2005 Turley Atlas Peak Zinfandel Mead Ranch (and a Champagne)

Friday was a quite a night. We went to Palace Kitchen, a Tom Douglas restaurant and also the site of our first date, for dinner. I've never had a Turley wine before, but I've heard the legends. Raph had an empty Turley bottle that occupied a special place on the mantle. So I finally broke down and ordered the 2005 Turley Atlas Peak Zinfandel Mead Ranch. My god, what a wine. It was powerful when first opened for tasting. Huge in the mouth with all kinds of spice, cassis, and strange chemical and mineral tastes. But 15 minutes in the decanter an it settled down quite a bit. It was very big and bright. It stayed spicy and the pepper became more apparent on the back end. The finish is long; it goes, as Tim put it, "on and on and on." This is Zinfandel as it should be and I enjoyed it completely.

I had earlier surreptitiously instructed the waiter to bring a half bottle of the Veuve Clicquot since I would be giving Sara her ring. Well, they were out of Veuve Clicquot so instead he brought a half bottle of the Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve Champagne. I don't know a lot about Champagnes, but I do know most of them I don't like because they're too sweet or too something. This one was very nice and not offensive in anyway. I would order it again if the occasion called for bubbly.

(And Sara said "yes, of course.")