Sunday, September 14, 2008

2004 Chateau Vieux Chevrol



Not as good as I had hoped, but a very pretty bottle.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Dinner with The Family

Sara's Aunt, Uncle and Cousin were in the area and they stopped in Palo Alto to visit us for a day. They were kind enough to take us to dinner. That, combined with Sara's Uncle's love of wine and extensive wine knowledge inspired me to pull out a bottle that I expected he (a) had never heard of and (b) would love.



The 2004 Mith is a stunning wine, one of the best Washington wines I have ever had. Sara described it as "like drinking candy." I'm sure that will evoke different images for different people, but it is not inaccurate. The wine has no hint of alcohol in the taste but has plenty of beautiful yet subtle fruit.

Of course, since we went to an Italian restaurant, Sara's Uncle also wanted to try one of the wines off their list. He chose a 2004 Amarone.



I'm not an expert on Amarone, in fact, this was only the second one I have ever had, but I enjoyed it. It was sort of a brownish color, compared to the vivid purple of the Mith. It has a very unique taste, not unlike a nutty-raisiny taste. It was a bit hot, but went nicely with the food. I couldn't finish my glass though, because I had too much to drink and too much rich food by that point.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Party Wine

A few weeks ago we had a sort of house-warming party. Sara BBQ'd some ribs, made some other dishes, and invited my new coworkers over for dinner. I ducked into the closet and came out with the following.



The 2004 Chester-Kidder, a merlot. A good merlot, but not really my style of wine. It's smooth and drinkable, but does not have the nice fruity flavor I tend to go for.

The 2005 Portteus Zinfandel, of which I can not say enough good things. Have you joined their wine club yet? Why not?! This is a Washington Zin that puts a lot of California wines in their place. Think of it as Turley that you can actually get a hold of. Though I hear the 2006 is a very different sort of Zin. I am looking forward to trying it.

The 2002 Moulin-St. Georges, my stand-by Bordeaux. I got a lot of this vintage from Garagiste at a ridiculously low price. I love to pull it out for guests.

The 2006 Mark Ryan The Dissident. There are two things I believe to be true about Mark Ryan. One, he is a great wine maker. Two, his wines are over-priced. This particular bottle was a gift, so the second theorem is rendered moot. The wine is billed as a "red table wine," which is about right. It was a decent enough drinker, though honestly I think I only had a small taste of it. It was a bright and fruity wine. If you like Mark Ryan's other wines, this one will please you. Though I think for the price, you can do better.



I will end this post with a picture of the awesome coconut cakes that Sara made, and a promise of more posts to follow soon.