer “Vendanges Tardives” (Alsace) – The first night, this is tightly-wound bacon-wrapped cashew and metal, with fine internal structure. The next night, it’s explosive, not yielding a bit of that vibrant structure, but much more generous with both the fruit (moving into orange and lychee) and the black-hearted minerality (coal and iron). Fabulous, though it will unquestionably need significant age to show its true qualities. (4/09)

Stop, look, Cornelissen

[vineyard]Cornelissen “MunJebel 3” 2006 Sicilia Bianco (Sicily) – A blend of carricante, grecanico dorato, and coda di volpe, served blind. There’s absolutely no way to guess what it is, of course, other than that it’s yet another member of the “orange wine” set, and this time much closer to actual (cloudy) orange than most of its cohorts. As for the wine? Mixed citrus, perhaps leaning a bit towards blood orange, with a very citric acidic presence. There’s a miasma of lambic-like yeastiness, a thick dryness that would appear to be tannin (though I might be misattributing something), and then an interesting interplay of peach and pomegranate on the finish. Papaya too? Sure, why not? A fascinating wine. I like it a great deal. (4/09)

Cornelissen to my plea

Cornelissen “MunJebel 3” 2005 Sicilia Rosso (Sicily) – Nerello mascalese. Cloudy to the point of muddiness, and more the color of iron-rich dirt than falling anywhere in the usual range of red wine hues. Tannic and short. Very tactile, but this is far less interesting than the white of the same name. (4/09)

Take a Sipp

[vineyard]Louis Sipp 1999 Riesling Kirchberg de Ribeauvillé (Alsace) – Good intensity. Wet iron and aluminum. Fully mature. There’s a slight soapiness that’s emerging as the wine loses what acid it had, which (given the vintage) probably wasn’t much. But it’s enjoyable now. (4/09)

Queer eye for the Othéguy

Othéguy 2006 St-Joseph (Rhône) – Tarred blackberry jacketed with iron. And dripping with blood, too, which I mean as a positive (not just for vampires). Hard – stiff, even – with fabulous intensity. Still, I’d be much more interested in this wine after some aging; it’s a bit brutal now. (4/09)

Scott Hochächer

[vineyard]Nigl 1998 Senftenberger Hochächer Riesling (Kremstal) – Elusive, like trying to taste wind. I should note that while I never warm up to this wine, its supplier mounts an enthusiastic defense of its qualities, and I might be in the minority as to its merits. The next day, it’s a little less emotionally distant, but despite a more active texture it still fails to appeal. (4/09)

Piri Mason

Nigl 1998 Senftenberger Piri Riesling (Kremstal) – Dry, dry, dry. Sand and powder. Yet, despite all this desiccation, it’s rounder and fuller than its stablemate Hochächer from the same vintage. But this forwardness comes at a price; the next day finds the wine turned to acrid brownness, and virtually undrinkable. Drink it quickly. (4/09)

Angela J.S.S.

Merkelbach 2001 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese 012 02 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Wine turned up past ten on the volume control, but here it’s not a bad thing. Green herbs and ultra-ripe apple, with metal in abundance. Still very, very young. (4/09)

Robert Clary

[domaine]Jessey “Domaine du Closel” 1997 Savennières Le Clos Lavau (Loire) – At first opening, the increasingly familiar stewed garbage and cabbage aromas dominate. As time goes on, these drift away, though only to an extent; even a day later, they still linger in the background. What emerges, later, is a sweat-stained minerality, like armpits in a mine, sludging its way through a wine with the texture of a dry mead. There’s some salt, too. It most definitely improves with air, and a day later it’s much more identifiably Savennières. That said, after much exploration, and not meaning this as a recommendation for anyone else, I don’t think I’m going to age Closel anymore. It just doesn’t turn into anything I like. (4/09)