Spent a leisurely day with Rainer, whom one sees so much less often ever since he has found himself a captor, oops, girlfriend. We had the Riesling in the afternoon, listening to music all day long – the CDs that blew Rainer away most were Hermann Scherchen’s later (stereo) studio recording of Mozart’s Requiem, Sviatoslav Richter’s 1977 Salzburg recital (where, among other, he played the loveliest imaginable Debussy Suite Bergamasque), Ginette Neveu’s live Brahms with Schmidt-Isserstedt, and Leonid Kogan’s earlier studio Beethoven with Vandernoot.
Robert Weil Riesling Spätlese #18 Kiedricher Gräfenberg 1995
Medium gold-green. Floral lime, dandelion, saffron, egg liqueur, verbena tea, a touch of camomile, soft herbs, some dried peach with airing, later also orange blossoms. Some glycerine and a little sweetness (standard-Auslese-like in balance, if this were from another producer) over a fine little lemon rind bitter note and old-viney acidity with good cut. Mouthwatering wine. Strong, faintly smoky minerality. First bottle that is reasonably out of its closed phase. Rainer only said “this should have been bottled in magnums only” – a pleasure to enjoy in quantity “despite the fact that Weil’s supposed to be satiable. What a euphoriant, this should be prohibited!” Rating: 93(+?)
Domaine Leroy Savigny-les-Beaune Les Narbantons 2002
Thanks to Rainer, bottle No. 0417 of 2135. Raspberry-ruby-red, soft black reflections. Pure strawberry syrup with a touch of raspberry coulis. Beautifully integrated, very nice oak (genuinely freshly sawed wood like and not spicy, let alone irritating as in so many modern wines). Pebbly and stone dust (a bit quartz-like) minerality. So natural-tasting, this is all about purity and precision (if mainly of fruit), structure and balance. Nice body and impressive length. Mouthwatering acids with cut and freshness, blood-orangey depth and complexity, and subtly tobacco leaf-tinged herb flavour. Faintest dried/cured beef, plus there seems to be potential for a white Alba truffle top note. Very resistant to oxidation, even if the fruit “darkened” a bit with airing, adding a touch of elderberry. Even though the 1997 Fourrier Griottes played off its greater terroir expression, there was never any doubt returning to this that it is as fine a Savigny as one can find. My parents loved it and thought it most impressive on the nose. Rating: 92+/93?
Jean-Marie Fourrier Griotte-Chambertin Vieille Vigne 1997
Faintly pruney ruby-black. Earth, complex red beet, drier blood orange, soft iron and steel, darker and crystallized raspberry, less fruity-precise (of course less primary, too) than the 2002 Leroy Savigny Les Narbantons, but certainly showing off its great terroir in terms of minerality and depth of expression, quite tannic, with typically old-viney acidity that is not as low as expected, and a salty-minerally core. Concentrated, nice medium-plus body, quite long on the finish. The terroir prevails over the vintage here, more so than in Fourrier’s 1997 Clos Saint Jacques, the Griotte is racier, has more cut as well as depth (but I do not think it is weightier). Not at all tired or oxidative for a 1997, Rainer remarked, this still youthfully closed down with airing. Rather ageworthy for the vintage, it seems. Rating: 93+/94?
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