The wines I didn’t drink today, and won’t for several years. A friend is moving from the Bay Area to DC, and we had lunch yesterday. He gave me two bottles of wine that he didn’t want to take with him. I looked at them after lunch. Hmm, a 2015 Beringer cabernet and then…Holy Fcking Shit! 2015 Stags’ Leap cabernet! “Is that good?” he asked? “Holy shit!” I repeated. “Where the hell did you get this?” “They were gifts.”
Good friends Paul and Linda came over for cheese and charcuterie and a chance to open a few good wines. We had some news to celebrate, so we started with Iron Horse 2016 Ocean Reserve. Off-, not bone dry, lovely texture and just plain delicious. We really like the style of Iron Horse wines. Next up was a wine I’d been saving, the 2018 Aubert UV-SL Vineyard Pinot. This was #2 on the Wine Spectator Top 100 wines of 2020, so we were curious to see if those folks at Wine Spectator know what they are talking about . Decanted about 90 minutes before pouring. This was a beautiful wine - concentrated, jammy fruit but not over-ripe or a “bomb”. I guess a tip of the hat to WS is in order - this was among the best Pinots I’ve ever had. Finally we needed something to pair with assorted chocolates, so we decided on a Zin and headed to that corner of the cellar. On the second try I pulled out a 2007 Ridge Lytton Springs that literally had Paul’s and Linda’s name on it - they gave it to us about 10 years ago. That’s wine karma for you. The cork disintegrated even though I was very gentle with the corkscrew - I should have used an Ah So at the outset. However the wine was intact and decanting through a screen took care of a few stray bits of cork. This was just what we were looking for, a graceful zin still showing some youthful energy, hints of leather and licorice that made it a perfect foil for chocolate.
We took in a Women’s Wine Dinner at Bar Mezzana in Boston. It’s available through the 31st. Two of the wines stood out - the Kelly Fox with the first course was an orange wine, distinctive and refreshing. The Martha Stoumen, actually a blend, had distinct cherry notes. Women’s Spotlight Wine Dinner.pdf (148.2 KB)
Edmund St. John is a hyper-local winemaker here in Berkeley, specializing on Rhone varietals, mostly for sale by mailing list (the name is from partners in life Steve Edmunds and Cornelia St. John). I’ve picked up their wines at their house. Steve is retiring now, so I opened his 2008 syrah, and have his 2001 Los Ropos Viejos cued up. The syrah is meaty and juicy, with good fruit.
The Los Robles Veijos label says “Produced and bottled by intuition and blind luck”. Typical of their sense of humor. Another blend they produce was called That Old Black Magic, but I drank it all.
The Westide Road Neighbors pinot was so good. It was a work retreat and they came and did a tasting for us. After they left three of us were sitting by the pool and a staffer came over and said hey they left this full open bottle, do you guys want to drink it - ummm yes indeed we do.
From the “when in Paris, sometimes ya gotta drink Italian wines” file. Anyone want to guess what Italian wine this is? The waiter said he kept trying to pronounce the label until his eventual realization:
This was very nice. In general, we long ago gave up taking pictures of the wines we drink in Paris, as we’ll never see them again when we return to NYC. I’m going to miss drinking very good wines at 10euros/glass or 40-50euros/bottle, tax/tip included.
Just to add (my editing ability on the above has timed out): I will also miss, as much, the 4euro glasses of happy hour wines that are better than the usuals served at home for $12-15 (before tax/tip). And, going off topic a bit here (sorry), I just spent 6.40euros ($7) at an excellent bakery for 2 croissants, 1 chocolate croissant, a small raisin/cheese ring & a fresh traditional baguette (large). I think that’s the equivalent of 1 chocolate croissant at Apartment 4F (in Brooklyn, I place I love and frequent regularly), once I add tax/tip. End of rant (maybe).
We gave up comparing prices between Europe and US on food and restaurants (and to some extend quality especially at mid-level restaurants) as it is just sad and depressing
My first batch of homemade wine, a 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon. I didn’t quite know what I was doing, added no sulfites or oak, corked it with a hand corker, but it was stored in my basement at a year-round 58-63F temperature. It didn’t brown too much, or oxidize beyond a touch of acetone that blew away quickly. I still have several bottles.
Sancerre and kibble to start the evening. The Sancerre was in the fridge, so I decided to treat myself. I deserved it. One cataract down; one to go. (no, I didn’t drink post-surgery. I follow directions.)
. Decanted about 90 minutes before pouring. This was a beautiful wine - concentrated, jammy fruit but not over-ripe or a “bomb”. I guess a tip of the hat to WS is in order - this was among the best Pinots I’ve ever had. Finally we needed something to pair with assorted chocolates, so we decided on a Zin and headed to that corner of the cellar. On the second try I pulled out a 2007 Ridge Lytton Springs that literally had Paul’s and Linda’s name on it - they gave it to us about 10 years ago. That’s wine karma for you. The cork disintegrated even though I was very gentle with the corkscrew - I should have used an Ah So at the outset. However the wine was intact and decanting through a screen took care of a few stray bits of cork. This was just what we were looking for, a graceful zin still showing some youthful energy, hints of leather and licorice that made it a perfect foil for chocolate.
