Odds and ends

[William P]

Since I suck at formal notes, I will simply give a few impressions on a couple of wines and one region I've explored last month.

1. 2000 Potensac. If you have this in the cellar, then life is good. Beautiful fruit, balance and flavor. This wine shows how wonderful the 2000 vintage was. Full bodied, nicely concetrated. Showing no signs of age yet but tannins are definitely moderating and those tannins were round to begin with. It's good to go but nowhere near the end. Very enjoyable.

2. 1996 Lafon Rochet. This is almost a twin of the Potensac. Slight higer pitched than the Potensac but still full bodied with superb concentration. This too has yet to show triary manifestations but that should begin soon. Interesting to note there was core sweetness found that was not in the FAT 2000 vintage of Potensac. This should also last a decade if not more, nah more than that.

3. Finally a vintage report. I don't profess to be an expert in Riesling but I've consumed more than a few 2009 kabinetts. I find the vintage, to my palate, to be very pleasing. I can't say whether this is 2001 year or whatever. I can say there is a purity of fruit that I have not experienced recently and this fruit manifests with air, much like a young bord, or great white burg. I had some big kabinetts i.e. spatlese quality but I also had the more typical lean Kabinett so I do not know from my sample if it's a traditional year or not. I do know that these will be great summer quaffers and the best will age many years. If you are at all in riesling, I advise that you start sampling.

enjoy.

[Houndsong]

Thanks for the word on the 2000 Potensac. I've kept mine at bay since the first couple I tried were rather like a scared, fanged animal in a dark hole.

[Ramon_NYC]

Thanks for the riesling vintage report. Iv'e started to delve a little more into German riesling for being great summer quaffers and for being such food-friendly wines. I'll keep an eye out for 2009.

[Blanquito]

Watch out for the Riesling bug! German riesling, as I have often expounded, is the world's greatest wine bargain. 2009 sounds like a classic vintage, as is 2008 which is my favorite post-2001 (which has no recent peer).

[alchemeus]

I sucked down the last of my 1996 Lafon-Rochet this past summer. I'd bought two cases of this at ... was it $300/case? They were pretty much enjoyable to great since purchase. Lovely wine with a grilled steak topped with melted Blue Cheese.

Wouldn't have mattered if I'd bought 3 cases, I'd have consumed them by now. Probably. Most likely. Just a great 'go to' wine. Especially with grilled meats.

[JimHow]

Yeah, I've got one last bottle left of the 1996 Lafon Rochet. I have a case each of the 2003 and 2004, I can only hope they are half as good as the '96.

[Bacchus]

With the attention to the 2000 vintage, just wondering if anyone's tried the 2000 Talbot?

[DavidG]

With the attention to the 2000 vintage, just wondering if anyone's tried the 2000 Talbot?

Red and dark fruits, cassis, smoky tobacco, earth, still young if you like true age on them but a very nice Talbot, best since the '82 and '86. I'm waiting another 5 years to open my next one.

[Claret]

Bill, the 2009's sound like my kind of vintage, not too ripe and high acid with potentially real Kabinett. I have already broken my buying moratorium, welll just a little bit, and due to the reality of zero cellar space I will have to hold off on some 09er's.

Somebody should jump on the 2009 Donhoff Estate and Leitz offerings from yesterdays PC email. I would have been in for a case if it was feasible at the moment.

[rjsussex]

I too sampled my last remaining Potensac 00 recently - comparing with 00 Moulin Riche (2nd of LP) and 00 Baron de Brane (2nd of Brane) and to general surprise it came top - easily.

But bottles have varied.

Richard