Name the best tasting wine you ever had. - Page 6

Originally Posted by Concordia

I'm with you there. I almost never look back on a year and think I should have consumed more alcohol, but I always kick myself for not buying and drinking more Mosel Spatleses.

Originally Posted by Piobaire

I hope the thread continues but remember to tell us why a particular bottle was so enjoyable for you.

Originally Posted by Earthmover

As a caveat, I'm very much a novice at all this stuff, and is still very much in the process of trying out what food types work well with what wines. As for the dishes, I'm still in the brainstorming phase, trying to come up with the best possibilities, but I've been thinking about various Korean fish/vegetables (that are not very well known in the US) and trying to come up with either traditional Korean dishes that will work well, or adapt it to some western cooking techniques. A few examples: 1. Beltfish (a very long, thin fish with soft, mushy flesh, when cooked), lightly sea-salted and pan fried in olive oil. It's a rather delicate fish with a clean, but slightly fishy flavor, and I think a Gewurtz would go well with it. 2. Spicy pan-fried condonopsis (a tough root vegetable with a tough and chewy texture that works well marinated in hot pepper paste). I'm actually not sure how well Gewurtz would work with Korean spices, so I plan on a private experiment before serving to people. 3. Various flavored agar (note: not sure if it's agar, as in seaweed, but there are a few different types of "vegetarian jello" powder that can be bought at Korean grocers) jellies, either with fruits (lime, apricot, peach, cherry) and various other plantlife, such as acorn (a very traditional one that is often paired with soba or conch), peppers, squash, etc. This is probably my most aspirational, and will require a lot of experimentation. 4. Egg casserole with fermented shrimp (much like fish sauce, it's really hard to explain this one, but it's delicious when done well), either served hot or cold. 5. Buckwheat noodles served in cold cucumber/beef stock soup base. I'm also going to prepare some "standard" things like marinated seared tuna, a cod dish of some sort, pureed cauliflower, etc. Since the wine hasn't arrived yet, I am just biding my time, but I'll probably end up doing 4-5 things that work well in terms of timing the preparations in my small kitchen. I find that I am far far too impatient to collect Sauternes, especially since I feel like I cannot spend so much money on it when I don't have a proper storage space just yet. So what usually happens is that I buy young ones (read: cheaper) and lose patience and drink them. For example, I acquired a pretty decent stash of 03 first growths (about 6 bottles and 12 half-bottles that I bought to try out different chateaus) in February of '07. Despite my best intentions to keep them until 2010 or so, I am now down to one half bottle of Coutet (which will be drunk at an outdoor movie screening of Almost Famous on the Hudson river pier this Wednesday) and one bottle of Guiraud. I need to make another large purchase, and I'm debating whether to go for older ones (and buy less) or get a few cases of things I like, such as a 2002 Rieussec. I have no self-control. It doesn't help that I go on runs of opening multiple bottles of what I have whenever I have people over and get nicely buzzed, but I digress. I can see myself acquiring a few bottles of an '01 d'Yquem with the intention of holding for another 15 years, only do drink it in the next 15 days. Anyway, this is to say, I would love to try some older ones, but they are not cheap. The reason I want to do the '01 Rieussec is that it is selling at a very reasonable price at a restaurant here in NY that I am trying to go to with a group of people. I love a good value! Sorry that was a bit long; got a little excited there.

Originally Posted by Holdfast

Some people I know rather look down their nose at Riesling, but as far I'm concerned, the only people they're spiting are themselves. The Mosels especially just hit all the right notes for me, even more so as Spatleses. Favourite ever: 2001 Wegeler Wehlener Spatlese - OK, I have no special reason for picking this one, apart from the fact I just love it dearly.