Did double duty support last night. 2015 Idlewild Fox Hill Dolcetto at Diavola in Geyserville and paired it with a sausage and meatball pizza.
The restaurants need as much support if not more than the wineries. Many were having financial problems before the fire crisis. With less traffic flow to the restaurants and the “slow” season approaching, my fear is that many excellent restaurants will not make it.
Tom
Mayacamus and Signorello
Good picks
We did a Cali offline this week for just this reason. Lots of great wines including:
2007 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay
2010 Kistler Chardonnay
1997 Ardente Winery Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon
1997 BV Georges de La Tour
2014 Failla Estate Syrah
2015 Sandlands Mataro
I got a mag of 2009 Kutch McDougall chilling right now for this afternoon.
Saw Merrill last night and opened a 1995 Seavey Cab. She didn’t like it very much, but we had lots of Champagne as backup.
It just seemed right to open this on Friday. Juicy with deep dark cherry and black olive. It is 100% California with glimpses of Northern Rhone.
Opened a 2014 O’Shaughnessy Howell Mountain two nights ago for my brother in-law’s birthday dinner.
Was at a friend’s wedding in Walnut Creek last night and he had a 2009 Promontory Red decanted at the sweetheart table that I got to try. It was incredible.
'98 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard on Friday night. Probably a Quivet Syrah on tap for tonight.
Ha! I was just thinking that I’d take a bottle of this to Girl and the Fig tonight…then I realized that bottle went with a small selection of favorites with my wife when she evacuated. Pickings are slim now - I was already in need of a run to my offsite.
Last night, I snagged this at a shop here in Denver (where I’m staying for a conference) and I just pulled the cork for a pre-dinner glass:
2 Sonoma Pinots and 1 Napa Cab.
2013 Pillow Road Pinot and 2010 EMH Black Cat.
I should add that, earlier this week, we opened a 2011 Outpost cab, a 2011 Carlisle Papera zin, and a 2005 Anderson’s Conn Valley ‘Eloge’. So, we’re trying to do our part!
2010 Bedrock Cabernet last night. Drinking very well. Tannins are very fine and mild, dark fruits, good mouthfeel, just enough acid to make your mouth water and a long finish. Reminded me of Piper’s wine with the volume turned down a couple notches. Unfortunately I only have one bottle left. No reason to rush, should last many more years.
Friday night we opened a 2011 Ceritas Heintz Chardonnay. Haven’t had one of these since release – a little age has elevated this from a good bottle to a really fabulous bottle. A veneer of richness has been added to the precise line of citrus it showed initially but it’s still beautifully restrained. Just a great bottle of Sonoma chardonnay and unfortunately my last ![[cray.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/853b6e76c6e8406be77a6727c2a27ad1672678b3.gif "cry"){kind=small}
Tonight we opened an Arnot Roberts 2016 Trousseau. This one was like drinking a bowl of smashed strawberries while sitting in a pine forest. A great expression of North Coast wine – easygoing and elegant both.
I’ll bite. Why did she not like it?
Hey Buzz, thanks for including Mendocino in the title of your post. Although we didn’t lose many wineries, many vineyards in Redwood and Potter Valleys were effected. There are still quite a few fields yet to be picked and much loss of life and property in this county. We don’t have the population or number of wineries (I think we have around 80 bonded wineries) as our friends to the south but we till the land and crush the fruit just the same. Our thoughts go out to everyone.
Myriad 2012 Las Madres Syrah. Niiiiiiiiice.
She chose wisely buddy. Prime time right now!!
Hope you ended up treating yourself to one helluva dinner tonight - sounds like you absolutely deserve one!
It had some VA or other piquant aspect to the nose. The rest of us liked the wine quite a bit despite that. Recent notes on CT are indicating that Seavey from this era should be drunk up and I’m tending to agree. I drank my last bottle of 96 a few months ago and it was in a bit worse shape with slight oxidation. I’m going to try the 97 soon.
Brian, did this show very young? I have some ‘01’s I’m holding off on.