Birthday Meal

Marsannay 2002, Saint-Jacques, Pinot Blanc, Fougeray de Beauclair
Aged, expensive wood and caramel. Apple cider with unsweetened brown sugar. All the signs of oxidization were on the nose, thankfully, and not in the mouth. Rich, buttery, ripe with a definite move towards old pear compote,with just a note of caramel to sweeten it up. Long and still pretty fresh. Probably should have been drunk a year or two ago but much better than I expected for a 7 year old Burgundian Pinot Blanc.

Vosne-Romanee 2002, Au Dessus de la Riviere, Christophe Perrot-Minot
Tender and powerful. Some sort of creamy red fruit with it’s green top, sweet earth and a liquified rose. Enticing to no end. You stick your nose in the glass, you want to get closer but there is a thin veil of tannin and acid that keeps you away. It is why we drink Burgundy, to on one hand be given a glimpse of perfection, only to be denied by the other.

Riesling 2001, Spatlese, Rauenthaler Baiken, Rheingau, Kloster Eberbach
Good. But just good as opposed to exceptional, as other bottles have been. The minerality has morphed into an almost wooden veneer, with pineapple and guava slopped onto it. That is all fine, it’s just the acidity has decided to curl up in a ball somewhere, leaving you with a touch of unrequited sugar. The cork was fine. Hmmm.