Wines that are a bit crazy

From another fine dinner at Vin Rouge with old friends.

2002 Foreau Vouvray Sec Clos Naudin
Not quite into focus as of yet, but rounding into something interesting. I like these wines when they reach a stage where they still have some useful vigor, but aren’t downright painful. This still has nice fruit notes of apple with a dollop of honey, as I’ve found common with Foreau sec at this stage. What I love about the Foreau Vouvray, and the sec especially, is the rusticity of chenin, the wild aggression, and the sense of abandon. In general, I tend to prefer the sec from Foreau and the demi-sec from Huët if I were to compare which is totally unnecessary, but a fun exercise. Fun to check in on now, but will sure age well for my lifetime.

2002 Radikon Venezia Giulia Oslavje
While there were evidently rains in 2002, I’ve found this to be even more successful than 2001 and 2003 for the most part, although it really depends on the bottle and the circumstances. I have a friend who prefers this blend to the other single variety flavors from Radikon. I like this very much as well. I always enjoy introducing these wines to friends who haven’t had them. I’ve generally found that folks really like Radikon in particular. This was another case of that. Served with rillets, this was a perfect compliment. Sometimes folks serve these wines with fish course which Ii think is a terrible idea. I wouldn’t be surprised if it contains the same chemical compounds, due to the skin contact, that makes red wine taste odd or metallic with fish. In any even, another excellent Radikon. I simply can’t drink enough of these wines. I’d drink a couple a week if I could afford to.

2001 Conti Sertoli Salis Valtellina Sforzato Canua
I’ve always been a fan of this wine, but often don’t know what to do with it. Should it be a wine for contemplation to enjoy after a meal with some salty, hard cheese, or should it go with a rich stew of some sort? Actually, either of those would do, but I think the food choice needs to be particular as I don’t find this wine to be very flexible. That said, it was wild, rich, heady, and delicious. On the young side, I’d wait a few more years before opening one.