Variety...

Lots of things... 1988 Chateau Calon-Segur was fabulous... one of the best 88's I've ever had. Sweet cherry and blackberry fruit with lovely cedar... very elegant. The 2006 Penner-Ashe Roséo was good, but perhaps a bit too heavy on the alcohol. Lots of bright, spicy Pinot fruit. The 1998 Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque Fleur de Champagne was beautiful... showing a slight autalysis note with some bright, sweet fruit - a very, very nice Champagne. The Pol Roger NV was good as always... The 2005 Lewis Cellars Cab and 2004 Lewis Cellars Reserve Cab (tasting side by side) revealed a lot... the Lewis Cab is a fruit bomb, with anise, cocoa and black plums. The Reserve tasted like alcohol... too hot and powerful in comparison. The 2005 Jean Grivot Nuits-St.-Georges 1er Cru "Les Charmois" was stunning... lots of oak, but didn't overpower the wine. Just beautiful earth, clove, beet root, red cherry and a wonderful asian spice note to the wine. A great wine. The 1994 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon was good, but nothing special. The 1999 Gaja Sugarille Brunello di Montalcino is a great bottle of wine... dusty earth, twigs, saddle leather, and sweet cherries. A long, long, long finish. I could smell the glass forever ala Lafite...

Beer... Tusker Lager from Kenya is a pretty lager... a light-gold color with a lovely soapy head, smooth caramel and citrus notes. Nice! The Aventinus Doppelback/Weizenbock was mind-blowing and other-worldly (not really, it's from Germany). Simply the best beer I've ever tasted... In case you haven't noticed, I found a great beer store that stocks amazing Belgian, German, Polish, Czech, etc. beer. Simply stunning... Anise, cherries, spice box, christmas spice, caramel apple... an amazing nose. So big and powerful, two a few sips to tone my tastebuds down.... I would drink this again, but I'd have a "starter beer" before hand... perhaps an Anchor Steam...

beer...

Tried a beautiful beer the other night... Traquair House Ale... a Scottish Spiced Ale... really amazing nose. Deep and full of fruit, baking spice, asian spice and flowers. Medium-bodied and powerful finish.

Older California Pinots...

Had lunch with one of the owners of Littorai on Tuesday and tasted some delicious older Pinots and Chardonnay... The 2000 Charles Heintz Chardonnay was beautiful... stony, steely, a bit of baked apples, fat and rich - in short, it still needed time. The 2001 Thieriot Vineyard Chardonnay fat, overripe fruit, with buttered popcorn, honey, cantelope and pineapple. Nice and long, but I prefered the previous Chard... On to the Pinots! The 2001 Hirsch was mushroomy with barnyard, turned wet earth, ripe black and red fruits (wild raspberry, ripe candied cherries) - this was young and powerful. The 1999 Hirsch was baked cranberry, bramble, black cherry, raspberry, allspice, thyme and smoke. This was a beauty... still very Russian River Valley. The 2001 One Acre from Mendocino was a completely different animal... ripe, powerful black fruits with exotic spices, red charries... "Stunning" was one word I used... the 1999 One Acre was all earth spice, black turned earth, dusty mushrooms, broken twigs with a bit of alcohol evident on the nose. My favorite was the 01 One Acre... the 2006 "The Gift" is a botrytis-infected chardonnay with over 200g/l rs(!)... from the Mays Canyon and Thieriot vineyards. Nice, not cloying, but beautiful. Very high acid on this as well... needs time.

Last night I also tried the 2005 Kistler Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir - very, very pretty - actually my favorite bottle of this I've had from this vintage. It's starting to come together... the 2003 Berthaud Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru was hot, over-ripe and didn't appear to have anything to do with Chambolle-Musigny... tasted more like Chateauneuf-du-Pape! The 1998 Chateau Batailley is as it has been, but two good bottles have me feeling good about this one. The 1998 Chateau Lynch-Bages was soft, ready to drink and pretty. Not a great wine, but not bad to drink either! The Henriot Brut Rosé is amazing Rose... so yeasty, nutty and toasty with just hints of berry fruit on the nose... intoxicating nose...

Yummy...

The 2000 Domaine de la Romaneé-Conti La Tache is beautiful... not overly powerful, but elegant and refined. A beautiful lady... The 2004 Justin Isoceles is a fruit bomb, but nicely balanced. The 2003 Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepages is nice - subdued, not an in-your-face style, but a more refined, overall pleasing wine. Had a few library releases from Littorai as well... I'll write about them tomorrow.