Fun

What a fun two nights... Friday night was the 2004 Lewis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon which has started to open... but remains a big, brooding wine. The 1982 Vieux Chateau Certan was beautiful... so cedary with lots of dusty clay. A very nice, long finish. Certainly time to drink, but a wonderful experience.

Saturday was more of a candy store... The 1994 Opus One continues to impress - the classic herbal note with black plums, cedar, and tobacco. More Bordeaux-like than California Cab. The 2001 Guigal Cote-Rotie (half-bottle) was pretty - very soft and minty. The 2000 Guigal Hermitage was a slightly-off bottle, but still wonderful - lots of earth and dirt. A great cheese wine. The 1996 Chateau Beaucastel is showing so pretty - notes of raspberry and spicy dirt. It's so barnyardy... great length. The 1999 Domaine Guyon Echezeaux was a great Echezeaux - very silky and actually somewhat reserved. A little a-typical for this vineyard in that it was missing (and this is a good thing) it's rusticity. The 1996 Edizione Pennino (Niebaum-Coppola's Rubicon Estate) Zinfandel was beautiful. It's not Ridge, and didn't age like a great Ridge, but it was darn good. Out of magnum, this was showing lots of bramble without the super-alcohol that most of today's zins have. I could actually drink a nice glass of this. The 1995 Mastrojianni Brunello di Montalcino was soft and approachable with incredibly dry fruit and tannin. The 1997 Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon rocks... a powerhouse with a chocolately dustiness that only Dunn Howell has. Lots of tannin with great balance though. This is still a baby and could easily go another 10 or 20 years, like all of the great Dunns from the past. Perhaps one of the few 1997s that is still young. Finally, 2 bottles of the 2002 Shafer Hillside Select. This is a monster and is starting to shut... bottle one was tasted after 5 hours and was beautiful. Lots of fruit and just perfect nose - powerful, extracted, but layers and layers of fruit and earth. Amazing... bottle 2 was closed and tight with forbodding tannins. If you are one of the fortunate few to have this in your cellar, don't open it for another 5 years at least... it needs the time.