Dinner without Imorgs

Dinner with friends. As always, the best quotes of the night have been stripped of their context and presented for the edification confusion of all.

von Schubert’schen Schlosskellerei “Maximin Grünhäuser” 2001 Riesling Sekt Brut 35 04 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Sharp iron and aluminum filings with loads of desert-like tartaric acid and dry white pepper. Extremely dry.

St. Innocent 1999 Brut (Willamette Valley) – Soft, frothy and simple sorta-fruit flavors. Not their best wine.

“The first one or two times you see the cops beat someone up, it’s kinda cool.”

Hiedler 1997 Langenloiser Schenkenbichl Weissburgunder “Maximum” (Kamptal) – Creamy apricot seed with a drying, leafy and somewhat shortish finish. Nice, but only just.

“I did notice that your head was a different shape when you walked through the door.”

Popp 2004 Rödelseer Küchenmeister Silvaner Kabinett Trocken 042 05 (Franken) – Green leaves, light tomato skin and a white pepper-dusted paper finish. Medium-crisp, with drying acidity tending towards the grapefruit part of the citrus spectrum. Enjoyable.

“Who moved my cheese?”
“You didn’t actually just say that, did you?”

Genovesi “Domaine du Bagnol” 2004 Cassis “Marquis de Fesques” (Provence) – Salted leaves and banana rind with bitter melon and a tight cord of minerality. A touch dense, but then that’s not unusual for Cassis.

Jamek 2002 Ried Klaus Riesling Spätlese Smaragd (Wachau) – Intense, ripe, sweet apple (complete with blossoms and leaves attached), spiced powdered sugar, and a finish that builds towards the huge. There’s no hurry here.

“All this time I thought it was ‘Rock Me I’m a Dumbass.’”

Rolly Gassmann 1999 Sylvaner Weingarten de Rorschwihr (Alsace) – Spiced white plum and sweet green apple with honeydew and ripe heirloom tomato around a steel core. Decidedly off-dry, but one of the best sylvaners I’ve ever tasted.

“Did you ever try putting a ham in from of them?”

Selbach-Oster 2004 Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken 006 05 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – I somehow got interrupted in my notetaking here. I wrote: vivid and nervy, with dry iron flakes and light hints of fruit, but neglected to draw any conclusions. I seem to remember thinking it was OK.

“You are not Morg, you are not Imorg.”

Christoffel 1995 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese *** 12 96 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Intense creamed apple leaf and strawberry bark with fat blood oranges and vivid acidity. Really gorgeous right now, but probably not yet showing everything it has to offer.

Giacomo Conterno 1994 Barolo Cascina Francia (Piedmont) – Corked.

Juge 1999 Cornas “Cuvée C” (Rhône) – Slightly fruity (blackberry and black cherry), with makrut lime juice and heady sloshings of meat liqueur.

“It’s a cheese traditionally served with phlegm.”

Domaine de la Terre Rouge 1995 Syrah (Amador County) – Menthol and strident black fruit. Simple, and a bit treble-toned. Somewhat of a doofus wine, but enjoyable in its idiom.

Rieussec “Carmes de Rieussec”2002 Sauternes (Bordeaux) – Spiced plum, grown sugar and baked apple in a silky-syrupy nectar of decadence. Spiced, caramelized oak adds to the complexity.