Sunday, June 13, 2010

Riesling – Pinot Noir – Cabernet Sauvignon - & a ’59 Monbazillac (Germany / Ontario / France)

Sunday night dinner … Invited over by some friends for an exquisite dinner that included osso bucco and a lemon pie that was, well, out of the ordinary and yet oh so tasty.  Also got my first taste of steamed whole artichokes – that was quite the treat.  The evening started with a bottle of Weingut Dr. Nagler 2002 Rudesheim Auslese from the Rheingau region of Germany.  The initial feeling was that maybe it was a little too sweet to start the evening, but true eonophiles prevailed here: the chance to try any old wine beats out what is proper everytime.  The wine was stunningly delicious with a slight petrol note along with honeyed apples on the nose.  The palate was very sippable, to the point of being dangerously so, honeyed apricots and mac apple – the bottle was gone long before the last of the appetizers.

Next course was a hot pear soup, or at least that’s what I think we were having; as always I am more focused on the wine and this time it was something more recent, a Tawse 2007 Pinot Noir, Niagara Peninsula, from Ontario.  Sour cherry, cranberry with a slight spice and good mouth cleansing acidity.  Both the soup and the wine were delicious.

I had brought along a bottle of Southbrook 2001 Triomphe Cabernet Sauvignon, which I told my host to do what he wished with.  He decided to forego one of his chosen bottles for serving the Southbrook with the main course.  He decanted it for about an hour and a half before giving me the honour of pouring it.  The nose had that telltale green pepper note but there was also dark raspberry, spiced cedar and I found the tannins to still be quite robust … very nice.  But this was not the oldest wine poured.  Not to be outdone my host (the one in charge of the wine anyway) had one more surprise up his sleeve.

Out came a bottle of brownish liquid, my host said it was the last of a case he bought in 1961.  The wine was a G. Cros 1959 Clos Fontindoule Monbazillac … the wine had a rather sherried nose but there was still a little life left in the glass and you could get it if you aerated the wine in your mouth.  Peach sherry came to mind.  This wine was a mere shadow of its former self, but the experience was well worth it and the wine was still quite drinkable … it paired well with the lemon pie giving the lemon flavour something to play off of and made it pop in the mouth.

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