Which reference? Count Lermontov? That is the Nom de Guerre of Mikhail Lipyansky, who has been an active BB participant since the EBob days and who teaches, or taught, Russian Literature at CCNY. To make it even weirder, I think he told me last time we spoke that he happens to be from the City formerly known as Kharkiv in Ukraine. I say formerly known as because it is far from clear that it will survive the excess use of Russian missiles to kill civilians.
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Great! See you then. Thanks!
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Jaffurs Grenache Santa Barbara County2018. Splash Decant. Nose: not much there, some faint red fruit, pepper. Taste: lighter bodied with red cherry/raspberry/strawberry fruits along with more pronounced spicy/pepper notes. The flavor and weight made a nice match with beef barley soup and latkes. A WTSO bargain ready to drink.
Stereophonic Starblanket 50/50 Petite Sirah/Grenache 2018 Decant 1 hr. Nose: darker red fruit, with some background peppery/spicy notes. Taste: More black cherry, blackberry added to the red fruit from the nose with more pronounced pepper, spicy notes. The fruit flavors are deep, bright, and crisp, not dense/cloying. Really delicious and great match with steak au poivre, connecting through the peppery petite sirah. I am both happy to have three more and sad to only have three left. Many wines you drink and enjoy in the moment thinking, nice but no more than that. The Jaffurs Grenache was that. The really good ones take it up to the next level with much joy when drinking and where you are happy to have more to drink and sad when it is your last bottle. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this blend, but this is one those wines. Well done, Jason!
Niepoort Vintage Port 2007. Despite knowing it was young, I wanted something special for Thanksgiving with friends (forgot to get a picture before we left). Decanted 3 hrs and still needed more. Nose: Powerful, dense, black fruits with black plums, blackberry, some spice cake, and a lot of alcohol. Hard to get a good read with bad glasses (mini cordials), but delicious with Stilton and Baby Bleu cheeses. Saved some for next night and was much better from a port glass. Alcohol dissipated/integrated with smoother tannins; more dark fruit/plum/blackberry, spice cake, some chocolate notes. The alcohol shows up again on the finish along with the tannins. Another wine that I’m happy to have more of but still way too young even at 16, so will hold my remaining bottles for at least 5 years. I think this will be a great bottle of port in the future.
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Hey Ya’ll- I thought I would throw this in the mix. In keeping with the Cali-Rhone theme.
El Lugar-Syrah, Spanish Springs Vineyard, SLO 2018- Dark Cherries, sage, and light black olive. Super snappy and full of energy on the palate. Not overly structured and really fun to drink. Coby Parker-Garcia did a great job!
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