A collection of supposedly great wines behaving badly. The only pleasant one was the Im Sonnenschein, taut, light, complex. The Von Winning 500 was a mouthful of oak and oxidized, raisiny sauvignon, with a subfloor of corrugated cardboard that has been there through every bottle I've had. Kastanienbusch was tired, and tasted like it was from a warmer vintage than actually produced it. Brunnenhauschen nearly made our host cry, disjointed, almost acetic, concentrated fruit feuding with acid at two rapiers' length. The Lemberger was undrinkable.
More supposedly great wines behaving badly. The Pattes Loup was delicious, if nothing unexpected. The Souteronne true to form, meaning slightly funky and rather natural. The Orion was a faceful of volatile acid and bubblegum factory fruit, rather than deep, raspy, leathery, and surprisingly light, as recent bottles have been. The Holger Koch Reserve, capable of greatness, bounced around like a chihuahua on speed, going from mute to ugly to briefly suave to delicious and back to ugly, tasting German one minute, Burgundian the next, and South African in between. The last bottle had been a steady, stately progression, an impressive and entirely expected flowering.
No comments:
Post a Comment