Um Um Good...

A nice evening last night... the 1997 Laurent-Perrier Brut is very clean and very crisp with lovely lemon and unripe white peach... nice. The Piper Heidsieck Cuvee Rare is rich, yeasty, toasty and a bit fruity - especially on the palate. Ripe apricots and orange rind with hazelnut... very pretty and very easy to drink... The 2005 Domaine Chavy Puligny-Montrachet "les Folatieres" is a tightly wound ball of minerals ready to just explode (in about 10 years!). The steely, chalky pebbles scream out of the piercing acidity of this one... the 05s really are as good the hype. The 2004 Craggy Range Syrah "le Sol" was incredible last night (after tasting it last week I had to buy some...) Smoke, tons of crushed pebbles (who says minerality only comes in Old World wines???), amazing layers of anise, cocoa, black peppercorns, and black cherries. This is intense stuff and I encourage everyone to find a bottle (though not inexpensive - $50-65 US retail). The 2003 Joseph Phelps Backus Cabernet Sauvignon continues to blow me away... even at its price point, it's a bargain.