Nomadic Wines

May 4 wine dinner at King Fung Garden in Chinatown

This was really a fantastic dinner that came together haphazardly. We got together because Ken Kailin was visiting from Chicago. The wines turned out to be superlative and bountiful. Trung Nguyen assembled all of the logistics, which turned out to be delicious.

Z-H flight
2001 Albert Mann Gewurtztraminer – very young and fresh; it had very typical floral nose; there wasn't much structure, but very enjoyable
1983 Jo. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese – more honey notes and layer upon layer; there was even some light coffee notes; really lively acidity for an '83 Spatlese
1997 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Clos Windsbuhl – lighter and more floral compared to the other Z-H wines -- while this was nice, it wasn't what I expected. There was a touch of residual sugar, the only weakness was the finish for me.
1997 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain – much darker color -- like honeycomb. I found the fruit to be a little bit muddled and flabby, but it may just be in an awkward stage.
1997 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurtztraminer Heimbourg – good balance and acidity, despite being too heavy at this point. More concentrated and a lot more fruit than the other two wines. This was more what I expected. It has the richness and acidity, plus it went great with duck. When I revisited it at the end, it was slightly more mellow and delicious.

White flight
2000 Clos des Papes Blanc – lively fresh citrus fruit, fresh acidity, some structure but it just didn't seem balanced
2000 Louis Jadot Puligny Montrachet Champ-Gain – minty, heavy minerals; I think the fruit was masked by the food pairings; was it a touch oxidized?

California flight
1991 Ridge Montebello – big black raspberries, sweet smooth tannins, smooth fruit and rich flavors. This baby is going to age!
1992 Ridge Montebello – dominated by sweet red strawberries. Palate also has raspberries and a little tighter tannins at this point.
1987 Phelps Backus – alive nose, leaner, light cherry notes, little too much acidity at this point… lots of eucalyptus on the finish
1990 Phelps Backus – compared to the '87, much meatier and fresher at first. With some time in the glass, it took on some serious bright red fruit.

Bordeaux flight
1982 Leoville Barton – incredibly fresh with good fruit and light coffee notes
1990 Gruaud Larose – amazing chewy texture that was lined up with great fruit; fresh! Still some silky tannins to finish off the balance. Lovely.

Rhone flight
1989 Pierre Jacumin Chateauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee de Boisdauphin – very bricked… but appearance was deceptive. Got some white pepper, cedar, and sweet, baked fruit. Licorice on the finish. Clearly a Grenache blend.
2003 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf-du-Pape – great ripe nose, bright sweetened strawberries, like the ones sprinkled with sugar… dead in the middle right now

Italy flight
1997 Banfi Brunello di Montalcino – old fruit -- this was misplaced in the tasting
1998 Montefalco Rosso – leathery but benefited from the hours in coffee pourer; even tasted some light bubblicious gum

Stickie flight
1986 Chateau D'Yquem – so much elegance and botrytis; big huge nose of grapefruit, apricot, citrus, vanillas and nuts; more pineapple on the palate
1967 Chateau Lafon – slightly unbalanced but a very rich, sweet nose.
1998 Kracher #4 – very big but light and refreshing. Tons of tropical fruit.

posted by nomadfromcincy @ 11:22 AM