We started the day with a slew of noteworthy German wines when we checked out Terry Theise’ portfolio tasting earlier in the day. This was a great preview of the quality of the region’s 2012 vintage which based on the wines we tasted showed remarkable freshness and vivid acidity even with the noticeable ripeness, palate density and a ‘fruity’ style of acidity. Johannes Selbach recommended that we pick up what we can of the wines we fell in love with as 2012 was a small vintage. Well, based on the numerous highlighted items on the tasting book, look out for a German wine offer from the Graileys crew in the next few weeks!
A few of the highlights of the tasting were the 2012 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese Feinherb ‘Ur Alte Reben’ that comes from 100 year old vines whose berries, according to Johannes Selbach, are ‘the size of lentils’. The wine showed remarkable intensity and concentration. On the nose, it displayed slate as well as ripe peach and pineapple notes and a dense palate with juicy acidity. Extremely long finish. The 2012 Speitzer Lenchen ‘Rosengarten’ Riesling Grosses Gewachs was well-structured, dry, and mineral-driven with a specific chalky-flinty note reminiscent to a premier cru Chablis while the 2012 Spreitzer Winkeler Jesuitgarten Riesling Spatlese was more aromatic, rounder with a denser texture and next to the Rosengarten, showed that touch of residual sugar balanced by a zesty acidity.
And to properly finish the day, we ended with a duo of phenomenal Bordeaux reds from the 1990 vintage.
First in the glass was the 1990 Leoville Las Cases with attractive notes of Asian spice, cigar box, tobacco, smoke, spice and damp earth. The palate took another hour to catch up with the nose; it appeared more compact and firmer in texture initially but became more generous and expansive with air. Notes of minerality and gravel along with blackcurrant and a sweeter spice started to emerge from the glass.
This was followed by a bottle of the 1990 Chateau Angelus. Wow- this was a charmer straight out of the bottle! This wine displayed a mouthful of cassis, plums, black raspberries, dark chocolate and licorice along with hints of wet forest floor and potting soil. The intense aromatics were echoed on the palate. In the mouth this was rich and opulent with sweet, silky tannins and intense flavors that hit every corner of your palate. Persistently long finish marked by ripe black fruit flavors. This is in a remarkable drinking window right now.