And in one corner . . . .

You know those nights when you invite some people over and you expect the evening to go one way and it really does not go that way and just sucks the enjoyment right out of the wine and the rest of the evening. Well, I had one of those last night. Won't use names to protect the innocent, guilty or in between. I thought inviting these three, turned out to be two people over, would invoke conversation and we would drink interesting wines and just have a nice mellow evening. So wrong I was. I was the referee of an all-time wine geek showdown and I had a miserable time trying to casually change the topic every five minutes and trying to just say anything that would notch down the intensity but it did not work. So here are the notes. I'll leave all the other details to your imagination.

Started off with the 2006 Wittman Gruner Silvaner Trocken which was a delightful wine. Crisp and clean with a creamy, silky texture. Not as intense or floral as Wirsching or as dirty and real as Furst but lovely in its own very refined crunchy mineral way. As someone pointed it out it did not match well with cucumber and fresh garlic but I did not dare to try. I love Silvaner just wish this Wittman wasn't so high priced a wine. That's what you get when you special order from Wildman.

Next up was the 1994 Prager Sauvignon Blanc which was very good for around twenty minutes but proceeded to go downhill very quickly. Very minerally austere with some slightly ripe grapefruit rind but also as it went downhill I got hints of rot on the nose. It was good for the moments it was good. The more I drink Sauvignon Blanc the more I realize there is not much high quality stuff there besided that small cadre of growers in Chavignol. Just a boring grape that needs exceptional terroir to really shine.

Up next was the 2001 Carl Loewen Leiwener Laurentiuslay Spatlese which was lovely. This was singing on this particular night and was my last bottle. I am staring to drink my less serious 2001's as they are giving great pleasure right now. Nose of lemon curd, minerals, petrol, honey and beeswax. Palate had lovely crisp 2001 acidity and good effusive fruit. I loved it. It definetly was forward and drinking great.

Next I was ordered to open a red wine and the only thing I had on tap to drink was the 2005 Bernard Baudry Chinon "La Croix Boissee" which did not show that well on this night. More Bordeaux than Chinon. Went through like ten different phases. Nose of deep ripe fruit almost black. After a bit the acid on the finish became acrid. There was great freshness to this wine even though it was going through all these weird phases. There was a time after around three hours where it was undrinkable because it was dominated by its structure. I have two more bottles and I have heard this wine evolves positively over three days. It lasted two hours. Well my last bottles I won't touch for ten years. This seems like a wonderful bottle to age.

We also had a bottle of the 2002 Clos Rougeard Saumur "Breze." This showed terribly. Just young, awkward, oaky, not too acidic but with potential down the road. There was a nice salinity to this wine and the nose was nice at one point but this needs time. There was a very vibrant pineapple note that some people liked or hated. I did not mind it. But all in all this wine showed very badly. But there is half a bottle left for tonight and I will see where this baby is at later.

Maybe the vibes brought down the wines or the wines brought down the vibes but I need to drink alone for a while and blog about some chill wines. Why can't we just all get along? It's wine.