(Note, I don't have time now, but I'll try to break some of these out into the seperate TN forum when I can)

Huge thanks go to GATC for staging an absolutely marvelous July tasting. Seems GATC wished to diminish his cellar somewhat, and the always helpful and accommodating BAWE group was all too ready to step up and lend a hand, so all FOUR flights were supplied from GATC’s cellar, while the rest of us did our best by supplying an enormous array of food. It was wonderful visiting with visiting stemor, and meeting a few new faces all around.

Here are the wines, along with 1st and 2nd place votes (1st/2nd), with the top two wine noted in bold italics.

Flight #1, 2001 German Riesling – Spatlesen

2001 J. J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr spatlese (11/5)
Big fruity nose, showing mineral and grapefruit. Thick, viscous, almost oily palate with excellent balance.

2001 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermanshohle spatlese (0/0) (slightly corked)

2001 Meulenhoff Erdener Treppchen spatlese (3/1)
Mineral-laden nose, rich and viscous with a long, long finish. Excellent

2001 Monchhof Urziger Wurzgarten spatlese (3/3)
Nose of wet stone and grapefruit, tons of sweet bright fruit, long on the palate, with distinct floral notes. Excellent.

2001 Christoffel Urziger Urzgarten spatlese (2/4)
Huge nose of earth, mineral, and white flowers. Tremendous complexity and length, weighty yet deftly balanced, wonderful stuff and my #1 wine of the flight.

2001 Donnhoff Schlossbokelheimer Krupfergrube spatlese (2/3)
Slightly muted nose at first, takes some coaxing. Showing lime and pear notes, with excellent weight and balance.
------------------

Flight #2, young reds – Here was an interesting flight. The Red Car was easily picked out from the lineup by everyone, the rest were a big surprise, with the Cooper Garrod taking top honors!

1997 Merryvale Profile (1/2)
Dark thick red color consistent to the edge, nice nose of plum, cassis, spice, and cedar, sharp acidity, with a medium finish.

2001 Red Car Dreaming Detective (0/0)
Deep clear purple color with a huge dense nose – almost sweet. Gobs of fruit in this overextracted bomb, dinking a bit ‘hot’, should integrate somewhat with time, but for now it’s awkward and clumsy.

1991 Dalla Valle (1/7)
Dark dense red with sweet casis and spice. Tons of fruit in a wonderfully balanced and elegant wine. Layers of fruit, soft sweet tannins, and a long finish. My #2 of the flight.

1994 BV GDL (2/5)
Clear dark red with a tad of fading at the edge, smooth tannins, showing cedar and spice notes, but lacking in complexity.

1997 Cooper Garrod George's Vineyard (11/2)
The surprise runaway winner of the fight, Dark red color with bright edges, huge extraction of sweet spicy dark fruit. Wonderful balance, and complex layers of wonderful chewy fruit. Smooth tannins, and a long finish.

1997 Brunello di Montalcino Col D'Orcia (0/0)
Light red color thinning at the edge. Overall thin and disappointing on the palate, showing dusty cedar notes in a rustic style.

------------------

Flight #3, Old Reds – This flight was done NON-Blind, in a casual walk around format, with no voting – just enjoying. This flight also had my WOTN, the amazing 1969 Chappellet.

1970 Mouton – Decent red core with significant browning toward the edge. Nice old nose, with a supple palate, dusty cherries, moss, and earth. Short finish, this one is past it’s prime but showing decently. 88 points.

1974 Mondavi Reserve – One of the best wines of the flight, fairly light red in color with orange bricking toward the edge. Bright nose with a little stink that blew off after a few minutes. Sharp acidity framing a solid core of cherries, spice, and cocoa, fine rich tannins, with a long wonderful finish. 93 points.

1969 Chappellet – Wow! What an amazing old wine. Dense dark consistent red color with almost no bricking. In the nose this is all about ripe dark bing cherries. Spicy, with rich bold tannins, showing dense layers of plum and cherry, with a tremendous long finish. 96 points, and my WOTN. Amazing wine.

1970 Leoville Las Cases – Another amazing old wine, showing sweet cherries & cassis along with licorice notes. Pure core of fruit, long on the palate showing elegance and grace. Rich smooth tannins, with a medium finish. 92 points.

1970 Mayacamus – Another youthful showing wine, mostly consistent dark red color with light bricking, with nice plum and cherry notes. Firm puckering tannins! This is not ready yet! Loads of fruit, rich, with a long finish. 92 points.

------------------

Flight #4, 2001 German Riesling – Auslesen

2001 Christoffel Erdener Treppchen auslese** (2/1)
Excellent balance, dense fruit, and a long finish.

2001 Christoffel Urziger wurzgarten auslese** (1/3)
Muted nose at first, showing Indian spices and rich fruit. Not as complex as the others in this lineup.

2001 J.J. Prum Graacher Himmelreich (3/4)
Amazing nose that just keeps going and going. Chalk, orange, lemon, and orange peel, deft balance, and a tremendous long finish. My #2 of the flight.

2001 Dr Loosen Erdener Treppchen auslese (1/0)
Nose showing orange peel and sweet pure fruit, thick and viscous, with an excellent long finish.

2001 Darting Durkheimer Nonnengarten rieslaner auslese (12/6)
Wow. Amazing wine, this showing tremendous purity of fruit, complexly layered on a perfectly balanced frame. Amazing finish that goes on forever.

2001 Monchhof Erdener Pralat auslese (0/0)
Nose of mineral, chalk, and stone, on the thick palate some spice and anise notes appear. Excellent stuff, but not up to the others in this lineup.

Eric,

Did you think that the '70 Mayacamas wouldever be ready? Or, will it just be closed forever?

I asked Bob Travers this question, and he wasn't sure.

Bob, That's exactly what I thought when we tasted it. I sad another 10-15 years, maybe never.

I half expected the Mondavi to be good but the big surprise was the Chapallet. This stuff was good. Are they making anything now that might be as good as this in the future?

Flight 4 is entitled 2002, Riesling Auslese
I presume you mean 2001 since even GATC's connections can't get him the '02's yet

I would have loved to try these. Well done, BAWE

What a lineup of the ever-generour GATC. Very kewl.

Dr. T, thanks for the correction, I have edited to correct my error - yes, 2001 was the vintage for all the Rieslings.

Bob, regarding the Mayacamus, wow - I dunno. I'd say another 5 years, but who knows? Will those tannins ever give? Tough to say.

That was one heck of an evening. Sharing an end of a table with GATC, DavidN, Eric White, and players to be named later helped make it even more memorable.

I am now convinced that GATC's generosity knows no bounds, and I thank him profusely for it. He was a wonderful host to this thirsty group! The items that he sent me home with was just icing on the cake, but will be eternally appreciated and properly enjoyed.

Regarding the 1970 Mayacamas, I share the opinion that it is not yet ready. However, at a tasting held this past fall, one of our group brought a bottle from a cellar that he had been assigned to sell. This particular bottle (I have no idea of its providence) was terrific and quite ready to drink. The wall of hard tannin was not present. It had been replaced by a deep, fruity richness. Marvelous wine. I hope will all are able to attain the same state with our remaining bottles of this enigmatic wine.

Amazing line up.

A couple of thoughts on the Riesling flights:

I'm not at all surprised the Donnhoff Kupfergrube did not show well in that company. It's a very different style from the rest of the wines. My most recent bottle (May) was also closing down big time. Too bad about the Hermannshohle. The Prum Spatlese has come out on top every time I've had it blind as well. It's one of the most accessible Prums I have ever tasted. I'll be curious to see how it ages without the usual Prum preservative shell.

The auslese flight wasn't a fair fight! That Rieslaner is high beerenauslese declassified to auslese. To put a Pfalz Rieslaner up against Mosel Riesling is like putting a watermelon on top of a bowl of tomatoes. Everything gets squashed. It is a great value though. Even now it can still be had in some places for $20.

I'm glad to see the Prum Auslese showed fairly well. Lots of hype. This will be a great wine to revisit in about 2015 or so.

Great notes Eric. Stemor, it was great to have you here.

I bought a case of the 70 Mayacamas and the experts then said that it will take a long long time before this wine is ready. I've been trying it about every 5 years and I think I'm down to my last few. This is the most open that I've seen it, but it still needs more time.

Rieslingfan, you are correct, but I had to do it. I've been raving about the Darting as being the best $20 wine (although I noticed the prices have gone up a bit on the 2nd shipment to the $24-29 range).

I can't believe that the Prum won again. I even voted for it this time. The Prum WS spatlese has been a standard for me for many years so I am a big fan, but I love the Christoffel's and Monchhof's better for 2001. At least they finished 3rd and 2nd.

It is unfair to put the Red Car in the line-up, but we had to try it. I think it did very well. The Red Car was decanted for 5 hours, the Cooper Garrod for 4 hours, the Profile 3 hours, the Brunello 2 hours, 94 BV GDL 2 hours and the 91 Dalle Valle got less than an hour (decanted for sediments and poured shortly after). If I were to do it again, I would give the Red Car 6-8 hours and 4-5 for the Profile. IMO the rest came out about right.