After a quick bite out on Saturday, our son fell asleep and my wife said “open something, I could use a glass of wine, something I will like.” With marginal reactions from her during the week on some pretty tasty wines, I figured KB was about the only answer.
Kosta Browne Russian River Pinot Noir 2005- Looked like Dr. Pepper in the glass, something I can’t say I have ever seen before (sans fizz though). The nose had good berry and floral notes, with cocoa powder and a hint of vanilla. The palate was quite creamy and elegant, but with definitive Pinot character. My wife loved it, and I was quite content. Not exactly my cup of tea, but confirmed my belief that 08s will be an easy pass for me. $52 is a lot for me to spend on nice drinking wine.
So last night we did a make up of my 30th Birthday, and merged the celebration with my wife’s up coming birthday this week. I will leave my wife’s age out of the discussion, but the absence of her birth year is in direct correlation to the sheer expense and the substantial quality of the vintage in Burgundy.
Diamond Creek Gravelly Meadow 1979- In the wake of the Winebid thread, I was excited and curious to see how this would play out. It was by far the oldest thing I have ever purchased, and came out of one of the $5 Reserve frenzies. The cork was soft, and only showed about a half inch of wine up the cork. Clearly, a well stored bottle, so my hopes were high. Aromatically, the wine was a giant. Loads of bell pepper, black pepper, herbs, and eucalyptus. A little mushroom and a solid core of black cherry, unsweetened plum, wild strawberry and that eucalyptus note came back on the palate. It started to fade with the last glass circulating around the room, and started to show more of the cherry/strawberry component with a nice creaminess. I think I paid $55 for this, and would be happy to do it again.