Lunch at a 3 star restaurant with a 4 star importer and a 5 star producer

That is alot of stars I know but this lunch was starworthy and incredible. I was fortunate to be invited to a lunch at Gramercy Tavern with Terry Thiese, Helmut Donnhoff and Gaby Donnhoff. It was a fantastic event and one I will not soon forget. The food was really good and I was pleasantly surprised as I went there in the "down period" Bruni references in his review today. Down period no more as this was flavorful, complex and highly detailed food with focus on the ingredients.

The first flight consisted of the 2004 Hermannshohle Grosses Gewachs and the 2006 Oberhauser Leistenberg Kabinett The GG was a phenomenal wine that was very closed. After some aeration the nose opened a bit with mineral, lime, mushrooms and lemon. There was a also a sweet tart thing that kept coming on strong and was very potent on my last sniff. The palate had fantastic concentration along with beautifully ripe fruit and a pure, clean almost rainwater effect on the palate. Great cleansing '04 acidity. Consensus was that this was way too young. Excellent wine in need of a long sleep. The Kabinett on the other hand was open for buisness. Nose of kumqwats, lemon and mineral. This was fat, pure and veyr clean with some nice honeyed fruit and very crisp acids. Both these wines were served with the Open Crab Ravioli with Mussels, Razor Clams and Nettles. I found the GG to go better with the dish as the acidity worked well with the green sauce this was in. But the Leistenberg was no slouch either. Nice intro flight.

The next flight paired the 2006 Kreuznacher Krotenpfuhl Spatlese with the 2001 Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Spatlese. Both wines were fantastic and I was particularly interested in the new wine. Krotenpfuhl is a vineyard Helmut bought four years ago and this, I believe, was the first vintage. Earth wine for Donnhoff with lovely notes of lime, white pepper, tulip and verbena, Palate had lovely purity concentration on a leanish frame. A note of truffles developed after a bit of aeration. This is an exciting new site and I am interested to track its evolution. I will definetly squirrel some of these away for the long haul. The 2001 Felsenberg Spatlese was an auction bottling in 2001 and was STUNNING at this lunch when it was open which was for around twenty to thirty minutes and then this wine slowly started to go into a shell. An amazing airy nose with great filigree that highlighted blueberry, fig, apricot, mineral. The complexity was amazing. The palate had just so much depth and I can see why this was selected for auction. Sappy, peachey, wonderful 2001 acidity and a fleshy long finish that really stopped me in my tracks. Just a stunning bottle of wine. This was matched with my favorite dish of the day . . . .Smoked trout with Sunchoke Puree and Pickled Cipollini Onions. Both wines were delightful with the dish.

The next flight paired the 2006 Turmchen Spatlese with the 1998 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Spatlese. Turmchen is apparently the exact same slice of land that the previous 2001 Felsenberg Spatlese was from. Donnhoff is the exclusive owner of this piece. This was obviosuly young but fleshy, pure and rich with exceptional minerality and a finish flush with nectarine fruit. Another great new entry in the Donnhoff stable. The Hermannshohle was smoking. Such purity, intensity and complexity on the nose with just some hints of secondary with petrol and pie notes. The wine was closed on the palate but did flesh out tremendously after aeration but the innate beauty of this wine was there for all to see. This duo of wines was paired with the Grilled Chicken, Poached Egg, Snap Peas, Fava Beans and Swiss Chard. Both wines were a delight with this.

The final flight was a duo of Auslesen. Started with the 2005 Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Auslese which had a brothy nose of apricot, pie and intense minerality all on a bed of botrytis. Rich and complex palate with great depth and loads of depth. The final wine of the afternoon was the 2002 Oberhauser Brucke Auslese. This had the tiniest hint of petrol and all the Brucke power you could ask for. Saucy, earthy, mineral and ripe this was just starting to get interesting but still needs loads of time.

What a fantastic lunch and Helmut was equally fascinating and compelling. He looks at himself as the interpreter of his vineyards and no more than that. Truly a great man churning out brilliant wines.