First time I joined Rainer and some of his friends at the Carlton in Zürich for this monthly (or so I was told) gathering, where not only BYO is tolerated, but the wines are served blind by the staff (which leads to those funny situations e.g. in which one member of this little wine circle swore for the second time in a row that he „will never make a public appearance in the fine wine community again if the sample in front of [him] is the wine [he] brought along” – now guess what?!). Unfortunately, smoking does not appear to banned in (some?) restaurants in Zurich, but I am glad to report the people at that one table left early.
Typed these in the course of a couple of days comparatively listening to favourite recordings of Robert Schumann’s Carnaval Op. 9, including those by Géza Anda (studio 1955), Claudio Arrau (studio 1939 and 1966), Alfred Cortot (studio 1928), Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (live in London 1957), Sergei Rachmaninoff (studio 1929) and Artur Rubinstein (studio 1962/63).
Château Grand Puy Ducasse Pauillac 2003
Thanks to Pascal. This was easy to pin down as either Pauillac or St. Julien blind. Deep ruby-black, red-pink rim. Spicy-curranty, lead pencil, with integrated oak, a little tar and licorice, lightly mentholly sweet fruit, nicely but not very tannic. Faint beef blood, a bit rustic and animal after all. Integrated alcohol and acids. Fairly long. Of course this is rather light, but at least there is nothing “wrong” with it as with so many modern Bordeaux. Rounded already, but still youthful enough. In contrast to the GPD, the more concentrated and broad-shouldered Gruaud may have upwards potential, but sometimes, a bird in the hand is definitely worth two in the bush. Rating: 89
Château Gruaud Larose St. Julien 2003
Thanks to Lukas. A blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec. Full garnet-ruby-red. Strong mocha, some coconut and walnut oak, quite an oaky wine, raisins and chocolate, a touch of tobacco, a minor gaminess, warming alcohol, not especially racy of fresh at all. Rainer kept complaining about the acid spike that he felt tasted as if the wine were acidified (we do not know). Somewhat coarse tannin for the vintage, but not such a lot of it as Andi claimed (nothing out of the ordinary balance-wise). Lightly closed, but nonetheless slightly oaky on the finish. Concentrated and quantitatively speaking balanced enough, even so, I doubt this can achieve harmony in the classic sense of the term. During the Cordier era, Gruaud Larose used to be one of my favourite St. Julien, but in this case, it did not only not occur to me it could be Gruaud Larose tasting this blind, it felt no different after I had seen the label. What about terroir expression?! Nick started raving about the 1962 we last had at Rainer’s birthday party last month, and told us something I thought quite revealing: the latter is apparently Mosel vintner Daniel Vollenweider’s favourite bottle of dry red. Rating: 88+?
Alemany i Corrio Penedès Sot Lefriec 2000
Thanks to Andi (there were two!). A blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan, aged 23 months in French oak. Opaque purple-ruby or ruby black, hard to tell in that light. An attractive medium weight that seemed evolved for its young age, light on its feet with soft dried herbs, pretty black cherry, pretty sweat and dried wild boar, faint blood orange, perhaps a suggestion of chlorine. Quite sweet and autumnal, and decadent wine as someone observed. Very long, quite delicious. The runner-up of the night. Rating: 91
Château Fombrauge St. Emilion 2000
Thanks to Andi (the other). Corked... Rating: N/R
Château Pavie St. Emilion 1996
Thanks to Nick. Medium ruby-black. Soft tobacco, tiny sweat note, cedar, mint and eucalyptus, soy sauce, green bell pepper. Concentrated enough, but not very complete wine. While it was easy to tell it is Bordeaux, I would never have guessed it comes from a hallowed terroir. Rating: 89-/88(-?)
Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino Vigna del Lago 1990
My contribution, a present from Victor from Germany (thanks!). The wine of the night, and by far the best bottle of this wine I have had. Full ruby-black, nicely glossy. Sweaty, sweet and perfumy raisined black cherry, reduced pelati, fig, white truffle, lemon, bitter almond, maybe some walnut skin. More inner-mouth perfume than on the nose (but the stemware was ridiculous). Nicely glyceric, quite complex and firm, with that classic contrast between sweet inner-mouth perfume and slightly hard (albeit in this case barely dry at all) tannin. While this can still be held on to (if from perfect storage, such as our sample bottle), I would not expect it to improve any further in bottle. A delight to drink! Rating: 92-/91
Bodegas Matarredonda Toro Libranza “Selection Schwander” 2004
Thanks to Rainer. What a controversial wine: ratings ranged from mine to 98 points (although Andi later found the wine deteriorated noticeably with airing)! Rainer kept defending it (quoting information from Philipp Schwander’s flyer: the Tempranillo vines here are between 40 and 100 years old, and this special selection is exclusively from the most ancient parcel which was planted in 1898, reportedly pre-phylloxera, and the yield is only about 10 hl/ha), but also quipped that his girlfriend hated the sample bottle of the 2005, so that he had to take along the 2004, and that he is certainly not planning to buy more. Violet ruby, almost opaque, medium-wide lighter rim. Aged 14 months in French and American oak, some vanilla and clove, but mainly dark caramel, wet earth, minor espresso, burnt rubber and wet dog fur top notes to Port-like fruit with a strong dried banana component, some alcoholic heat, a touch of white chocolate in passing. Sweetly ripe and jammy, but not refreshing at all, if not already a bit tired. “A bit cooked and alcoholic”, Lukas said. Certainly quite concentrated and obviously old-viney. Grainy tannin which Andi claimed was bitter (but then he thought the 2003 Bordeaux tannic – there are the moments when I feel old, and my love for classically structured wine seems nothing more than a throwback to an irretrievable past...) – the tannin certainly did not add anything in terms of flavour or depth. Milk toffee on the finish. I will admit that at 34 Swiss Francs one would love to like this... Rating: 88-/87?
Gunderloch Riesling Auslese Nackenheim Rothenberg 2001
Thanks to the same Andi, who would have been happy to make up for his corked Fombrauge. Also corked... Rating: N/R
Weingut O. Riesling Spätlese trocken #001 Kräuterhaus 2007
Thanks to Nick, a wine that should never have served in this order, not that it made a difference after all. The “O.” stands for Olaf Schneider. Pale green, almost colourless. The Kräuterhaus is apparently situated in a tributary valley where it is cooler, and one can tell: combines a greenish Mosel apple with Saar-like razor-sharp acidity. Medium body (the 13% alcohol integrates quite well), relatively dry, barely medium-complex and -deep but nice apple and stone dust. Not at all bad for what it is. Rating: 88(+?)
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
