Sticking Around

The Eventress and New Man called out of the blue for dinner.  Sometimes the spontaneous invitations are the most workable, as it is there and then.  I was free, and SWMBO made herself free.  Over the course of the meal, a number of fine bottles came and went.

Then dessert called for something sweet and sticky, and the New Man raced downstairs to the cellar for something not planned.  He found a 1991 Rongopai Te Kauwhata Botrytised Chardonnay, in fact his last bottle.  It was sticking around, as he wasn’t game to try it on other guests.  We were clearly a special case, possibly because we are less discriminating – or is it because we try to appreciate all the wines?

This was a clever and innovative wine over 20 years ago.  There were the classical botrytis affected wines from Riesling, Semillon and Furmint.  Who would want to waste Chardonnay, unless it was a mistake to let it go rotten?  Rainer and Tom at Rongopai were out there, and sweet wines were their forte – and this was a noble experiment.  Sure enough it was a success, and they charged highly for the privilege of obtaining bottles.

 

This last bottle was golden mahogany in colour, and quite burnished in character.  Loads of toffee and caramel, with traces of wild honey and marmalade.  Only a suggestion of drying out still.  And plenty of acid for liveliness and to balance the decadence and sugar.  We savoured this bottle, for its ability to stick around.  Its makers had moved on…