Drinking with a guest

I had a guest yesterday afternoon. Traffic delayed his arrival until it was time to start cooking so he ended up staying for dinner.

Riesling Spätlese Serriger Schloss Saarstein 2005, Schloss Saarstein

This still had fermentation aromas on the nose, along with a bit of citrus fruit and that was pretty much it. On the palate there was some good acidity and reasonable richness, but it was staggeringly dull. No complexity, no vineyard character, nothing to grab you. It was wallpaper wine, it merged un-noticed into the background without providing any thrills at all. How disappointing.

Riesling Grand Cru Brand 2001, Domaine Albert Boxler

Corked! Bugger, bugger, bugger!

Riesling Auslese Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg 1999, Karthäuserhof

The nose was reasonably mature, with obvious petrol hints but still plenty of citrus fruit. It was quite a lot more mineral than the Schloss Saarstein, a reasonable degree of complexity here. The palate had ripeness and density, but it had the elegance and delicacy of a good German Riesling. Very good minerality on the finish which was reasonably long. Quite a good bottle.

Collioure le Séris 2003, Domaine de la Rectorie

The nose was very heroic, booze-tastic blackberry liqueur and cough medicine. It was a full-throttle, ripeness-bomb. The nose seemed a touch too butch, really. So did that palate. It was very ripe and booze-fuelled, with lots of ripe tannins and not much in the way of acidity. I can see this would provide a lot of pleasure to people who like big wines, but I like elegance, refinement and balance, so no thanks.

Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru les Gruenchers Vieille Vigne 1999, Domaine Fourrier

A lovely, perfumed nose of fresh Chambolle fruit, not in the least bit closed or awkward. Good complexity and a real old-vines depth of concentration. The palate was quite lovely: plenty of fruit, a good mineral character all framed within a stylish tannic structure. Whilst it had concentration there was real Chambolle refinement to it. This was a quite lovely wine with a good future ahead of it. Delicious!