Some good and some truly shocking wines.
La Bota de Manzanilla, Equipo Navazos
Really powerfully nutty on the nose. It has a good minerality to it as well. The palate is light and refined with good acidity to balance its depth of flavour.
Champagne La Grande Dame 1996, Verve Cliquot
Quite fruity and biscuitty on the nose. Smells quite lively and fresh. Very nice mousse with a good lemony fruit. Reasonably complex. A surprisingly good bottle of La Grande Dame that suggests it has more fireworks in reserve for the future.
Riesling Spatlese Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen 2006, Emrich-Schonleber
A nice nose of Bergamont with a creamy minerality. The palate is light with reasonable acidity and some fruit; not too much there in the way of minerality or complexity. A perfectly good drink, but there is better German Riesling out there.
Grand Vin De Altenberg 1999, Domaine Marcel Deiss
A horrible, horrible melange of incompatible aromas that leave you in a state of abject horror. The flavours on the palate repel and insult me; vastly unbalanced, unharmonious, offensive crap. I feel he made this wine just to offend enlightened people. I’m personally offended.
Riesling Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim 1999, Domaine Marcel Deiss
This isn’t that much better. I suppose it has clearer fruit and a more distinct minerality, but not much of a personality. The palate is heavy and ponderous; it slogs rather than dances. Piss boring.
Pinot Noir “Kiser En Haut” 2006, Copain
Quite ripe, spicy and chocolaty on the nose. Bit one dimensional. The palate has lots of fruit but not much else. Nice but a bit dull.
I was fortunate to be present at this gastronomic event, and tasted the Grand Vin De Altenberg 1999 at the table. I found the taste of this blend of grapes to be uninteresting and, to be honest, the flavours were fighting one another and rather than creating a pleasant experience, I was left wondering why I had poured so much into my glass *sigh*. In comparison, I was not so offended at the Riesling Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim 1999… but accept that it was, at best, mediocre.
The dinner was yummy, regardless! 🙂