Kyoto Protocol II

After spending the day in Fushimi, we made it back to our hotel in Higashiyama to relax, watch the sumo, and get ready to meet up with J. and S. for dinner. The plan for the evening was to taste, amongst other things, a selection of wines made in the "oxidised" style. To start, NV Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau "Vouvray Petillant": Lightly, but pleasantly yeasty... bubbles a bit on the fat side. A bit more oomph than prosecco.


2003 Heidi Schrock Ried Vogelsang: A cuvee of Welschriesling, Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Furmint and Muskateller. On the nose, muscat, golden delicious green apple. On the light and sweet side, the acidity was a bit lacking. As it warmed up, honeysuckle & elderflower showing on the nose. Disappointingly simple and sweet, probably fine for a hot afternoon. The ladies clearly enjoyed this, as the bottle was quickly emptied.

2000 Chateau Montus Blanc: Nose of baked apples, bread pudding with rum butter, sherry notes, and occasionally, a hint of watermelon jolly ranchers. Not much sweetness or fruit on the palate, with a nice bitter finish. In many ways, this reminded me of a very dry white port, with the same sort of complexity. I would have liked a bit more length expressiveness here, but I would enjoy it as is for an aperitif.

2000 Chateau Musar Blanc: After 1 hour in the decanter, a very entertaining nose of butterscotch, sage, tarragon, and smoke. Over the course of the evening, there was a sort of revolving door of flavours and aromatics, in the following groupings: 1) sea water, smoke and shellac, 2) stewed red fruits (oddly enough, reminded me of the Clos Mogador we had a few months ago), and 3) boiled eggs and sweet green bell peppers. Just a lot going on. Thinking about it the next day, I can't say I necessarily preferred the Montus to the Musar or vice versa...I enjoyed them both, was attracted to different aspects of each.


Yama-imo, asparagus, & shiso-leaf. Textures and flavours... this was a thoughtful (and artful) combination.


Tofuya Johnny, plated, with sansho and papaya. Just read an article about sprinkling sea salt on this type of tofu... sounds good.


Momotose Koshu: This is a 5 year old sake, junmai, milled to 65%, SMV of 0, 17% abv. Intense nose, wood notes, kelp, roasted nuts, charcoal-grilled sardines, mushrooms. The palate was definitely caramelised. This is such a departure from normal sake, it really isn't the same beverage. It has none of the lightness or refreshing qualities of normal sake, so it doesn't make sense for me to try to compare it. Wine is easily a better comparator. R. hated this. With or without the angler fish livers.


Black pepper pan grilled salmon with broiled eringi mushrooms and fresh papaya slices.


Steamed eggplant, pumpkin, and burdock. All of which I believe J. grows in the various nooks and crannies of his house.


1993 R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Rosado: I really enjoyed the nose on this - spicy priorat notes, soy sauce, sweet prunes, incense coming on with time. On the palate, bright acidity, not too much fruit, but really interesting blue cheese and nail polish notes. Pretty big for a rose, quite tannic... not a normal rose, but great wine. I would drink this, if only for the nose.

1995 R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Rioja Reserva This was a bit more wine-like than the others - is that pejorative under the circumstances? This was not weird. I think it is very much what I like from older rioja... sour cherries, smoke, good tannins... also a touch of pomegranate, good acidity. Was a fine food wine, especially enjoyed with the 11th hour sausages (Japanese kielbasa...get your head around that one!). First wine of the evening where the palate was on equal footing with the nose.


Red pepper and citron spiced pork chops with papaya/kiwi salsa.


Mangosteens. Found at a fruit vendor just outside a subway station in Tokyo, about $2 per fruit. In Osaka today, I saw them at a department store going for about $6 each!!! Of the four fruits I brought, the one I chose to demonstrate on was spoiled and felt like a billiard ball when I tried to crack it. I think I may have given myself a hernia...


Lovely bowl of local strawberries.


1996 Kracher Scheurebe TBA #3: Looked almost like maple syrup in the glass, lots of apricots, dried and fresh, raisins, and plums on the nose. Searing, sustained acidity, marillen/apricot jam on the palate. Just brilliant! We won't remind S. and R. of the long naps they took between the main course and desserts. Curious timing on the wake up though.


- Addendum - J.'s Notes:

It's interesting comparing notes at a tasting like this.....one learns quickly that it's cool to have and share those different takes.....for example, I am not much of a sake drinker and yet the Momotose (smart packaging, by the way!) was an unusual and pleasant experience......across the table [R.] was emphatically not into it at all.... (vive la differences!......and more for me....hehehe....). Also, our takes varied over time....sometimes we would have similar readings and then the glass would change and we'd get completely different takes.....lots of fun!

I also liked your comments about both the Musar and the Montus......indeed, there are subtle ways to appreciate wines like these without having to feel like one is better than the other (sometimes that is in fact the case, but I agree that both of these wines brought very different and interesting things to the table) and both are worth trying again.....maybe the white Montus/red Musar "online-offline" real time tasting we discussed?

Yeah the Schrock, with it's silky medium body weight, really slid right onto one's palate from the riesling glass....I agree. I too was wishing for a little more acidity....do you think this wine was just a tad over the hill, or that the vintage was overly ripe? Perhaps this vintage was really high in the muscat % and low in the sb et al. At any rate, I look forward to trying more of her wines....if I can ever find them!......and my continuing education on Austrian wines....[V.] sensei!

Some other comments:

Those Tondonias.......very cool bottles! That rose, with the wine in bottle is just a very cool looking "objet d'art"...

Yes, the strawberries are indeed local.....it's a great season for them now here.

Too bad about your demo "mangosteen"......that was hilarious! I did take a look at the remains more closely during clean up yesterday and indeed, that one was way off....good thing you got it at those Tokyo prices! Really a great fruit and all the more fun to try after your exotic fruit thread got us all interested in unusual fruit.

PS - I can pull in Chambers Rosewood here easily, so you're definitely on for a Kracher meets Chambers taste off!

Thanks again for the pics [V.]....great evening, great discussions and lots of fun! Keep us posted on your trip as it unfolds.....and safe travels!

--

how could this be...2 days later i discover there's a full glass worth of wine still sitting in the ch.musar bottle.....obviously we were busy with the other wines....but i also remember not completely decanting the full bottle, to compare later in the evening....guess it slipped thru the cracks! good thing too...(well for me at least...sorry [V.]!)...as this is a real education in this wine:

Way more honeyed notes now on the palate, balanced apricot-like acidity and vaguely reminiscent of a chapoutier hermitage blanc i had a few years ago (so it's sort of gone from a lemon and minerals burg towards a floral rhone...interesting!). the late arrival of this much fruit on the palate is pretty stunning. the nose at first is all household cleaner....notes of lacquer too, then these too fade to subtle white floral and bakery notes and a touch of yeast. what an intriguing wine.....next time decant 4-10 hours....wow!