January 25, 2006. Chinese New Year Wines. Part.1

Thursday night we banged out quite a few wines. Most of them German.

'03 Rothenberg Nackenheim AP#1104
Flowers & nuts ( hazelnuts?), hint of lychee may fool you into thinking its sweet but couldn't be (13.5% alcohol). I am wondering if this thing is pure Reisling as it seems to have a hint of Gerwurtztraminer. 87pts

'04 Rheinhesen Kabinet AP#1205.
High acidity, closed and tight, little bit of petrol smell - more like a Reisling. 87pts

'03 Provenance Pinot Noir
Pinot noir from Australia, unmistakable Australian Pinot Noir nose. Bubblegum, vanilla, tannic! Someone else brought a Riedel Extreme and revealed the more pleasant pinot noir aromas but still unmistakbly new world. 85pts

'04 Tarra Warra Pinot Noir
Not your typical nose. Can't quite classify this one. To me a better mid palate and tannins than the provenance . 86pts.

'98 Chateneuf Du Pape - Pierre Usseglio /Cuvee De Mon Aeiul
Cndp in spades and then some. For those who like game aromas in their wine this one had it in spades. Smelled like a guinea fowl died in the bottle. Not for everyone but I thought this was real fun - probably better matched with partridge, quail or even lamb stew or some pungent cheeses. Tannins were fine but overall still seemed way too young for a 6 year wine. Probably needs another 7-10 years. 91?(+)pts.

'02 Louis Jadot - Clos Vougoet
Wrapped in foil initially - blind tasters beware. I thought this was a new world pinot initially because of the nose. Incredibly tight and tannic - I would never have guess this to be a Burg. not to say a Clos Vougeot. Way too tight and suspect its shut down and closed for business. 91?(+)pts.

'04 Gunderloch Auslesse AP#1505
Hazelnut & Almonds, really really high acidity, detected perhaps some carbonation also? Does not seem to have the "weight" or visocity of an Auslesse... I'm thinking it taste more like a Kabinett. High alcohol level as well. 84 pts. If they labelled this a Kabinet I might have scored it higher!

'04 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Auslesse AP#1303
This is more like an Auslesse. Excellent acidity, sugars with some weight and defintely much higher viscocity. 92+pts

'02 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg TBA #2203
Much deeper in color and much heavier and thicker. Getting into syrup territory. Apricots, honey, good acidity and balance. My only criticism for wines at this level is this one was a bit too one-dimensional and monolithic - good but not inspiring. 92pts.

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