By: AJ McClellan
I love days where you can just sit down and drink some geeky wine. Yesterday was one such day. IT started with a broken bottle of wine… We noticed that one of the new Rieslings that just came in had a crack in the bottle and was leaking! What else can you do? We popped the cork… The 2013 Schlossgut Diel Dorsheim Goldloch Grosses Gewaches was freaking awesome! Especially for being half empty. I am becoming a big fan of the Grosses Gewaches wines, a dry style of wine from the Grand Cru vineyards of Germany. The nose shows a medley of flowers growing on a thick limestone slab and a slight undercurrent of gasoline soaked peaches. An arousing acidity that wakes the palate with fresh citrus and tropical fruit. The long finish leaves the palate dry and wanting more. While immediately very pleasing, the wine is a little lacking in depth of complexity.
After warming up with a great German Riesling we went on to a duo of killer Italians. We started with the 1988 Sassicaia which shows wet dark fruits, boxwood, and freshly dug earth on the nose. The palate was still fresh with beautiful red and black fruits followed up with traditional Italian earth, clove, leather, and anise. The bottle is well integrated on the palate and I think as seamless as I have ever had of this vintage. Unfortunately the wine falls off after an hour+ in decanter unfortunately so drink it up! Next was a 1994 Gaja Barbaresco that was every bit as good as the Sassicaia but as different as fire and water. Dusty cherry on the nose with dark coffee grounds and dark chocolate. The palate is soft and chewy with silky tannins and a red liquorish finish. The fun part of this wine are the tannins which are still drying in the stereotypical Barolo way but at the same time very smooth on the palate, like elegant ice skaters using grappling hooks in their ice dancing.