Browse Tag

sweet

My zinger

[vineyard]Emrich-Schönleber 1999 Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Auslese 24 00 (Nahe) – Sweet and trying to be crisp, but somehow muted and gauzy. Closed? I’m not quite sure what’s going on here. (4/08)

Ferris von Buhl’s day off

[riesling]von Buhl 1996 Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Auslese 35 97 (Pfalz) – Massive, roboticized apple in a sheath of brilliant metallicism, firing laser-beam acidity at all who approach. Shiny and terrific. (4/08)

Love in the time of Calera

[label]Calera 2006 “Dessert” Viognier (Mt. Harlan) – Sweet apricot and a lilt of tulips, clean and well-made, perhaps even refreshing, but in the end it says nothing of particular interest. (4/08)

Juscle a little Jurançon

Vigneau la Juscle Jurançon Moelleux (Southwest France) – There’s no vintage listed, nor is there a specific cuvee indicated, and I don’t even get to see the bottle…not that it really matters. For all I know, this isn’t even Jurançon, though it tastes like it might be. It tastes of light apricot and peanut, faint but clean, and the effect is more refreshing than luscious. It’s not worth a second look, but it serves its current purpose quite nicely. (10/06)

Jeanne Gris or Dark Phoenix?

Trimbach 2000 Pinot Gris “Hommage à Jeanne” (Alsace) – Crystal and pear, lightly sweet with an icy glacier of structure. Steel and quartz shards. Terrific acidity. This has the aromatics of pinot gris but all the structure of a great riesling. Fantastic. (2/08)

Coutet d’etat

Coutet 2002 Sauternes-Barsac (Bordeaux) – Cinnamon and nutmeg. Juicy and light. To be honest, drinking Sauternes and/or Barsac at this stage is somewhat of a waste, because they never show what’s ultimately compelling about them. (2/08)

Climens and take a ride

Climens 1996 Barsac (Bordeaux) – Silky lemon and orange, well-spiced. Gentle and long, though there’s a soapy note to the finish. Elegant, but the rot here isn’t quite as noble as it should be. (2/08)

N-ice wine

[vineyard]Mission Hill 2004 Riesling Icewine “Reserve” (Okanagan Valley) – Terrific. Intense and pure, with an explosion of molten steel and iron flakes in an incredibly concentrated ripe apple syrup, but with fine acidity providing lightness and breathing space. As ever with icewine, I don’t know that it will age, but it’s so good right now, why bother? (3/08)

Jerry

[bees]Honey Gardens “Traditional” Mead (Vermont) – I don’t have a firm handle on how to talk about mead quality. This is less overtly sweet than some, showing more honeycomb than honey (raw honey, beeswax), with a mown hay and vegetal underpinning. It’s an easy drink, though without much of a finish. It tastes, to my palate, not unlike a cheap Layon, such as one might find from a cooperative, and it might be fun to serve it blind. I’d buy it again, though without enthusiasm; I guess that’s as close as I’m going to come to a qualitative assessment. (3/08)