Good Shape

We tend to think that our New Zealand wines don’t age particularly well, especially in comparison with the classics from the Old World.  Even the more modest wines from the Old World can seem to hang in there and keep for a long time.  As a consequence we err on the side of caution and drink them relatively early.  Of course, we are often very surprised how well a wine has lasted when we do broach an older wine, but we usually temper our enthusiasm with the comment that we’ve moved on in viticulture and winemaking since then.  There are proponents of keeping New Zealand wines for lengthy times, and the wines from these people’s cellars are stunning, if these people know what they are on about.

Steve Smith MW proposed that his 2008 Craggy Range ‘Beaux Cailloux’ Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay would be a keeper, very much as a number of white burgundies we were concurrently tasting would do so.  There was a nagging doubt in my mind, but took him at his word, as he’s a rather smart man who I respect immensely.  Well, it has been in the cellar all that time since, and the occasion called for something interesting.  Jol-Vino and the I-Spy Man were having dinner with us, so this was it!

The wine was described as being in ‘good shape’ by Jol-Vino.  She was understating the fact that it was in great shape.  SWMBO and I joined the I-Spy Man as pronouncing it sensational.  Still pale in colour, it had the most elegant, but rich layers of sweetly ripe stonefruits and tropical fruits melded with nutty and toasty oak, and the perfect amount of flinty complexities.  A wine of great depth, richness and freshness, just capturing our continued interest.  At 8 years old, it would have been deemed near the end of its useful life if judging by the label only.  In reality, it could easily last another 8 years.  Sensationally ‘good shape’ indeed.    

Ticking Boxes

It’s a way of ensuring you are on the right track when selecting or understanding a wine to enjoy.  You’ve got to tick all the boxes which are important.  But sometimes there’s just no accounting for taste, and the wine doesn’t do what you expect.

The 2011 Tenuta San Guido ‘Le Difese’ was a gift from Ted in London.  Ted has good taste and gets good advice – tick.  The wine is from the producer of Sassicaia, a third tier – tick.  It is reputed to offer great value – tick.  There’s only 500 cases made, so a rarity – tick.

Opening and pouring it, it showed garnet hues.  Plenty of dried leather, dried herb and earthy aromas.  Then a balanced palate of moderately sweet fruit, but with plenty of textures, dryness and grip, in a dusty sort of way.  This is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, but the Sangiovese was more prominent.  Oaking not really obvious, if at all.  Quite a serviceable red, and identifiably Tuscan in not necessarily the best way.  Everything ticked, but not quite there.  That’s life.

Luxurious World Beater Wittmann

We all want to taste and enjoy the best wines in the world, and often too.  But it doesn’t quite happen like that.  Most of them are just too expensive, and most are rare and difficult to source.  Thank goodness and our lucky stars that we’ve had our fair share of some of the world’s great wines; not as many as many other people, but enough to know.  Then there’s the subjective and stylistic element.  Sure the wine is superb, but it might not suit our taste, and we simply just don’t like drinking it.

Not so the 2013 Wittmann Westhofen Kirchspiel GG Riesling Trocken.  It had the big tick from the Queen of Wine, Jancis Robinson herself, with a hefty 19.0/20.  We’ve enjoyed Wittmann wines many times in the past, from some of the more ‘lowly’, and also some of the best tiered in what they are trying to show – dry Riesling from top sites.  But this wine was utterly spectacular from first sniff and first sip.  It was a treat for SWMBO and the I-Spy Man.  We need to treat ourselves every once in a while, and this was it.  Gorgeously ripe and decadent with layers of exotic fruits and flowers, blooming to show layers and detail.  On the palate dry, but simultaneously rich.  Incredible weight and mouthfilling presence, but still with a lightness of foot and a degree of elegance and finesse.  The acidity behind the richness to keep it poised.  And so smooth, flowing and unctuous.  Did it show the terroir with the site’s limestone influence?  It was difficult to say, as we had no other wine to compare with, and my memory wasn’t locked in to compare with what I’d tasted previously.  In the final analysis, it didn’t matter to analyse it.  We just luxuriated ourselves with it.  A truly world-class wine.

St Laurent Specialist

We have a particular interest in the St Laurent variety, but in reality don’t profess any true or deep expertise.  It’s just that SWMBO works with it in her vast portfolio.  We get to taste one man’s interpretation of it every year, and we do try to taste as many other examples made here, and especially from Austria.  The ones made here capture the fruitiness of the variety, but don’t have the more interesting flavours, or the textures in the right (?) balance.  But having said that, a number of the real McCoys have been spoilt by brettanomyces.  Which is better?  It’s subjective.

However, a 2009 Pittnauer St Laurent ‘Alte Reben’ from the Burgenland changed our minds in favour of the genuine article.  Gerhard Pittnauer is a specialist with it, and also makes top end Pinot Noir, and his vineyards are biodynamic.  This is a single site wine from old vines, and aged 18 months in large oak, so it leaves the fruit as the hero.  The funky label suggests what this wine is all about.  Dark coloured, a little age showing, but with an intense and complex amalgam of dark red and black fruits along with herbal elements.  The wine is firm and intense, with well-judged structure.  It isn’t firm, but has an accessibility too.  The flavours are savoury and interesting, but also rich and sweet, though with restraint. There’s a hint of game and mineral detail, and nothing to spoil it as with a number of its compatriots.  A wine to admire indeed.

Three Decade Wonder

Riesling can age decades, as numerous examples from all over the wold show.  We’re a little less confident in New Zealand, as our wines tend to be precocious, though some bottlings of Riesling can seem to go well over the 10 year mark.  I’ve tasted some 15-20 years old that are still extremely good, but three decades may be pushing it?  Some people who keep cellars of New Zealand wines report that there are many examples of all sorts of varieties and styles that can keep very well, well into the three decade mark and beyond.

So we approached the 1986 Montana Marlborough Rhine Riesling with both a sense of positive anticipation as well as trepidation.  There was little ullage, though we could see it was more orange in colour through the green glass.  We chose the two pronged ‘Ah So’ cork extractor in case the cork was fragile.  It came out with a little more effort than expected, as it was still firm, and not fully soaked.  On pouring, it was indeed orange, but with clarity.  No madeirisation, and no real oxidation, though there were oxidative nuances.  Fully developed and beyond its best for sure, but still fruity, without being dried out and skeletal.  Medium in sweetness, with flavours of caramel, honey, apples, toast, and with burnished florals.  It was appealing, quite wondrously so, considering our trepidation.  Broad, dense and flabbyish in flavour, the acidity kept it alive and lively in mouthfeel.  Sure the flavours were tending unctuous in the more negative way, but you could make allowances.  SWMBO was impressed, and we all enjoyed tasting and dinking it.  The wine didn’t fade much in the glass at all, though we tired of drinking a tired wine.      

Generosity in 2010

It must be more than co-incidental that wines end up being served and tasted in pairs.  And often the wines share a similarity when their provenance can be so different.  Such was the case at dinner with the AllyHelly couple and the I-Spy Man.  SWMBO and I put up the white, and the couple brought along the red.  Sure, the wines came from the same country and same vintage, but from regions miles and miles apart, with different soils, aspect etc.  They shared the trait of generosity.

The 2010 Olivier Leflaive Chassagne Montrachet 1er ‘Clos Saint Martin’ was obtained after a tasting from the Olivier Leflaive stable.  I thought the Puligny 1er Cru finer, but this more flavoursome, but a bit coarser, but then it was significantly cheaper.  This night, it was deliciously up-front, rounded and sweet-fruited, with white and yellow stonefruits, nuts and complexing flinty lees and sulphides in the background.  There was no trace of rusticity, and if anything, it was modern and nearly New Worldly!  This went down a treat, as often the tautness and delicacy of white burgundy can leave you a bit disappointed.

By nature the wines of the Rhone Valley are generous.  It’s that abundant sunshine and warmth, especially in the south.  The 2010 Domaine Giraud ‘Grenaches de Pierre’ Chateauneuf-du-Pape captured that with its black-red colour and super sweet and luxurious, supercharged dark raspberry and black berried fruits.  The ripeness is clear, the wine almost has porty notes, but it is Grenache pushed to its edge.  Unctuous and viscous, no doubt some of the textures from 100 y.o. vines, and underneath it plenty of alcohol power.  The label says 15.0% alc.  It may be understated.  Then the complex detail of garrigue, florals and a touch of jam.  Deliciousness and power.  Generosity, but style, if somewhat a caricature of Chateaueuf at its boldest.

           

Beauty in Brundlmayer

We just can’t stop drinking the wines from Brundlmayer.  They are just so refined in style, true elegance and fully expressive of site and terroir.  Everytime we open one to share, our guests eith are very aware of the quality, or become new converts.

The Roadsters were visiting, and as a start to the evening, SWMBO and I put a couple of choices in front of them.  His eyes lit up when he saw the 2013 Brundlmayer Zobinger Heiligenstein 1OTW Riesling ‘Alte Reben’ Kamptal DAC Reserve.  He’d recently stood in the vineyard and knew abut the soils and aspect, and what made it special.  Indeed it was special.  Not particularly big in size, more medium-scales, but perfectly formed.  Gorgeous citrussy fruit with a hint of the exotic, and minerality in spades.  The acidity perfect too, balancing what might be 6 or 7 to 10 g/L RS.  13.0% alc, but far more elegant than that figure suggested.  This just intensified as the bottle got lower and lower.  It must be the old vines.  And so easy to sip on.  So beautiful.  So Brundlmayer.