WTN: Catching Up

[Brad Ballinger]

I was away from the computer for a while, and eGullet was going through transition, but better late than never...

Dinner with friends on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend. The starter wine...

2001 Hexamer Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Riesling Kabinett, Nahe. The short version -- sleek, racy, and hitting on all cylinders. Taking my time, there is an intense minerality on the nose. Some lime and floral stuggles to make it through. In the mouth, it packs an acidic wallop shooting lime, slate, and green apple to all caverns of the mouth. There is just enough sugar to keep this wine from being overly mouth-puckering. Finishes with a crispness, but lingers of a good long time. One need not be in a hurry to drink this, but it's hard to lay off when it tastes this good.

The main course was grilled scallops and these prawns that were the size of mini-lobster tals. I brushed them with EVOO, and seasoned with Old Bay. To finish, I served them with a white wine, lemon, butter sauce (recipe on Food board). Also served grilled radicchio and saffron rice. The food was to die for. The wine was only okay...

2000 H. Lamy St. Aubin Clos de la Chateniere Premier Cru. This, too, had some minerality on the nose with lemon oil and pears. In the mouth, I had trouble getting past an oily metallic component that seemed to suck almost all the acid out of the wine. It probably was never going to be rich enough to stand up to the food, but I didn't expect it to completely roll over and play dead. Disjointed and not nearly the wine the St. Aubin En Remilly was from this same producer in the same vintage.

The next night...

1994 Ridge Geyserville, Sonoma County. 68% zinfandel, 20% carignan, 8% petit sirah, 4% mataro. A long time ago, I promised friends of ours that I would open up my Ridge zins with them and them only. They used to be on the ATP program years ago but gave it up when he was without a job for a year. They've now had the 1990-94 Geyserville wines at Maison Ballinger. The most recent one I opened for them was the 1992 which was drinking beautifully, and would've held at that level for a while. The same cannot be said for the 1994. While still enjoyable, it had peaked probably about 2 years ago. The good news, though, was that the fruit was alive and was the focal point. Not much in the way of structure or complexity at this point. Tannins resolved a while ago, acidity not terrible high. But the bramble fruit was pure and juicy.

1998 de Carolus, Fronsac. This was opened after the Geyserville was polished off. What a contrast. Fiarly intense cabernet franc nose -- herbal, earthy. Texturally, a chewy wine with still firm tannins. Some coffee spice notes to add a layer beneath the herb and black cherry fruit. There was a half bottle leftover. On the second day, the wine lost some of its "edge," and was nicely rounded. A smoother, yet still full, texture, and notes of caramel and coffee were stronger. Great with cheese.