I don’t know about you, but there always seem to be a few bottles of wine that keep getting pushed to the back of my wine cabinet. Bottles that someone has gifted when invited to dinner, or bottles that looked interesting on sale – but never quite interesting enough to open when purchased. When I was on vacation, my sister and I decided to unearth some really dusty bottles from the basement and give them a chance to sink or swim. (The wine storage at their house may be different than yours. Both my sister and brother in law are in the Foreign Service, so years can go by without a visit home.) Of course, we found lots of losers, but we soldiered on to find a real keeper. Who would have “thunk” that a 1995 bottle from a little known grape, Chasselas or Gutedel, would have held so nicely for 14 years? Specially a white wine from 1995.
I was thrilled when I Googled the name, and found this wine note: Weingut Seidel-Dudenhöfer 1995er Alsheimer Goldberg (Rheinhessen) Gutedel Trocken ($7.99) Very pale gold color. Light musk and mint and white fruit aromas; fresh, crisp and dry flavor with a pleasant musky-melon note that becomes especially evident in the long finish. Gutedel, German for the Swiss Chasselas grape, isn't generally highly regarded, but this one makes a nice quaff for a good value... (Sept. 25, 1997).
We agreed with the wine note – it was a light and flavorful wine with some nice complexity. So, I am up to the challenge on the home front! I am planning a dinner with friends; “Bring your own bottle from the back of the cabinet”. We’ll be intrepid tasters and see if we can unearth a few more winners. If we score, I’ll be sure to let you know.
