Rieslingfan

Remember the exception that proves the rule: Krug. They use a higher % of Meunier than just about anyone else, and make the a)most expensive and b) arguably best Champagne in the world. (Obviously the Clos de Mesnil is a Blanc de Blancs, so no Meunier there.) As for Dom Perignon, I was at a tasting with the Dom "Brand Ambassador" and he offered that in declared years they make about 1,000,000 bottles of Dom Perignon. Also he stated that the grapes for Dom are all from estate vineyards. Moet uses no pruchased grapes in Dom Pergnon. That's unusual for any Champagne from the big houses. BTW, the '95 Dom is excellent, but needs several years in bottle IMO. And in the for what it's worth section, I have a bottle of Moet Champagne that will get opened soon. It's made from a single vineyard & is 100% Pinot Meunier. We'll see what happens. I'm looking forward to trying it.

If this is even remotely justifiable then Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese should carry the same price tag. DRC pricing (and Petrus...and Le Pin) is a joke to the nth degree.

The whole concept of the distributor producing the list irritates the hell out of me. I got this mad from the one time I tried to help a newer restaurant (Thai cuisine) put together a list. We went through the book from the distributor, picked out some very appropriate wines at good prices (e.g. Selbach-Oster MSR Spatlese, Trimbach Pinot Gris, etc.) as well as some basics for those who had to have them (e.g. the ubiquitous KJ Chard, a merlot I have for gotten...) and ended up with a 12 item list that was priced well. The distributor got the list, offered one of those "we'll handle it" deals & the Thai restaurant now serves KJ Chard, Beringer White Zin, Mondavi Coastal Merlot (or whatever the hell they are calling it now) and some other truly evil plonk, including Blue Nun! The Blue Nun is $23/bottle! Aaargh!!!!! I hate distributors that do this.

Vickie, Have any of hte astronauts ever (jokingly) asked for take out from Papacito's?

For what it's worth, I work for the company that is under contract and currently building the ISS water reclamation (and oxygen generation) system. It's not based on the Russian technology at all. In fact there's some of it that's quite new in terms of technology. We're doing the first test run of the system today! Hopefully when we RTF the system will go up as part of the (we hope) Node 3 of the ISS.

While not Styrian, Brudelmayer (from the Kamptal in Austria) makes some very nice Muskateller as well. I've been working through a case of the 2000 for the last couple of years and it's holding up nicely. Not surprisingly I have used it as an accompaniment to Thai food. It's a great match. A little further afield, Muller-Catoir (Pfalz, Germany) makes fine Muskateller. Even now after the regime change the Muskateller is still very good.

That's hilarious. It's especially funny since there's tons of Champagne sitting at retail (and presumably in warehouses as well). The millenium buzz is gone (if there ever was one). I can still buy several high quality prestige cuvees and vintage Champagnes from the 1990 vintage! Stacks of NV Champagne are on the floor of all my local retailers. My closest shop has a floor stack of '95 Dom. I spoke with their manager yesterday & he sold exactly 2 bottles of his 30 cases over the holidays. There's enough Champagne in the pipeline to supply us for many more NYE celebrations. The Champegnois do indeed need to work on the image of Champagne as a food wine.

Ok, my favorite sparkler is Krug, but that's a bit pricey. (just a bit...) When I want a value I usually buy Roederer Estate, the California version of Roederer. It's always good and an excellent value. If you want something sweeter and festive the Cerdon de Bugey is a greta idea. It's like drinking strawberries!

Or this: A local shop for me had over 15 cases of the 2001 St. Urbans-Hof Riesling Qba about two weeks ago. It had been lingering for months. As of last Monday: three bottles left. That was only number 46 or so on the list.

Storage is great (temp controlled cellar). Thanks for the advice!

One that I have liked in several recent vintages is the Robert Groffier Bourgogne. I try to pick up a few bottles each year & it has not been a disappointment.

A 2002 Nigl Gruner Veltliner made the list this year. The '02 Germans are really good. Are they up to '01 for pure aging potential? No. But they are incredibly enjoyable and perhaps more accessible than the '01s. They will age just fine & are still a bargain. I've tasted over 350 2002s to this point & it's another excellent vintage from the good producers. (The lower level producers did not do as well in '02 in my opinion. The rising tide of 2002 did not float all boats.)

Craig, After a tasting a while back I picked up some of the '96 Poderi Colla Tenuta Roncaglia Barbaresco. I loved it then, but I know nothing about how this producer's wines age. Any advice on maturity stages. I really like fully mature Nebbiolo. ('70 Conterno Monfortino tasted in September was one of my top 5 wines of the year.)

There are five German Rieslings on the list.

...that wine should interest everybody. as should this one - perhaps even more: H. Dönnhoff Riesling Spätlese Nahe Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle 2001 The thing is everyone will beat themselves up to get that stupid merlot and ignore the Germans. Good thing - keeps the pricing down. *note: Yes, I know the Paloma people are very nice. You might as well ignore the Donnhoff. It's long gone. The 2002 however is a worthy follow up. I've seen a few bottles of the Prum still laying around here and there. They will be gone soon I'm sure. The Loosen is an interesting selection. It's a pretty, true to the form kabinett. It's actually not very '2001' if you know what I mean. I still don't get the Eroica Riesling always makign the list. It's like WS says "Holy cow! They can make a drinkable Riesling in the US. Let's put it on the list."

Scary stuff isn't it?! The Dellchen is the second best kabinett in '02 in my opinion. The Oberhauser Leistenberg is livelier. And as for summits of the vintage, the Niederhauser Hermannshohle Spatlese is right up there. The Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Spatlese is amazing as well, but Helmut Donnhoff thinks the vines are still a bit young. Donnhoff makes astounding wines. Hexamer is another rising star in the Nahe. I agree with the Schaefer-Frolich comment. Visiting there was a rgeat opportunity to sample a wide range from an up and coming vintner.

He means Champagne produced by a grower of his or her own grapes, not purchased grapes. Well I hope that is what he means. Would not want to speak for Mark S out of turn......... PS I am too restarded to quote more than 1 person at once sorry..... Yes, Carema, You got it right. A grower/producer in Champagne. These wines tend to be more "wine like". They are not all about bubbles and yeast. There is terroir, subtlety, grace, elegance. RM wines deliver more consistently than the large house crap. The current release of Jean Milan Brut Speciale is quite nice & priced at or below VC Yellow. Out latest favorite is the 1996 Chartogne-Taillet Brut. It's only $5 more than VC Yellow and from a fantastic vintage!

Sunday night: Pan seared veal chop (salt, pepper and garlic seasoned), then finished in the oven with mushrooms and halved shallots. I made a pan sauce with the juices plus some butter and Chateauneuf du Pape. The sauce needed a boost. I wonder if I did not season enough. Not bad though.

Sorry, didn;'t mean to sound like I was shooting the messenger. As for the lack of quality producers, I would think a fine region would have to have a large number of fine producers. Otherwise there just would not be enough good wine available to even evaluate the quality of the region's potential. It's just another nail in the coffin of vintage charts and ratings.

That makes no sense. Based on the stated logic WS could give 100 pts to a region with no good producers because it was possible to make great wine. Argh!

I'm fond of Breuer, and Kesselstatt does a nice job as well. I've not had the Ratzenberger Sekt. It's not German (or Riesling), but Brundelmayer (Austria) makes a fantastic sparkler. There's a shop in Southern Jersey that carries a number of good Sekts. I can give the info if anyone is interested.

They ship to me. I can take it from there . . . Best, Jim Just what I need: an enabler! First of all, realize that the owner of CWC is Chrish Peel, who is a Stanford Law grad. Thus, he's a sharp man who understands the current status of the wine shipping laws. The CWC website currently indicates that they're willing to ship anywhere, but title transfer occurs in NC. Something tells me, but I'd like to confirm, that Chrish is not opposed to being another test case in the quagmire of wine shipping litigation. Nevertheless, give them a call -- they're shipping policies may have dramatically changed in the past couple of years. You guys...sarcasm...sarcasm...the absolutely last thing I need is more wine. I'm certainly not looking for an enabler. Far from it, I need drinkers.

They ship to me. I can take it from there . . . Best, Jim Just what I need: an enabler!

I've been to CWC. Good shop. They will not ship to me. (Or at least would not as of spring 2001)

David, I saw the 2002 Donnhoff Neiderhauser Ham. for $59 recently. The Hirtzberger is on sale at CWC for $50. But that's splitting hairs and you're right about preferences. Its just that the Donnhoff's relative increase is so much that it stops me in my tracks. The 2000 O.B. I drank cost $30, when I bought it. The 2000 N.H. was $37. The buzz from 01 is driving these 02 prices don't you think? Best, Jim $59 for the NH Spat is out of bounds. Of course it's what much of the market will bear. I was offered $100/bottle for my '01 NH. Your price on Hirtzberger is very good compared to what I can get. Lucky dog.