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Tasting Notes
July/August, 2011

Tasting Notes Contents Page

QPR Winner   I give this award to wines that demonstrate an excellent Quality to Price Ratio. They are sometimes more expensive than the wines featured in my Best Buys section (which is cut off at $20), so while every Best Buy is also a QPR Winner,  not every QPR winner is an official Best Buy.  QPR winners are simply wines that are great values for a relatively  reasonable price. 

Alsace Calif./USA Germany Dessert/Sparkling  Italy Rhone/S/SW France

Alsace (except dessert/sparkling)
2005 Gewurztraminer "Frankstein" (Beck-Hartweg)
Lacking any familiarity with this estate, I was interested in a mini-vertical presented of this, the '04 and '06. The '04 was odd, the '06 was pleasant, but this seemed to be the best of the lot. With some sugar on the finish, it was well integrated, the bitterness characteristic of the grape cutting through and providing some character. Fresh and crisp, it drank well and showed nicely, in a laid back, easy going fashion. 87 points.

1995 Gewurztraminer "Herrenweg" (Zind-Humbrecht)
Friendly and light at this point in its life, this shows some spice and pepper, but not much concentration or focus. Completely wide open, it has the feel of a wine that is still fresh, but is probably better consumed now. 85 points.

2009 Gewurztraminer "Furstentum Vielles Vignes" (Albert Mann)
Sweet and relatively rich for this bottling, this has a charming and ripe feel, with enough sunny brightness to provide balance. I did notice a touch of alcohol, but it was quickly absorbed by the fruit and sugar. Sexy and fun, this drinks nicely now. 89 points.

2008 Gewurztraminer "Furstentum Vielles Vignes" (Albert Mann)
At the moment, I actually prefer the '09, but I suspect this will age better and I give it a slight edge for that reason. In lovely balance, this is elegant and charming, with fine fruit and focus and lingering finish. It should develop nicely. 90 points.

2008 Gewurztraminer "Steingrubler" (Albert Mann)
Normally, I like this bottling better than Furstentum, but in this vintage, while it shows the depth and focus and intensity I like, it also seemed to have a slightly odd note to it, perhaps a touch of reduction, a bit of a struck match note? Still, this is focused and tight, with impeccable balance and a fine integration of sugar, fruit and acidity. You could do a lot worse than stocking up on Steingrubler in most any vintage. 89 points.
 

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California/USA (except dessert/sparkling)

2001 Gewurztraminer "Bloomer Creek" (Tanzen Dame)
This Finger Lakes wine has lovely typicity, spice and the touch of bitterness one finds in the drier wines. Very focused and nuanced with a bit of lychee, it drinks nicely, although it is not terribly concentrated and it will probably not age very well. Pleasing and charming, it comes in at just 12.5% alcohol. 87 points

2010 Gewurztraminer "Estate" (Alba)
This New Jersey gewurz from a winery that does a pretty nice job in general, particularly the whites, is fruity but well balanced and quite tasty. While it is a pleasure to drink, what is missing is a lot of gewurz typicity. If you hunt around, you can find it, but this doesn't exactly scream "gewurz." If you can get past that, or don't much care, and perhaps some will find it to be a plus, you'll like it better than I did. There were just 168 cases made. 85 points.

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Dessert / Sparkling wines
2001 Riesling Eiswein "Munsterer Pittersberg" (Kruger-Rumpf)
In this superlative vintage for drier wines, this initially struck me as rather decadent early on, but some 8 years later, the wine seems far more typical. Yes, it is still sweet, but the acidity has really come to the fore, and on opening that was now the dominant characteristic. It is holding very, very well and better than I expected; it shows not a trace of age, other than that change in balance which you wouldn't notice if you didn't have it young in the first place. Piercing and sharp on opening, it gets better and better as time goes one. This was a fine performance. 95 points. 

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Germany (except dessert/sparkling)

2009 Riesling Spatlese "Kreuznacher Kahlenberg" (Anheuser)
Light and pleasant, a bit off dry with well integrated parts, this has a modest finish and a slight feeling of maturity despite its youth. Its parts are well integrated and it seems to drink rather well at the moment. It comes screwcapped. 86 points.

2005 Riesling Spatlese *** "Niersteiner Paterberg" (Strub)

This superb, but subtle wine is screwcapped, but don't let that turn you off of this very fine 3-star Spatlese. With that beautiful integration of sugar and acidity that is the hallmark of German Riesling, this finishes with just enough sugar to seem fruity, but is perfectly balanced. There is surprising viscosity on the texture and it seems richer and thicker than it is when it first dribbles over the palate. It is quite impressive and grew on me as I tasted it. 92 points.

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Italy (except dessert/sparkling)

2009 Gewurztraminer "Kolbenhof" (Hofstatter)
This Italian Gewurz is big on the spice, pepper and lychee notes. It has lots of bright fruit and is dry and piercing, and a touch bitter. The dry and piercing part is notable, as the wine is not terribly friendly or charming at the moment and there is a touch of alcohol obvious. That said, there's a lot of good things going on here, if you are a dry gewurz fan. Personally, I thought this might've well used a little sugar. 89 points.

2010 Rosso Mevushal (Bartenura)
This Tuscan mevushal wine, imported and arranged by Royal Wine, the large Kosher importer, is 100% Sangiovese. Pleasant and reasonably tasty, this is light and straightforward, grapey and fruity, with little mid-palate concentration and not much structure. There is a sweet, slightly candied note on the finish, but it is rather charming and bright.  It reasonably fulfills its intended purpose, opening pretty well, but it goes nowhere and won't really satisfy a Sangiovese fan. 84 points.

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Rhone/South/Southwest France (except dessert/sparkling)
1995 Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Chaupin" (Domaine de la Janasse)
With notes of game, this opens mute, with a touch of char and sauvage, but also seems rich and velvety. It took a long while for this to open up. When it did, it began to seem both vibrant and intense, although never terribly charming or harmonious. This is an interesting but not a top Chaupin. 88 points.

1995 Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Clos des Papes)
Very barnyard-y, this eventually smooths out, integrates some of the barnyard aromatics with the fruit nuances, and shows much more pleasing. It becomes a bit laid back and rather gentle, charming and pleasing, with some elegance in the mid-palate. 88 points.

2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Vielles Vignes" (Domaine de la Janasse)
There were things I liked about this burly wine (15.5%), and things I didn't. The mid-palate was elegant and graceful, if anything erring on the elegant side, a sharp contrast to the alcoholic power. The aromatics were lovely, and the fruit flavor pointed and focused. But the wine just seemed too hot too often, harsh and often hard to drink. Although the wines next to which it was drunk were no great world beaters, this was the one I put down first and fastest. The alcohol just seemed to make it clumsy and harsh, and it was hard to get past the alcoholic hit and burn. 88 points.

2005 Irouléguy (Domaine Etexgaraya)
It opens sharp, short and swamped with oak, but with air, it turns a bit more powerful, the oak integrates well and it becomes a bit less one dimensional. Still, this was a wine that had some limitations, showing a touch of earthiness, but little more of distinction. It is pleasant enough, but middle-of-the-road. 86 points.

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 QPR Winner I give this award to wines that are particularly good values, even if well beyond bargain wine pricing. They are not "best buys," which I define as under $20 wines. Every Best Buy is a QPR winner, but the reverse is not true.  Note: wines tasted at trade shows and the like generally will be displayed with ranges, as it is more difficult to get a good read on a wine in those conditions.  Also, many notes on the E-Zine often come from food and wine events, rather than classic, controlled conditions.

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