Wine Outlook

I just pulled tasting notes from dinner a few nights ago out of my purse. A little worse for wear, with water stains, drops of wine, and what looks to be a bit of sauce, but at least they’re readable. The whole experience was one of the best I’ve had all year, winewise and otherwise, so I thought I’d share the reviews and assessments.

The sommelier and I met up at Bravo, where she works and I once did, for dinner with two other friends. After much discussion (i.e. pouring over the 400-bottle wine list), we decided to begin with the 1994 Domaine Zind Humbrecht ‘clos hauserer’ Riesling from Alsace. It was one of those situations that makes the search worthwhile. You read about older Rieslings giving off the aroma of petrol, but until you have the chance to drink one, you’re not really sure how it works. As soon as I put my nose in the glass, there it was—a lightbulb went off. On the palate were spritzy flowers, slightly sweet in the middle, and crisp on the finish. Fantastic pairing with the rosemary-infused mushrooms over crispy polenta.

The second bottle was interesting, but not nearly as fulfilling as the first; it was the 1997 Clarendon Hills ‘Liandra’ Shriaz. The nose was incredible—pizza sauce immediately jumped into my head—tomatoes and oregano. The taste took longer to come around, and when it finally did, it spoke of chocolate, olives, acidity, and smoke. As more time went by, it got smoother and the nose gave off hints of a dirty martini to match the olives on the palate. While the wine alone was not something I’d dish out such cash for again, it was quite perfect with my pork chop topped with a double mustard cream sauce. It’s the kind of sauce that’s so good, you’d look for something, anything to dip in it so as not to waste any.

When the Shiraz started to get low, we ordered the 2004 Garretson Cornbread Nation Cuvée. The least expensive of all the bottles that night (and not even officially on the list yet), it was quite a treat, especially for the price. Maybe it was the power of suggestion, but it literally was like the South in a bottle…the nose reminded us of cornbread, how a black iron skillet smells with butter melting in the oven and then when the batter is poured in and starts to sizzle. There were also hints of strawberry, molasses, and vanilla. Yum.

The last bottle I’ll mention, which was not necessarily the last one we had, was the 2003 Louis Guntrum Eiswein. I had to have it because A) Eiswien is not super easy to find and B) it had penguins on the label. While I was too full at that point to take notes on the wine, it did go amazingly well with the crème brulee topped with bananas. Other than that, it was not as rich as you’d expect an Eiswein to be and probably not quite worth the price.

Overall, the evening was an mind-blowing succession of good food and good wine, made all the better by the perfection of the pairings, and of course, the company of good friends.

….Farley Walker

1994 Domaine Zind Humbrecht ‘clos hauserer’ Riesling, 1997 Clarendon Hills ‘Liandra’ Shriaz, 2004 Garretson Cornbread Nation Cuvée, 2003 Louis Guntrum Eiswein