The CSW holiday dinner

So we had our annual holiday dinner at Grand Sichuan on St. Marks place and it was a delight. I had never been to this Grand Sich but it was excellent as apparently the head honcho is at this location now so the food is of particular high quality. I did not take notes as I did not want to play the Hanes and become anti-social. I kid the Hanes. I love the Hanes. So these are from my fleeting memories of a wonderful night of great wines. There were two magnums of the 2004 Schloss Lieser Niderberg Helden Spatlese. The first mag was crisp and clean with lovely purity and flavors of lemon and peach flesh. The second mag was more open with lovely aromatics of slate, pink grapefruit and damp earth. Lovely acidity and crispness with great depth of fruit. Still has many years to go but there was no Lieser sulfur stink. I really thought it was going to be there and was pleasantly surprised when it was not. Up next was a trio of some nice old Germans. First up was the 1983 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Auslese GK which was just ok. It seemed kind of flat and lacking in verve. There was thick dense fruit but the acidity was just not there. But acid was not a problem for the 1994 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese which was lovely, creamy, yet very zingy Auslese due to its incredible acid levels. The '94's in the Mosel are awesome and have wonderful high acids. This had a long finish and was on the drier sound of Auslese. Has oodles of time to go but no crime to drink it today. Up next was a 1990 Dr. H. Thanisch Bernacasteler Doctor Spatlese which was fantastic. With wines like this you can see why this was considered and possibly still considered one of the greatest vineyard sites in all of Germany. Nose of petrol and exotic tropical fruits with a lush, elegant palate and a long, intense sappy finish. This was just explosive and at a perfect state in its life. The acid was brilliant and lifted this wine into the stratosphere.

Now we moved onto the reds. It was a mixed bag. There was an ok bottle of the 1989 Francois Lamarche Vosne Romanee 1er Cru "La Grand Rue" which had good fruit, some nice earth but seemed a little flat. And yes it was 1er Cru as this was before it was elevated to Grand Cru. Up next was a bottle of 1991 Albert Morot Beaune 1er Cru "Bressandes" which was not good. Hard, tannic, acidic with decent fruit but the ultimate impression was of a wine not in balance with drying tannnins and very high acid. There was a lovely bottle of the 1993 Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru "Taillepieds" which was deep and rich with lovely red fruit and floral aromas. The tannins were still present but became more integrated as the wine aerated. Definetly in that very pretty and chiseled d'Angerville style. Very good but not profound. There also was a lovely bottle of the 1988 de Montille Volnay 1er Cru "Mitans" which may have been the most successful red wine of the night. Beautiful aromas of flowers, spice, cherry fruit and mineral. Definetly the earthiest nose of the night for the red burgs. There was some of that '88 tannin that will probably never go away but it did not detract from the wine in any way. One of the better '88's I have had. The final wine of the night that I remember was the 1997 Druet Chinon "Clos de Danzay" which was lovely stuff. High-toned aromas of herbs, red fruits, earth and mineral. The palate was soft and silky with lovely purity and delineation. Drinking great now.

A lovely night and fun to chill with the whole family at CSW.