Blush'ing in the Castro

Blush! Wine Bar

476 Castro Street

http://www.blushwinebar.com/home

Jen and I spent a wonderful Saturday afternoon at Blush! in the Castro.  I usually struggle to find three or four wines I would like to order at a wine bar.  At Blush!, I could have easily tried a dozen of their wines by the glass.  Everything we ordered was fantastic including the following:

Les Chataigniers, Sancerre

Cave de Ribeauvillé, Pinot Blanc, Alsace

Domaine Matrot, Bourgogne Chardonnay

Domaine Richou, “Les 4 Chemins” Cabernet Franc, Anjou

Georges Vigoroux “Gouleyant” Malbec, Cahors

Bodegas Ateca, “Atteca”, Old Vine Grenache, Calatayud, Spain

They serve over 30 wines by the glass and the selection did include one German Riesling – a Kesseler from the Rheingau.  Most of the by the glass prices are in the $10 to $12 range.

They also have a brunch and dinner menu.  We tried the cheese plate and it was as good as the wine - four cheeses including Camembert and Brillat-Savarin along with pieces of sourdough bread.  The service was excellent. 

My only complaint is that they don’t offer flights or half glasses.  I would have liked to try more wines but one can only drink so much…

Selbach-Oster

Johannes Selbach will be presiding over our June 22^nd tasting.  He will lead us through a guided tasting of his wines.  Mr. Selbach’s wines are some of the finest Rieslings from Germany and some of the finest whites produced anywhere.  This will easily be the event of the year.

His family has been cultivating grapes in Germany since 1600.  In Terry Theise’s 2012 German catalog (Theise is the importer for Mr. Selbach), Mr. Selbach says that he prefers to make moderate wines rather than fruit bombs.  Here is a very brief overview of his portfolio taken from Mr. Theise’s catalog.

Regional Wines:

Most people scoff at regional wines and while I’ve never tasted one of Mr. Selbach’s regional (negociant wines) wines, I’m sure they are up to his high standards.  All of his regionals are 100% Riesling and he purchases them from growers whom he has known for many years.

Mr. Selbach’s Vineyards:

Mr. Selbach’s wines are crafted with grapes from the following vineyards in the Mosel:

Bernkasteler Badstube

Zeltinger Schlossberg

Wehlener Sonnenuhr

Graacher Domprobst

Zeltinger Sonnenuhr    

Mr. Selbach’s portfolio includes a variety of prädikat levels from these vineyards.  His 2011 offerings include a Zeltinger Himmelreich Kabinett Halbtrocken, a Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese and even a Zeltinger Schlossberg Spätlese Trocken.  Mr. Selbach also crafts over a half a dozen wines from micro blocks within each vineyard. 

Last year, I was fortunate enough to find a bottle of his 2007 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spätlese.  The palate entry and mid palate showed a wonderful, creamy, citrus flavor that was a bit tart but in a good way.  The finish was very minerally and the citrus flavors echoed into a long finish.  It was a wonderful wine and more in the classical, Spätlese style.

I am counting down the minutes until this tasting… 

Marines' Memorial Dinner

Our first dinner of 2013 was a joint event with the Stanford Alumni Association.  The dinner took place at the Marines’ Memorial Club in San Francisco.  Located at Union Square, the building was built in 1946 and was a fantastic venue for our dinner.  We dined in a private room with a fireplace and had a wonderful time.  Once again, thanks to Barry Boothe for donating the Spätlese and the two Auslesen.

Our welcoming wine was the 2010 Gebrüder Simon Sekt Riesling Brut.  This particular Sekt was dosed with a smidgen of Auslesen which gave it quite a rich palate.  It was crisp, minerally and pungent with herbal notes and a granny smith apple flavor.  There were herbal undertones and it was nicely concentrated.

We decided to serve four wines with the meal ranging from bone dry to mildly sweet.  The 2011 Spreitzer Hallgartener Hendelberg Riesling Trocken was one of my favorite wines of the evening.  One sip and flavors of Lemon curd, white pepper and nectarine coated your palate.  It is simply one of the best trockens I’ve tasted in quite awhile.

The 2011 Schloss Lieser Braueneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett showed flavors of pear and nutmeg.  It was very good.

I had high hopes for the 2011 Von Hövel Oberemmeler Hutte Riesling Kabinett and was a bit disappointed.  As with a few of the 2011’s we tasted, I think it needs more age before a fair assessment can be made.  It seemed more floral than fruity although my wife did detect a taste of Rainier cherry underneath.

The 2006 Mönchhof Ürziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spätlese was honeyed, syrupy and a bit monolithic.  There was a nice peach flavor but it was much too sweet to serve with food.  This Spätlese is more of a dessert wine.

The two dessert wines were the 2011 Donnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese and the 2011 J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese.  The Donnhoff was fantastic and one of my favorite wines of the evening.  It was amazingly approachable for such a young Auslesen.  The palate showed flavors of peaches, pears, lemon, and tarragon.  This wine had plenty of acidity and a long finish.  It was ethereal, subtle and complex.  Did I say it was fantastic?  The Prum was nice but seemed closed.  I didn’t detect much on the palate.  This one definitely needs some age.

Gerhard Al Alba Vincero Kabinett Trocken

In the opera Turandot, Princess Turandot must marry Calaf after he correctly answers three riddles.  Calaf gives her one chance to free herself: she must guess his name by dawn.  Princess Turandot decrees that no one in her kingdom will sleep that night until the stranger’s name is discovered.  At this point, Calaf launches into Nessun Dorma (No one shall sleep) and loudly proclaims at the end, “Al Alba Vincero” (I shall win).  I’m guessing that Mr. Gerhard is an opera fan…

I have drunk many vintages of this wine and it is one of my favorite, inexpensive German Rieslings.  This version is quite dry and the palate is rather closed right now.  I would love to try it again in five years but still enjoyed it.   The subtle flavors include Lime, Lemon and a touch of Papaya.  The finish is minerally and short.  It’s a nice quaffer.

Members' Only Tasting

I would like to take care of all the “thank yous” first.  Thanks to Barry and Joan for hosting.  Thanks to Barry for donating many of the older wines.  Thanks to Joan for all the wonderful food and thanks to Angela Carlsson for donating the Von Hovel.

The Members’ Only Tasting was a rousing success.  It was our largest turnout of the last several years and the wine and food were excellent.  We had a fantastic array of wines from dry to sweet that included wines as old as 1971 and as young as 2011.  I was quite busy pouring wine all evening so my notes are sparse, but here are my impressions of the wines that caught the attention of my palate.

2011 Eva Fricke Seligmacher Trocken

2010 Keller Westhofener Kirchspiel Grosses Gewächs Trocken

2010 Leitz Rüdeshemier Berg Schlossberg “Ehrenfels” Trocken

We began the tasting with three dry wines.  Based upon past experience, I figured the Leitz would be a touch sweeter than the other two so I placed it third among the trockens.  I then took a shot in the dark and started with the Eva Fricke followed by the Keller.  In retrospect, I think this was a mistake.  The palate on the Fricke was so powerful that the more subtle Keller seemed weak in comparison.  The Fricke was definitely the most popular trocken of the evening.  I found it to be flavorful and tight with a salty, lemony flavor.  The Keller was simply amazing – the palate was very smooth and integrated with flavors of zest, gooseberry, bitter marmalade and apple.  It had a long finish and was one of my favorite wines of the evening.  My only notation on the Leitz was “delicious.”

1999 Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Kabinet

I was quite surprised by this wine although I must admit that for Dr. Loosen, I set the bar quite low.  I’m not a huge fan of Loosen.  I fully expected this wine to be completely ruined but I was wrong – it wasn’t fantastic but it did have a pleasant, sweet, lemony flavor.

1971 Schönborn Rüdesheimer Bischofsberg Auslese

This was another of my favorite wines of the evening.  I’ve probably tasted around a half a dozen 1971’s over the last few years and I’ve thought they were too far over the hill.  This Schönborn was definitely past its prime but amazingly, still showed the faintest hint of primary flavors along with the secondary flavors acquired from aging.  It showed a faded marmalade with wisps of citrus on the finish. 

2005 Knebel Winninger Röttgen Auslese

2005 Rosch Trittenheimer Apotheke Beerenauslese

The two dessert wines were both excellent for their respective styles.  The overwhelming favorite of the evening was the Rosch but I had a slight preference for the Knebel.  The Knebel was like a laser beam of honeyed pineapple and was certainly richer than most Auslesen.  The Rosch was rich beyond belief with flavors of marmalade and stone fruit.

The Unpopularity of German Riesling

I am currently reading a book by Rajat Parr, a sommelier working for Michael Mina, and he loves German Riesling.  Like Terry Thiese, he laments the lack of popularity of German Riesling.  Personally, I’m glad it is not popular and hope it remains that way.

I have put together a mixed case of German Riesling (listed below) in which no bottle is over $30.  These wines are all excellent and I would not hesitate to serve them to anyone.  Now, If I were to try to put together a mixed case of Burgundy or Bordeaux of the same quality, I would have to increase the price per bottle to at least $60.  This is the cost of popularity.  Why would a German Rieslingophile want to see this kind of price inflation with German Rieslings? 

Long live inexpensive, high quality German Riesling!

2010 Spreitzer 101 Riesling, $12.99

2011 Joseph Leitz Rüdesheimer Drachenstein Dragonstone Riesling, $16.99

2011 Gunderloch Jean Baptiste Kabinett, $17.99

2011 Dönnhoff Estate Riesling, $20.99

2011 Keller Estate Riesling, $20.99

2011 Eva Fricke Lorcher Riesling, $21.99

2011 Muller Catoir Gimmeldinger Mandegarten Kabinett Riesling Trocken, 24.99

2010 Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese, $24.99

2009 Fred Prinz Hallgartener Jungfer Riesling, Kabinett $19.99

2009 S.A. Prum Graacher Himmelriech Spätlese, $29.99

2009 Selbach Oster Graacher Domprobst Spätlese, $29.99

2009 Basserman Jordan QBA Trocken, $22.00

Eva Fricke Lorcher Riesling

2011 Eva Fricke Lorcher Riesling Trocken

Rheingau

Before opening her winery in 2006, Eva worked at wineries all over the world including Château Cissac in Haut Médoc and Dominio de Pingus in the Ribera del Duero.  She went to work for Josef Leitz in 2004 and left her job as his vineyard manager in 2011 to concentrate on her own wines.  Eva only grows Riesling and currently offers four qba’s and two Spätlesen.  Her qba’s are not garden variety qba’s and can go for as high as fifty dollars. 

The Lorcher is her bottom of the line qba and for around twenty dollars, it is quite a bargain.  This wine boasts a powerful palate with intense flavors of gooseberry and white pepper.  It is citrussy and tart with a medium, steely finish.  It is drinking fine now but could definitely use some bottle age.    

We will be featuring one of Eva’s top of the line Rieslings at our January 19^th tasting.  It should prove to be a very interesting wine.