My sweetie and I celebrated another epic evening at our favorite local restaurant, The Stonehouse, located on the property of the lux resort, The San Ysidro Ranch, in neighboring Montecito.
As per our MO, we took a Cristal, her #1 request when it comes to all things Champagne, and a Pinot Noir made by our dear friend Burt Williams.
When it came time to pull and prepare the wines, I just acted almost on rote and selected bottles I thought would be showing well and in our wheelhouse. It wasn’t until I went to find some of the particulars about the champagne that I realized I had pulled the same champagne and a 1997 instead of 1996 on the Pinot that we had taken in February, one of only 3 times we have dined there this year.
We were graciously received and attended to by the hostess, wine staff, servers and wait staff upon entering and throughout the evening and seated at our table of preference.
Thankfully, our wines were stupendous and we shared them with the somm and waitress while we embraced the first hour with conversation, fond memories, gratitude and clear ocean views all the way to the Channel Islands, 25 miles away.
When I started to write up some notes, I searched my folders for previous samplings for these 2 wines and that’s when I discovered we had the 2006 Cristal and a 1996 WS Precious Mountain Pinot in February. What was even more amazing was the notes for both were so much like my notes compiled for these bottles. Here they are:
2006 LOUIS ROEDERER CRISTAL BRUT- 55% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay; dosage near 9 gpl; 20% of the wine was aged in oak; no ML; this vintage has matured into one of the finest of all of the more recent Cristals since 1996 IMHO and it still has a long way to go before reaching its apogee; the color was a rich yellow gold and the nose offered ginger and spice infused citrus fruit with lemon and lime most evident; the taste had more of the same and eventually, some delicious yellow apple joined in; it had an amazing mouthfeel with its oily, viscous texture that had some weight that was immediately noticeable and appreciated; this was simply outstanding in every way; it had class and elegance, sophistication, charm and reeked of royalty; it had super inviting aromas, an amazingly delicious taste profile and finished with everything coming together for a grand, climatic finish; we just marveled throughout the evening after each sip and I found myself rationing smaller sips to lengthen the near nirvanic experience once again.
1997 WILLIAMS SELYEM PRECIOUS MOUNTAIN SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR- my notes for the 1996 were amazingly close to those for this bottle and I’m including some almost verbatim; this was maybe as good as any Burt made wine I’d ever had which includes 1996 version and the 1995 Summa in mag among others; I expected it to be good, but what we got once again, was from another world; the fill was high neck and the color was a grainy medium red purple and the nose and taste profile was replete with cinnamon, spice and talc laden blueberry and red and black raspberry; it was full bodied, had layered depth and complexity, a soft and velvety texture and a long, outstanding finish that sealed the deal; again and as with the Cristal, it was one of the best ever in every way a wine can be evaluated and I responded with heart felt deep appreciation and gratitude for all of its gifts. Had he tasted this bottle, Burt would have been ecstatic and sporting that wry, corner mouth smile of his and had a gleam in his eyes.
The main focus of this night is to celebrate Roelanda and thank her for all she does for us in our lives together. Thankfully, all of the food and wine and ambience and people involved contributed to making this a super grand evening and fully support the primary purpose.
Cheers,
Blake
