Let's start off in reverse order, going from sweet to dry:
Royal Tokaji, Tokaji Aszu, 5 Puttonyos, 1996 For the life of me, I can't understand why these are vintage dated, because nearly all the Tokaji I've tasted has tasted much like every other Tokaji. Perhaps I just need to escape my closed shell of a life and explore the vastness of the Hun's legacy more? Hmmm...Anyway, this had an advanced brown-orange color, some spicy citrus and soursop scents with candied tangerine, kumquats, with a spicy finish and a pleasant sweet-sour quality to the sweetness. After a few days, more clove, gingerbread, with a more pronounced muscatel aroma. If I were drinking Crayola® crayons, this would be 'burnt umber'.
Hüet, Vouvray, 'Clos du Bourg', demisec, 2002 Hip-hip VOUV-RAY! Hip-hip VOUV-RAY! In a nutshell, good stuff. And still accessible, although a feeling persists that this is not revealing everything yet and may be at the point where bedtime is near. Field flowers and tropical fruits (pineapple, guava) on the nose, mashed ripe apricots, guava paste, quince, with a floating light touch toward the finish, along with a chalky finish. This feels like a Rheingau auslese in weight, and yet there is balancing acidity to keep this in check. A-
Valle Reale, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, 'Vigne Nuove', 2003 Who needs rose for picnics when you can have a refreshing red instead? Simple, but who cares: this is fun. Fresh-squeezed elderberries is what I'm smelling, and drinking this is like passing elderberry-blackberry juice through one's lips, very fresh and pure, while the slight bitter-herbalness on the end keeps it from becoming jaded. B+
Vitanza, Brunello di Montalcino, 1998 Deep leathery red looking. Smoky cherry-mint and fennle on the nose, echoing on the palate, with a lovely sweet finish that make drinking it early a good choice, but has enough of a structure that 2-3 more years would soften the youthful edges. Much better than a 1995 bottle from this producer. B+
Ridge, Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains, 1999 A dark black-red. Boysenberry with warm weather blackcurrant and spicy oak scents. Blackcurrants and spicy oak, not totally integrated yet but could with age. Would like to see a few more years on this. Not very complex, but the alcohol level is refreshing (12.7%) for a wine from California. Has a slight 'perfumed' quality that might become more pronounced with time in bottle. B+