NV Billiot Reserve: Sourdough, yeast, light roast coffee beans, and a hint of hazelnut, apple, and lemon curd. Crisp acidity, full bodied. The sourdough notes made the nose a bit unusual, but in general, the Grand Cru NV was solid, but not mind blowing. As an aside, my wife found the nose off-putting, but enjoyed the taste. 89-91.
2007 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett A.P. 2: Slight funk on the nose quickly blew off to reveal baked pear, green and golden apples, slate, and lemon bar. Palate much the same, with moderate sweetness, a moderate finish, and nice acidity. Hard not to gulp down. 91-92.
2006 Ridge Lytton Springs: Solid nose of blackberry bramble, pepper, black cherries, anise. Had my hopes high, but the palate simply can’t live up to the nose. Comes across flat, melding moderate blackberry notes with autumn leaves. Unimpressive finish. Still tasty, if not particularly complex or interesting. 87-88.
2008 Napanook: Bought on sale for $31. Massive, extracted, and not for the faint of heart. Black currant and plum mix with asphalt and cedary oak. Perhaps a hint of tobacco. Palate is loaded, but has tannins that suggest it will be solid for a decade or more. Again black currant, plum, ashpalt, cedar, and a touch of mineral that is all but lost. Solid if you like Napa, and I do. 91-92.
Shiner Bock Made in Shiner Texas, this amber colored bock is fairly good for drinking in large quantities, at say, NYE. Good, light toffee, “beer” and a hint of caramel. Short finish. Doesn’t really improve after 7 or 8. There are certainly better options out there, but not at the bar I attended. 83-85.
Seagrams Gin and Tonic with Lime: Notoriously cheap gin benefitting from appropriate mix of tonic and lime. After a sixer of Shiner Bock, the strangely pine and rubbing alcohol scented concoction was manageable. Beefeater would have been an upgrade like a second degree burn is an upgrade over a third degree burn. Benefit of the beverage? I recalled tons of grinding on women at frat parties to Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” in which Seagrams is expressly referenced. 76-78.