Vinoculation

7 May 2010 will go down as an auspicious day.  It was the day of the harvest dinner prior to the picking of the 2010 Auburn Wines vintage. Well, it was  more than a dinner, I’ll describe the events of 7 May 2010 and all that transpired.

The day starts somewhere around 10am with breakfast – the protagonists at this point of the day are Max, Nick, Ryan and yours truly. Bacon, egg venison salami pizza (on a white pizza base fried off onion and garlic, mixed with ricotta and olive oil and made into a paste). Delicious, I’m going to try and make these. But even now we are thinking about wine, so to wash down breakfast:

Felton Road Block 1 Riesling 2009: Perfect. A ridiculous indulgence which is absolutely what is called for. Max and Nick have days off, Nick has just driven 8 hours to get here, and Ryan and I are well and truly on holidays. We want nothing but the best. Creaming soda, green herbs, lemons, white peach. Floral and juicy, the acids take a while to kick in and clean this up. Long delicate finish. Disappeared all too quickly, and alas no longer available even to those on Felton Road’s block list. We’re still thirsty so…

Dr Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten Spatlese 2006: I don’t like what Ernie Loosen does with his Wurzgarten wines. Or at least I haven’t until now. More golden colour than the Felton Road, showing its few years of bottle age. White peach, lime, lanolin and petrol notes on nose. The palate is immediately lifted - white flowers and lemons and also a deeper limey orange and cumquat richness reflecting the vintage. Great persistence and length and a lightness that can only be Germany. Lovely, although Nick who provided the bottle says this has been better in earlier bottles. With time, this also picks up a distinct passionfruit flavour.

Interlude 1: Golf. Well we walked around a golf course and waved clubs about at little white balls, but that’s about as far as the resemblance goes. Apart from Ryan who birdied the 8th hole.

And then a stand up interlude at an end of vintage gathering at one of the local Central Otago wineries:

Speights: I used to like Speights. Now I think it is somehow New Zealand’s punishment for not having Fosters.
Quartz Reef Chauvet: Soft, creamy red fruit dominant. A crowd pleaser.
Quartz Reef Bendigo Pinot (magnum): Colour and nose are aged, palate more interesting – has some lovely aged fruit and soy sauce elements.

And then home for harvest dinner no 1. I think everyone knows this is going to go for a while… we are still demanding the best so start with something spectacular.

JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese Riesling 1995: This bottle was lucky to escape being turned into contraband for the golf course. Hot damn - this is fresh as a daisy and still wearing its sulphur! Lovely balance of filigreed lemony and delicate white peach and other citrus fruits, still a good dose of sulphur. Great length, lovely sugar acid balance, light on its feet for this pradikat level, perhaps reflecting the way things were done 15 years ago. Very Nice wine indeed, and a great way to kick off the evening part of the proceedings!

Schoffitt Pinot Blanc “Auxerrois” 2007 Vielles Vignes (Alsace): Smells of lanolin, quince nectarine. The immediate mouthfeel is textural, perhaps showing the step up in alcohol level from the Prum and earlier wines. The from palate is limes, mandarins and a super ripe orange pith character, heading to marmalade in texture and ripeness. Finish has a trace of lemon in it. Other people are finding all sorts of tropical fruits in this – paw paw, mango, etc. A very nice wine. I’m learning to like Pinot Blanc, I’ve now had a few that I quite like.

Lucien Albrecht Riesling 2006: 11.75% ABV. Delicate little flower – hard to coax a lot from this. Some citrus, perhaps some grapefruit? Texturally OK, ripe, solid acids, but needs more fruit weight.

Blind wine no 1: A glass stopper in a burgundy bottle throws everyone – who uses that combination?? Pear, quince, grapefruit, peach, nut and vanilla pod smells. Really interesting and complex. A funky sweaty attack on the front palate. Gingery, musky spice. Apricot, pear, cumquat. This is sooooo a new world viognier. I don’t think it has seen a lot of wood and don’t think it’s that old, and I would guess Aus if forced. Don’t know whose this is though. Revealed as an absolute balltearer ptions wine – the 08 Cristom Viognier. Who knew?

Blind wine no 2: Well this is a pinot. And a young one. Chewy gummy fruit based nose with pepper spice nose. Palate is bursting with juicy fruit and some earthiness. And it is dense in weight and flavour. Not great length or complexity (perhaps yet). It’s the 08 Te Whare Ra Pinot Noir from Marlborough. Great to try this after being soaked in Central Otago pinto for a few days now.

Then an interlude without blindness and guessing - 08 Te Whare Ra Syrah: Cherry, purple jubes, black pepper nose. Aaah, tannin! V young and primary and sweet, musk sticks and plums, redskins, juicy berries. Dense and mouthcoating and primary. Doesnt show the spice that the nose hints at – a slight disappointment. Great persistence though. This is off 5 to 8 year old vines, and shows Marlborough is good for a whole lot more than Sauvignon Blanc.

Blind Red wine no 2: This has a feral pongy pooey nose. The palate is really savoury, although it wallows into the dirty bum spectrum (did I really think that?), over some black fruits, graphite and roast meats. But gentle tannins. Perhaps some bottle age but varietal unknown – Mourvedre? Older Grenache? Or something Spanish? Or one of the Italians like montelpulciano? Nooo, its Max being an evil bugger again. Its an American Syrah – an 05 HDV Syrah – Los Carneros. 14.3% ABV.

More Syrah, this time Australian. 01 Castagna Genesis Syrah: White pepper over small berries & beetroot, and a touch of something animale – roast meats, forest floor etc. (Max: some EA) Ooh love this structure. Long fruit flavours, strong fine boned tannin that goes on for some time. Shows its bottle age with a touch of leather, blueberry. Even a touch of orange berocca. Incredible length here.

A blind dessert wine:  This time my evil little options wine. A volatile little beast . Vanilla, grapefruit and according to someone in the crowd “sexual orange”, whatever that is. Powdery in a sense that says this is slightly past it. Dense and long. Tiring a little and not as sweet as more modern cuvees. Loaded with tartrate crystals at the bottom of this little bttle. This is great to try nonetheless as it’s a wine no one gets to drink a lot of - Von Othegraven Kanzamer Altenberg Trockenbeerenauslese 1976.

And then poker until 3am, where we bet fingers toes and testicles as no one was awake enough or sober enough to find the chips. As a result, the next morning sees two of us with very deep voices, two without, and a few vicious hangovers…

Harvest dinner no 2 to come…