TN: ESJ, Haag, Trimbach, Pinon, more

With broiled sole with an Asian edge (ginger and soy) , the 2012 Trimbach R
iesling (basic yellow label). Great acids, some citrus but more minerally t
han fruit, not especially complex but honest and pleasing. B
I had a speech Wednesday and got in late, with an assortment of leftovers t
he 2013 Edmunds St. John "Bone Jolly" Gamay Noir. A little hint of spritz,
fresh ripe cherries and plums, a little spice, fresh and easy. B
Friday I took Betsy to dinner for her birthday in Tarrytown (as I had been
eating truffles on her actual bday). We enjoyed our starters (a malabar spi
nach salad with nuts and Bayley Hazen, incredible rabbit meatballs with kal
e ), Betsy had a wonderful duck lasagna with a fried egg, and we had main c
ourses of chicken with stuffing and mushrooms as well as pork with a rutaba
ga puree and red cabbage (sides were great, both roasted proteins were a bi
t overcooked). Nice attitude and service for BYO. Wine was the 1997 Edmunds
St. John "Fenaughty" Syrah. Wow, nice showing. Ripe but balanced, tannins
resolved, excellent length, pretty fruit framed by herbs, smoke, and flint.
A- (CT shows as Wylie-Fenaughty, but I could have sworn this label was Wyl
ie-less).
Saturday we went to a Nikolaus party, moved indoors due to heavy steady rai
n. The traditional mulled wine was main event, but a couple of us managed t
o bring bonus wines (on theme for our German host)
There was a 2000 Nahe Kabinett I neglected to note details on (think produc
er was Anheuser) on. Good acids for 2000, lemon and green apple, light, eas
y. 7% abv. B-
1992 Fritz Haag "Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr" Riesling Auslese. Great sho
wing. Moderate (compared to modern Auslese) sugars, zippy acids, long. Appl
es, ginger, cinnamon, minerals. Better showing than I remembered. Quickly d
rained. A-
Betsy and I returned home to dinner I had almost ready- chicken in a tomato
/olive sauce, pasta, roasted radicchio, and roasted cauliflower. Opened the
2011 Graci Etna Rosso. Spritz, a bit sharp, calmed down a bit. Redder frui
ts, a bit simple. I liked their white more. B-/C+
Betsy had a concert following day so stayed home, I walked in rain a few bl
ocks to a BIG 50th birthday party for a friend. A buffet (roast beef, veget
ables, etc) plus passed appetizers (my favorite was seared tuna tacos on wh
at were actually potato chips, but also liked lamb, dumplings, pumpkin ravi
oli, etc) . Couple of bars set up
2013 Lauverjat Sancerre
Crisp, bright, apple and lemon, a little stone. B
2011 Cabrini Malbec
Tannic, fruitloopy, jammy, short. C+
2012 Sean Minor Pinot Noir
Low expectations, this isn't too bad. Decent acids, a hint of oak, red cher
ry fruit. By standards of big catered events not bad at all. B-
Sunday red snapper, choy sum, and brown rice with furikake. The snapper was
baked in white wine with capers, wine was the 2012 Sartarelli Verdicchio d
ei Castelli di Jesi Classico. Floral, peach fruit, good acids, simple, happ
y to have well under $10. B/B-
Dinner wine was the 2013 Pinon Vouvray. I had bought the support Pinon 6 pa
ck, put away and forgot there was a regular Vouvray mixed in with the stick
ies. A note on this from the good JayM reminded me, dug it out (and discove
red a nice note from Francois Pinon to customers). Fresh, traditional sec-t
endre styled wine, apples and flowers with a slight honied note and a hint
of wool. Fresh, appealing, too bad there is so little of this in 2013. B++
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine,
B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a p
arty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi
ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Hi Dale,
Recently at the vignerons independants show, tasting a bunch of riesling, we saw that this seems to be a vintage characteristic of 2012 compared to 2011. Much less exotic fruit and leaning towards agrumes, stylistically as you say more mineral and frank. Wines that will go better with shellfish than spicy Asian plates perhaps, but still useful for the latter (as always).
-E

Emery Davis wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:
2010 and 2013 are the real deal for me in Alsace. 2011 is a bit too hot of a year and wines can sometimes be a bit bland. That was also the case with some 2009s.
2010 have a good balance, and specially wines from granit soils. That's also the case in 2013, where wines have more tension, are less exotic and more mineral.
2013s coming to my cellar!!! 2005 is starting to drink well.
s.

Didn't have any 2013 at the show, folks want to get rid of the 12 first I guess! But I have heard very good things about the vintage, looking forward to it.
I think 2011 did really well in the basic rieslings, and in the right hands. At this stage they were certainly more attractive than the 2012s, although as I said there will be very useful wines there.
cheers Santiago, and happy holidays to you and the family!
-E