Honey, I’m Home

The meeting was arranged.  I was home.  SWMBO was driving back some distance, and the Writer Joll was in town.  I chilled down the white and opened a red so there was no going back.  I just sat down to rest after all the chores, and in came SWMBO with “Honey I’m Home”.  A few moments later our guest arrived.  Perfect timing.  Our session of catching up with the gossip begun.

The white was a 2011 Clemens Busch Punderreicher Marienburg Riesling Spatlese Goldkapsel.  This is the other traditional side of the coin to the modern drier, higher alcohol, site expressive wines to what Clemens Busch is arguably more famous for.  So it was like going home to the fruit-sweet style.  This is the style I was brought up on, having really started enjoying German wines from the late 1960s.  This was light golden, smooth and seamless on nose and palate, unfolding layers of ripe yellow tropical fruits with honey and toast.  The classical cream and custard flavours and textures from development.  Wonderfully unctuous, but with enough acidity to still be lively and fresh.  Then waves of talc and musky botrytis, taking over from the fruit, and reaching to satisfy the senses and the soul,  I couldn’t think of a better homecoming.

Danube Dalliance

It’s an auspicious occasion when The Prince and Shady Dog Jim are in town and pay a visit.  It was a call out of the blue.  What to do?  What to serve them?  As they know their limestone from their clay, and they appreciate good bottles, it was a bit of a challenge.  Rummaging through the first wine cupboard, there was a theme of Danube Dalliance with three Austrian reds.  Something a little unusual for all of us.  They’re brought into the country by the Aromatics Ace, and his wines are always interesting…

First the 2012 Brundlmayer ‘Dechant’ Blauer Burgunder.  This is of course Pinot Noir, this bottling aged in 2-3 Austrian 300 L oak barrels.  As with all the Brundlmayer wines, very elegant and refined.  Not a blockbuster, with slightly cooler red fruits, strawberries and a touch of herbs.  Absolutely refreshing and juicy, enlivening to drink. An easy wine that won’t shake the earth if you’re looking for that, but it sneaks up and totally impresses.  Maybe The Prince and Shady Dog Jim want’ed an earth-mover, as they just smiled when discussing the wine.  SWMBO and I were more pleased.

Then I tried an earth-mover, the ‘iconic’ 2011 Moric’Reserve’ Blaufrankisch.  I love the description that Blaufrankisch sits in the middle of the triangle of spicy Syrah, tannic Nebbiolo and soft silkiness of Pinot Noir.  Black-red, impenetrable, with a powerful, intense bouquet of savoury black berry and plum fruits, along with a subtle lift.  The Prince mentioned Pinotage individuality.  It certainly had interest.  Rich and full-bodied with sweet fruits, black berried fruits, minerals, and plenty of mouthfeel and structure.  Then the funky brettanomyces emerged.  SWMBO and I have had other bottles, much cleaner.  Shady Dog Jim was brutally honest and said he couldn’t drink any more after the first couple of mouthfuls.  So that was that.

My last attempt at interest was the 2011 Pittnauer ‘Rosenberg’ Sankt Laurent, from sandy soils and aged in seasoned large format oak.  Certainly a piquant, lively and fruity wine.  Reminding me of the size of the Brundlmayer, but with more savoury and lifted intensity.  That odd, aromatic, spicy, game-like edge that the variety has.  A slightly firm line, not overly hard, but more with drive and linearity.  I liked the flavours, but maybe pre-conditioned by the previous, the others saw game, funk and spoilage.  Ah, the power of suggestion…

It was agreed, we’d move onto more familiar territory, and we did, to everyone’s pleasure and a measure of extra delight.      

Support Network

Our friends and family make our support network, and we share pleasant times to keep the bonds strong.  So the occasional meal and catch up, with all the news and gossip does wonders.  Just-a-Sippy and Izy are such friends and a meal with soup and pasta was accompanied by an appropriate vino.  The 2007 Contea di Castigline Barbaresco is a label from the Cantine Castel di Boglione, a co-operative founded over 60 years ago, and now with 700 ha in Piedmonte.  As with most co-operatives, the pricing is keen and friendly, and the wines made as freely available as possible.  Just like the friendship of the network of support.

2007 was a hot and dry growing season and Barbaresco fared better than Barolo, the more elegant style having more leeway to absorb the heat and having somewhere to go.  This is classic Nebbiolo with fragrance, yes, even in such a year, with dried roses.  Not so much tar, but with savoury dried herb, leather and earthy suggestions.  There’s always a backbone of tannin, but here it’s fine with its graininess.  It allows the fruit to show through, but it does eventually build up.  There’s a femininity there and it’s easier to make the call on Barbaresco rather than Barolo.  And it’s friendly and supported the duck pasta, lubricating our relationship with our hosts.   

No Pie in the Sky

 

Our delightful delicatessen down the road is manned (or should that be womanned) by some respectful, fun, unassuming staff.  I live buying my pies there – both individual sized and family sized, and it’s Pia the pie lady that serves us.  After some time getting to know her, she revealed her family connections with Titus Vineyard in the Napa Valley, offering a bottle of the Cabernet Franc 2010 for us to try, knowing that SWMBO and I were connected with wine.  Very humbly, she said I hope you enjoy it.  It may not be their best wine, but I like it… We wanted to open it on an occasion, which soon came. 

Dinner Party with The Young One and Jo-Lo who are becoming more discriminating with every passing wine experience.  Jo-Lo was given the responsibility of opening said bottle, and poured it into our glasses.  The 2010 Titus Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Franc was a stunner.  Black as black, and poured out in a near unctuous flow.  Sweet and ripe, generous and lush.  Ripe black fruits with a sweetness and hint of lift.  Not confection, but more opulence.  A little inky complexity, with just enough tannin structure appearing above the fruitful parapets. There may be other varieites – Merlot, Malbec, Petit Syrah, and of course Cabernet Sauvignon.  No matter what, it pleased our palates with its rich density and sweet flow.  It would be no pie in the sky, as the Titus family have been making wine for more than 2 decades.  It would have been perfect with a game-meat pie, from Pia the pie-girl.   

Friendly Face

 

Every year we get a friendly visit from The Chairman, friendly because of his personality, nrather than because he bears gifts.  This time, a bottle of 2004 Moet & Chandon ‘Grand Vintage’ Champagne Rosé was tucked under his arm.  Things didn’t quite go to plan, as we intended to open it immediately on his arrival whit white fluffy snow beckoned him away.  The Chairman has gone back to his homeland now, but not before leaving instructions to open it with SWMBO over a special occasion.  This occasion conveniently turned up with a birthday which resultee in The Young One and Jo-Lo joining us for dinner. 

The first wine on the agenda was… 2004 Moet & Chandon ‘Grand Vintage’ Champagne Rosé.  With all this fascination for delicate and pale, pretty and possibly characterless, it was refreshing to see a decent pink colour, salmon-pink-red.  And the nose, quite voluminous and up-front with a well-packed amalgam of soft red berry fruits, yeasty-bready autolysis, and fresh apples thrown in.  You were left without any doubt what this was.  No searching required.  And the palate echoing the nose, fulsome, fruity and lush, with sweet fruit countered by the yeast and bread.  The fruit just to let you know there were strawberries and raspberries, but in a way, only just.  Sweet and friendly, but teasingly so.  Smooth and rounded, but with just fine enough a line.  By the time we opened the presents, the wine’s last drop was gone too.   

A Bundle of Brundlmayer

We’ve come across a smattering of these Bundllmayer Austrian beauties over recent years, but only since the Aromatics Ace got his hands on them have we managed to get some stocks for ourselves.  Our little session with the Writer Joll need a little more fuel so SWMBO magically brought a bacon and egg pie to add to substance to the two Brundlmayer bottles.  Surprisingly bot wines accompanied the food remarkably well.  We were hungry too. 

Firstly the 2013 Brundlmayer Zobinger ‘Heiligenstein’ 1 ‘OTW’ Kamptal DAC  Riesling, from a superior site on very old soils.  This looks to be a wine of clarity, ant it sure is.  Purity of white florals and minerals with a core of herbals that fades away, leaving the aromatic beauty.  Bright and vivacious and only a hint of austerity that translates to thirst-quenching acidity.  This has fruit depth and the phenolics super-fine.  Great vibrancy, tautness and depth too.  Cut through the bacon and egg without losing integrity, and added moisture to the dish too.  12.5% alc. and sealed in a Stelvin screwcap, these modern, thinking Austrians are doing it all right.

Though Gruner Veltliner and Riesling are what Brundlmayer do, the Blauburgunder and Pinot Noir reds are not to be scoffed at.  As we quickly learned with the 2011 Brundlmayer ‘Reserve’ Pinot Noir.  Ripe fruit from the ‘Decant’ and ‘Kaferberg’ sites fermented to 13.5% alc, given a 2 week maceration and aged 12-18 months in 300L Austrian casks, 1-2 y.o.  That’s serious enough!  Black-red colour and black fruits with a mineral heart.  Lovely depth and intensity with a purity plus hint of savoury herb and liquorice,  Very supple, fine grained, soft and satiny tannins.  Maybe carried a little by the acid.  The savoury nuances of complexity emerging in the glass.  And just the subtlty and savoury counterbalance to the salt and texture of the pie. 

More pie and Brundlmayer were on offer, but our guest hade to depart…

Delicacy and Deliciousness

 

There’s something about the best German wines that showcase the balance between delicacy and deliciousness that very few other countries achieve. It’s that Hugh Johnson description of fruity acidity and sweetness that is etched on all wine lovers’ minds.  Our friend the Writers Joll was in town and in the mood for a visit.  She’s more of a Riesling protagonist than SWMOBO, if that’s possible!  But in her true style and to our delight, she brought around to share a 2011 von Hovel Scharzhofber Riesling Kabinett.

Now this is my all time-great vineyard, but I know I’m not alone in saying that, The Saar in a good and great year is impossible to beat for sheer electric excitement and subtle exoticism, steel and richness.  The epitome of deliciousness and delicacy.  2011 was an ideal earlier vintage where all tastes just right.  von Hovel hasn’t been my most consistent and compelling producer, but when it’s right, it really is right – and this was just so!  Lush and honeysuckle sweetness with gentle florals, maybe even a touch of toast.  Pire and fine cut with perfect 8.5% alc.  We could have drunk it all night….