The other celebration passed a few days ago, the 10th anniversary of Editor Daniel moving into Elitistreview Towers to stop me doing bloody stupid things like the above. I spent a lot of that time too bloody minded to accept the help that was freely being offered and so still occasionally behaved like a fool, but Dani has kept me alive, cared for and happy in ways I don’t think either of us were really expecting. Thanks Dani, you’ve been carer-tastic and supreme-human-being-licious. You’ve also done sterling service removing the most horrifically offensive bits of my writing. Speaking of which…

Riesling Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese 2001, Joh. Jos. Prum

A tightly-wound, intense nose with only hints of maturity. The fruit is ripe but incredibly fresh and vibrant – indeed the major impression from the nose is one of vivacity. The slate-minerality is pure and focussed and, whilst it is definitely linear and direct, it positively throbs with complexity. There are intellectual thrills on the nose and it is also simply gorgeous in a transparently desirable manner. Hell’s bells! What a lot going on on the palate! Where to start? It’s pant-pooingly acidic, that much is certain, and it’s tooth-fizzing, tonsil-scalding ferocity is wonderfully enhanced by a stunningly pure, forcefully intense minerality. Yeah, it hurts quite a lot, but it is improving pain. Actually this makes me begin to wonder if one day I might enjoy someone giving me a good seeing-to with a cane, but I’ll save that discussion for later. The fruit is perfectly ripe with a suggestion of being buxom, but such is the focussed purity of the acidity and minerality this seems perfectly in balance and even it’s impressive amount of sugar seems almost hidden. It’s harmony is sublime and it’s charged with life. I could think about this wine and analyse its brilliance for an age, but I’m more in the mood to throw myself into it’s electro-sex-ravishment experience and revel in an wine that may be able to ask deep existential questions but it equally happy to get its kit off and get down to the business. I have no doubt you could age this for incredible periods of time, but I have no regrets about popping and enjoying this bottle at this juncture.

As an aside, 2001 is a truly great, mind-bendingly brilliant vintage for M-S-R Riesling: I bloody love them. 2009 was a great vintage but they don’t quite have the nervy, high-voltage thrills of the 01s. I think, indeed I’m pretty sure, the 2010s do. This wine was such a success I think I may open one of my Erben-Thanisch Berncasteler-Doctor Auslese 2001s soon; that’ll be electric sex pants turned up to 11!

In recent years I have had a lot of time for the wines of Karthauserhof. They are making extremely good examples of Ruwer wines and not charging the Earth for them. Buy a bottle and you are pretty much guaranteed a good serving of Riesling gratification. Keep your eyes open and snap them up.

Riesling Auslese Nr 31 Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg 2005, Weingut Karthauserhof/Tyrell

Great name, eh? The nose is better, with ripe, pure lime fruit, a hint of botrytised apricot tones and a focussed, direct, slate minerality. The aromas are highly attractive and, even though I am normally the first to point out that one cannot smell acidity, when I sniff this I know its going to cause me serious pain. Wehay! It really has the nose of an extremely mirth-provoking wine and by my big bum I want to get drinking. Wehay again, it is delicious! There is plenty of perfectly ripe citrus fruit, a lot of sugar and an absolute bastard load of acidity that keeps the focus and balance spot on whilst delivering so much stomach-scalding pain I wish I had committed acts sufficiently louche and dissolute to deserve such agonising punishment – imagine how much fun that would be! A joy to drink, I recommend any member of The Wine Society visit their website now and cough up as many multiples as you can of the almost rudely low price of £26 per bottle to score some for general pleasuring purposes. Non-members and readers from lands beyond the sea will have to find their own sources, and you bloody well should with definite alacrity. It’s certainly up for drinking now with much merriment, but will keep for quite a few years.

Now I have been as glowing and positive about this wine as it deserves, it does merit you buying it without a doubt, I feel safe raising a hyper-critical point that is knocking around my mind. Whilst this is a hugely enjoyable drink, it is not one of the world’s great wines. It’d be a bit much to expect it to be for £26. Really great, supremely fine wines have a slight unhinged intensity to them, there is more than a suggestion of terror involved in their complex harmony. This wine doesn’t have that; it is just a little bit too nice. It’s is more Tony Blair than Margaret Thatcher so maybe a more crowd-pleasing guest at the dinner table but not as commandingly inspiring when it comes to getting Argentine ships torpedoed. Of course, there is the requirement for both: sometimes you need something terribly nice to make everyone feel happy, whilst occasionally you need to smash the unions’ power with supreme skill and frightening coolness. I really, really did enjoy this wine, it made me happy, but sometimes I still want a walk on the wilder side.

Even though moderation was called for, it is evenings like this that remind one why one drinks wine – not only were all of them hilariously fine but also sharing such delights with enlightened company is highly gratifying. I have to say I was pleased that Peter S was a tad delayed, as this gave me the opportunity to try some Sherry I’d scored before my hospital appointment yet was unable to pop before my pancreas did. It was an exhilarating precursor to a hoopy roller-coaster ride of brilliant wines.

Fino Perdido, Sanchez Romate Hnos.

Before I get to the note, this Sherry deserves a bit of exposition. The wine is bottled in April, when the growth of flor yeast on the surface of the wine in barrel is at its thickest and so imparts most flavour. It is also quite old for a Fino, with an average age of its constituent wines being eight years old. Finally, the wine is bottled without fining, filtration or any other form of jiggery-pokery; consequently it retains maximum character. The label warns us that the wine may be a tad cloudy, or throw some deposit, but who really cares about such things? Historically this Sherry style was called a ‘Fino-Amontillado’, but the use of this moniker has been banned – hence the name Fino Perdido meaning ‘lost Fino’.

On to the note. It is the darkest Fino I have ever seen, real golden/amber tones present. Even though it is only 15% it smells incredibly potent and profound; the depth of character it displays is quite arresting. There are all the Fino nutty aromas one would hope for, but they are quite striking in terms of their power and complexity. Brilliant stuff to sniff. The palate also has a prodigious density and layers of complex flavours charged with energy. It is pretty god-damned concentrated too. The finish just lasts and lasts. I think this is the best Fino I have ever tried and it cost me a mere £7.95 a bottle – an obscene bargain for such a captivating wine.

Meursault Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir 1993, Domaine Roulot

This has all one could ask of a mature Roulot. It definitely has mature toasty, vanilla aroma whilst also not being short on lively fruit, creamy minerality and definite complexity. The energy it has is impressive, not tiring in the slightest but rather fizzing with life. The palate also has an incredible interplay between mature and fresh characteristics which make it highly engaging. The acidity levels are great and it has a really satisfying savoury character. There is some age-derived roundness here but I feel this is more a wine about lithe sophistication. The finish is great. All those people who have been sniffy about 1993 White Burgundies would do well to try this, it is a brilliant wine. Will keep a bit longer too.

Crozes-Hermitage Cuvee Gaby 2007, Domaine du Colombier

I popped a bottle of the 2008 Cuvee Gaby not so long ago. I liked that then and I like this now. The alcohol level of the nose is a tad higher than the 2008, but it is still far from being hot or unbalanced. There is lovely, refined fruit as well and it is not short on earthy aromas. The nose makes me think it is suffering somewhat from being in a middle-aged hole, but there is still plenty to relish here. The palate is a model of Crozes delight; ravishing fruit, tannins on the right side of rigorous, as is the acidity and it speaks of its appellation in terms of its mineral components. I should have popped this a year ago or waited about five more, but it is a winning Crozes.

Hermitage 2007, Domaine du Colombier

Considering the time Hermitage needs to express itself at its best I can understand if you think I am fairly bonkers for popping this and the next wine when they are so young. Moreover, I think Domaine du Colombier make Hermitage that needs longer in the cellar – what can I say apart from “Yes I am bonkers”. I popped them because I wanted to see if I should be acquiring any more of these vintages before they disappear from the shelves, I rather think I might.

A powerful, dense nose suffused with monumental fruit and splendidly complex minerality. We are told that Hermitage is the manliest wine of France and I can see plenty of strapping, virile characters here. You couldn’t really describe this nose as charged with minimalist finesse , but I think if you expect that in a ripe vintage, young Hermitage you need to re-adjust your stylistic expectations. I am really taken with this nose. The palate has a great Hermitage tannic structure; rigorous, but in exemplary harmony with the rich fruit. The acidity seems spot on to me too. This is incredibly long, leaving you will much to think about as the flavours slowly subside on your palate. A serious Hermitage that I will open my next bottle of in at least ten years time.

Hermitage 2008, Domaine du Colombier

Glorious blueberry, plummy fruit bursts from this nose. The alcohol is a tad higher than the previous wine but I see nothing lacking in terms of ultimate harmony. It is a swashbuckling, vigorous nose (just as I’d expect at this age) but everything is in the right place and shows flashes of great things to come in the future. At the moment the palate is perhaps most suitable for the brawny lover of red-blooded hedonism, but this is not an over-blown, over-whelming fighting wine – it is a damned good young Hermitage from what is clearly a top bunny vintage for this producer. It is true I usually prefer minimalist, sculpted little beauties, but when a wine can manage such levels of stirring vehemence and still do that whole harmony thing I’ll drink the bleeder with a big grin slapped across my face. Good stuff, needs time.

Nuits Saint Georges Premier Cru Chaignots 2005, Domaine Robert Chevillon

Ho ho ho! This is what quality Nuits should smell like: infused with dark, brooding fruit and clear earth characters – beezer! It is clearly very ripe and a tad on the young side but I know I am going to love this when I can drag myself away from sniffing it. Those tannins are a perfect expression of ripe vintage Nuits, bold but not punishing. There is a great acidity to it and its minerality is just right in the zone as well. Freaking gorgeous, no buggering about with new oak or excessive alcohol levels, it is just a brilliant Nuits Premier Cru which you should not really be opening for at least five more years. When mature, this’ll blow your socks off.

Riesling Beenerauslese Graacher Domprobst 2005, Willi Schaefer

Sublime.

Oh, you want more? This is one of the very greatest very sweet wines I have ever been lucky enough to try: it hurts me, it moves me, it ignites my faculties of both intellectual and visceral flavours. A great wine is something other – this is boggling my mind. Sure, it is intensely sweet, but the acid levels are more than you could ask for in such a wine – they hurt. The expression of minerality has not been diminished by vintage warmth or high botrytis levels. The length staggers me. Ah I was right first time: sublime.

This lunch-time’s drinking was brought about by a desire to taste an instructive pair of 2009 Mosel Rieslings. They definitely show it is a great vintage full of fruity charms that will be enjoyable for many years to come.

Riesling Kabinett Wehlener Sonnenuhr 2009, Dr Weins-Prum

This nose is gloriously attractive with plenty of lovely apple fruit and a reasonable amount of minerality. It smells totally charged with allure and, whilst it is clearly ripe, it has just the poise and restraint one wants from a Kabinett. The palate is also quite the charmer, that fruit is so lovely and it is impeccably balanced by good acidity. I might want a bit more minerality to it, but as far as delivering those ‘pleasure’ goods goes I have not had a Kabinett that does it with such consummate ease and style in… oh… a period of time. It is not going to blow your socks off with dimension, but it’ll slap a massive grin across your face nonetheless. From Leon Stolarski Fine Wines.

Riesling Spatlese Graacher Himmelreich 2009, JJ Prum

Pow! Zap! Wow! Now this nose positively throbs with dimension and it is also slapping a massive cheesy grin right across my visage. Sure, it is as sulphury as a sinister day on Mount Etna, but there is so much here to revel in with unabashed delight. The fruit is very focussed and limey and its intensity of mineral aromas just boggles my mind. It smells like a seriously, very seriously, fine wine of the most nipple-nibbling brilliance. The palate is charged with floridly desirable fruit and it does seem quite sweet, but also has that pleasing savoury character that some wines show. The acidity hurts. Good. It just makes my mouth water and makes me want to keep on drinking, why isn’t this bottle a magnum? Sure, flasher, and perhaps finer, Rieslings exist, but this wine dips its flag to very few others. Amazing cellar potential. Come back when it is ten or more and just laugh and laugh and laugh. From The Wine Society.

Oh yes, just in case anyone is interested in the fall out from the recent ‘nearly snuffing it’ experience I am pleased to say that, whilst I still feel pretty bloody awful, I am definitely improving. I think on Friday and Saturday I spent a total of four hours awake, I’ve been up all day yesterday and today without feeling the need to sleep. I think this is a good sign. I have to inject myself once a day with a drug that makes me feel like I am going to die, but that stops on Wednesday, so I’ll be much better after that.

On to the wine. This wine is part of a small sample I scored from Leon Stolarski Fine Wines. I have some experience with this grower and I know he is pleased as chips with his small holdings of some top-flight vineyards and he treats them with the respect they deserve. I am very pleased that his pricing policy is not to charge the earth.

Riesling Spatlese Wehlener Sonnenuhr 2009, Dr Weins-Prum

This kind of nose is why one pops German Rieslings young; it is charged with peachy, Muscatty fruit that seems deliciously ripe and attractive. There is a good dose of minerality here, but perhaps this nose is not charged with the very most dimensionality I’ve ever experienced. That being said, it is a gloriously ripe example of a 2009 that could have little more allure. The palate is distinctly sweet for a Spatlese with loads more of that gorgeous fruit. Again there is a good mineral tang but it could have a shade more I feel. Acid levels are pretty much there, but it is not one of those wines that makes your teeth fizz. I like them. This is a very good Spatlese which is a great example of the vintage, albeit not the most thrilling and exciting Riesling you might ever try. I will be ageing my other bottle as it clearly merits the compliment of cellar time.