18 Pointers

Good friend Volker and myself...out at a local eatery...a very good reason to pull 2 goodies from the cellar.
Good wines can be predictable...great wines also...but sometimes the surprise makes it great.

Leo Alzinger
Grüner Veltliner Reserve 2009
Wachau, Austria
With this quality you expect the pepper...and instant minerals.
Friend Volker was lost...it smelled exotic...and silky palate...until...after a few guesses...and the wine developed...he headed for the Wachau.
Nobody gets more minerality into his wines than Leo Alzinger. Super nose...pears...golden delicious apples...touch of Botrytis...14.5% Alcohol which is swept under the carpet... it gives enormous pleasure. A crystallized diamond...slick elegant palate...perfect balance...and a large glass helped it even more. Great stuff
Points 18

The red...the last of six bottles...and the previous one had been corked.

Gantenbein Pinot Noir 2005
Fläsch, Switzerland
An Angus Rump Steak was on the Daily Menu...and I had asked the restaurant owner to give this a couple of hours airing...I mean the wine..not the meat!
The first whiff from the glass had Volker and myself grinning like Cheshire cats ( old saying...so I presume they grin)
Farmyard smell..really perfect now...so well balanced...soft prickly Pinot. I always said this is a food wine...and I ain't wrong. It just fills the mouth with all that is good in my favourite grape.We both agreed
Points 18