Half the fun of putting a tasting together is in the search.  We will all have our favourite places to start – in your own cellar (under the stairs), your local supermarket, on the web or in a local shop.  I had already put together a tasting of Gewurztraminer and Riesling from Alsace and could draw on some bottles already. These included some 2003s, more 2005s for Riesling, some 2007s recently acquired and the odd bottle of 2000 waiting for an occasion such as this.  But I didn’t want to use up all my older bottles in one go, so I went to see what Caviste in Overton (www.caviste.co.uk) might have tucked away. 

The day was made by finding two quite grand bottles from Zind Humbrecht, one white and one red, the latter to go with the accompanying supper.  First, the perfect find in the shop was its last bottle of the single-vineyard Riesling, Heimbourg, from 2001, which should have developed in the bottle over the last eight years.  Second, to complete the day, a quality Pinot Noir.  A nice touch is that both bottles come from grapes from the same four-hectare vineyard.  The tasting awaits on Tuesday, but the satisfaction of the successful search already.

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