Mosel Riesling v Pauillac – a question of age

Another meal and another lesson: how much more slowly top quality Mosel Riesling ages than top quality red bordeaux.

At a meal chez nous last weekend, with a menu remarkably similar to that described last week in In praise of Vouvray and new potatoes because that’s what’s so deliciously in season here in the UK now, I decided to make 1997 the theme. It seemed fair enough to see how 10 year-old wines from three classic regions were ageing.

We started with Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Spätlese 1997 Mosel as an aperitif (with cheese straws) and this was...