Browse Tag

noble late harvest

I once drank a wine named Maria

Villa Maria 2001 “Noble Late Harvest” Riesling (Marlborough) – 375 ml. Mixed apples, honeydew, and spikes – powerfully-hammered spikes – of acidity. Which are necessary, because the wine is intensely, almost neon-sweet, in a showily botrytized fashion. I think this is a really extraordinary wine when it’s fully mature, which this is probably a decade or more from achieving. (10/11)

Meet Cluver

[label]Paul Cluver 2007 Weisser Riesling “Noble Late Harvest” (Elgin) – This wine is so regularly impressive that I wonder if I’ll be able to hold any long enough to explore its maturity curve. All the elements for aging seem to be there: tight, focused granite-like minerality in columnar form, sharp fruit, vibrant acidity, and a long, glowing finish. Even in this ultra-primary form, the wine is a powerful expression of botrytized riesling. (5/09)

Paul Weiss(er)

[label]Paul Cluver 2007 Weisser Riesling “Noble Late Harvest” (Elgin) – 375 ml. Dense. Spiced honey and thyme. Powerfully sweet, but with the balance and underlying precision to support it. Really impressive, perhaps even surprisingly so. I’m eager to see what’s in this wine’s future. (4/09)

Paper late

Constantia Uitsig “Noble Late Harvest” (Constantia) – Light and pretty, showing sweet apples still shaded by their leaves. The finish is of reasonable length, though there’s not a great deal of complexity. (11/08)

Asara, storms are brewin’ in your eyes

[bottle]Asara 2003 “Noble Late Harvest” (Stellenbosch) – Botrytized chenin blanc. Aromatically beautiful, lush, and creamy, but it falls away on the palate. About halfway to being a truly great dessert wine; as it is, it’s very pleasant but uninspired. (11/08)