Susan & I tried w/ our CheeseStrata last night:
1. Domaine Zind-Humbrecht GWT Herrenweg de Turkheim (MeBaD; 14%) 1994: Deep gold color; lovely spicy/nutmeg/old GWT perfumed bit nutty complex bit alcoholic nose; big/lush quite bitter slightly off-dry complex old GWT/nutty/nutmeg bit oxidized flavor; med.short very bitter off-dry nutty/slight oxidized soft/fat/porky complex old GWT finish; beautiful old GWT nose but totally out of whack on the palate. $36.00
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2. Jaffurs SantaBarbaraCnty Syrah (15.5%) 2007: Dark color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/framboise slight licorice/chocolaty light toasty/oak bit alcoholic/overripe very Oz-like nose; soft very lush/ripe/Oz-like intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah licorice/chocolaty some toasty/oak huge fruit flavor; long soft very lush/ripe framboise/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah licorice/chocolaty very ripe/Oz-like some tannic finish; huge framboise/boysenberry very Oz-like Syrah; well priced at the $25.00 price. $30.00
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. The Z-H was bought way back when Z-H was well into their current style of GWT w/ loads of fruit, high-alcohol, bit off-dry wine. It was a stunning GWT for its size and certain to age, like many Alsatian GWTS, for 10-20 yrs. It has not. It is now breaking apart on the shoals of out-of-balance wine. It's a goner. It had a beautiful/classic slightly nutty/nutmeg old GWT nose. But the pleasure stopped there once it hit your palate. It was very bitter, slightly sweet, totally out of whack. It was served at cool garage temperature. Because of the bitterness, it obviously needed to be served at a warmer temperature. Even at warm room temperature, it was unpleasantly bitter and out of whack and, now, a bit fumey/alcoholic. A wine that has not done well with time and, I fear, what portends for many of these GWTs in the Z-H style.
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2. The Jaffurs was a wine that got a 94 from the WS. Whilst they scored some of the Jaffurs single-vnyd designates lower. This, too, is totally out of whack. This is a Syrah w/ huge fruit; quite impressive and a great wine at $25/btl. But its very ripe character and Oz-like style and lack of structure made it a bit fatigueing on that palate after the first glass or so. When I served it at cellar temperature, it was much more attractive on the palate and not nearly as over-the-top as at cool room temperature.
Tom