Saturday Betsy and I drove to Jersey City, where Salil had made biryani in Jay and Arnold's kitchen. We were greeted by a nice group with some great s mells and plenty of wine.
1993 Ampeau Meursault Perrieres 1er Young, full, and bright, with hazelnut and pear flavors. Holds up very well over several hours. A-
First up was a complex dhal, which I enjoyed with a couple of reds
1993 Bernard Amiot Chambolle-Musigny Pretty, taut, tart at first, more expressive later. B+/B
1989 Faiveley "Clos des Cortons" Corton- Good showing, ripe but fresh, big bodied, sandalwood and black cherry. Hold s well for hours. A-
1985 Drouhin Nuits-st George A nice argument for aging village wines. Fruit is amazingly fresh, some smo ked meat and leather, nice finish. B+
1978 Keenan Cabernet Sauvignon I've had good bottles of this before, this one had a thoroughly soaked cork ed and didn't show well. At first musty (though not TCA) and a tad fecal, t hat blows off and a couple hours later more dark fruit emerges, but by then it seems volatile. Wonder if I had tasted at one hour mark? C+/B- at end
There were a pair of Juras which disappointed, both excessively oxidated. T he 1983 Camille Loye "Cuvée Saint Paul" Chardonnay Arbois out-sherried th e sherries (let's say a C ) but I think I liked it better than the tired an d somewhat dirty 1988 Camille Loye "Cuvée Saint Paul" Trousseau Arbois C-
With amazing chicken biryani and the best raita I've ever had, the flow of Rieslings started:
2004 Selbach Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Spatlese Shows young and simple, leave rest to rest. B/B-
2001 Selbach Oster Zeltinger Sonnenhur Auslese* Zippy, frisky, fun. B+/A-
2002 Selbach Oster Zeltinger Sonnenhur Auslese* A little less lively than the 2001, but more complex and deeper at moment. A-
2012 Merkelbach "Urgluck" Urziger Wurzgarten Spatlese Great acids, lime and mineral, excellent - couple of people buy online whil e tasting. A-/B+
2012 Selbach Oster Zeltinger "Anrecht' Himmelreich Auslese level sweetness, full and rich, floral and citrusy. B+
1997 Alzinger Loibner Loibenberg Smaragd I got next to last pour and thought "wow this was popular" Turns out it was a leftover bottle. Surprised me by showing sweetness, but that was probabl y because room temp concealed acids. B?
1969 Zilliken Ockfener Bockstein Cabinet Auslese Good color in bottle, but darkens quickly on opening. Tired and dragging. C
+
1976 Baron von Kaulbars Oppenheimer Sacktrager Beerenauslese Light (in both color and depth) for mature BA, honied and simple. I feel be tter about Zachys breaking a bottle. B-/C+
2012 Peter Lauer Unterstenbersch Fass 12 Rather dry, excellent length, I tried this in wrong order! Big herby powerf ul. B+/A-
1971 Kirchmayr Neuburger Solist. I think others liked more than I, but while I found the piney profile not s uperappealing, this is amazingly youthful- I had thought this was a recent wine. B-
Jay put out cheese and a beautiful raspberry cake,
1999 Durkheimer Hochbenn Muskateller Eiswein Very sweet, straightforward, tropical and musky. Needs a touch more zip B
2010 Peter Lauer "Scheidt" Beerenauslese Big, full, less botrytis driven than I would have guessed, electric acids. B+
(I'm unclear if this is a 1895 or 1898 Solera) Henriques and Henriques Verd elho Apparently opened a year! Nutty, raisiny, delicious. B+
La Bota de Palo Cortado " 21" I tried to give this a fair shake, but I just don't get sherry, I trust oth ers that this is an excellent example, but for me a C+
I didn't try the other sherry, the El Maestro Sierra 1830 Amontillado VORS
Really fun afternoon/evening. Great crowd, and Arnold and Kenny made sure B etsy didn't feel overwhelmed by winegeekiness. Absolutely fantastic food, a nd lots of great wine.
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a pa rty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivit y, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.