On tap for tonight:

2011 Clayhouse Vineyard Estate Cuvée Blanc Red Cedar Vineyard

with salmon, gyoza, and asparagus.

kylemittskus wrote:On tap for tonight:

2011 Clayhouse Vineyard Estate Cuvée Blanc Red Cedar Vineyard

with salmon, gyoza, and asparagus.

That one gets overpowered easily. I recommend going light on the gyoza sauce. It is very nice when paired well.

2009 Scott Harvey Barbera (Amador County) pairing very well with melanzane alla parmigiana, vitello e insalata.

February 23 was Open That Bottle Night. And only two people posted.

Well I had a 1962 Château Meyney "Prieuré des Couleys," a Saint-Estephe that's Merlot-based. It was very nice with a veal stew, though a Filet Mignon with Bordelaise sauce would have been perfect! But I don't have it like that.

iByron

Dinner meeting tonight. We've got:
-Saint-Veran
-Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru
-Winter's Hill Pinot Noir (OR)
-2006 Brunello
-1999 Ros di Rol Super Tuscan

cmaldoon wrote:That one gets overpowered easily. I recommend going light on the gyoza sauce. It is very nice when paired well.

Big fan of this wine on the PnP pre-food. I'd like more acid, though, which would probably counteract what you're saying about it being overpowered.

2010 A Tribute to Grace Wine Company Grenache Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard

iByron wrote:February 23 was Open That Bottle Night. And only two people posted.

Well I had a 1962 Château Meyney "Prieuré des Couleys," a Saint-Estephe that's Merlot-based. It was very nice with a veal stew, though a Filet Mignon with Bordelaise sauce would have been perfect! But I don't have it like that.

iByron

Being away for a few days, we missed that one, but we opened quite a few bottles at Scott and Jana's. I think my favorite was the '03 Cathedral.

Hanger 24 alt-bier

Scott Harvey 2010 Old Vine Reserve Zin. Supposedly a sub-par vintage but Scott's wines seem to be vintage-proof. Probably infanticide but it's already drinking well. Very well.

Monkey 2nd prize. I have one of these every 6 months. The second night of this one is doing pretty great. Not feeling in a descriptive mood but this one will last at least 5 more years.

2010 Bartz-Allen Winery Pinot Noir, Split Rock Vineyard/Sonoma Coast

$14.99 at Invino. It may be the best candiate for Pinot Noir QPR that I've ever purchased. I'm not sure if they are still in business since it was a micro-winery that worked through Crushpad, but they were using some excellent fruit.

If this comes back up, I'm buying a case.

Just got weird drinking some 2006 Duckhorn Howell Mountain cab with my boss's boss's boss. Not a terrible way to spend the afternoon, but that guy turned my casual wine Tuesday into "FML Wednesday."

loveladyelectric wrote:Just got weird drinking some 2006 Duckhorn Howell Mountain cab with my boss's boss's boss. Not a terrible way to spend the afternoon, but that guy turned my casual wine Tuesday into "FML Wednesday."

How was it? Duckhorn always makes highly rated Zins and Merlots, and I know I've had their Cabs, but I don't remember them.

The Duke 10.

2009 Jeff Runquist Petite Syrah (Salman VYD) with pot roast (carrots, potatoes).

2006 Blue Cellars Syrah Truchard Vineyard

ajrod27 wrote:The Duke 10.

I'm a newer Wellington fan and loved everything from the 2007 mixed case offer, but this one fell short for me. At the same time, I know there are plenty of fans of this release. I think I should probably revisit my second bottle one of these weeknights and try again, maybe with some pasta and meat sauce. I think that first time around, it was a second bottle.

tdedek wrote:I'm a newer Wellington fan and loved everything from the 2007 mixed case offer, but this one fell short for me. At the same time, I know there are plenty of fans of this release. I think I should probably revisit my second bottle one of these weeknights and try again, maybe with some pasta and meat sauce. I think that first time around, it was a second bottle.

Both I and my gal found that one to be awful. Perhaps it was simply the bad year. If I want a Wellington daily drinker ill go for his standard reds.

cmaldoon wrote:Both I and my gal found that one to be awful. Perhaps it was simply the bad year. If I want a Wellington daily drinker ill go for his standard reds.

We had the same kind of reaction and I actually have the second bottle in the 'gift' pile right now. I think I might give it a second chance for s and g's, I've loved everything else that PW has offered up and will be joining his club. Good to know that it seems to be just this release.

cmaldoon wrote:Monkey 2nd prize. I have one of these every 6 months. The second night of this one is doing pretty great. Not feeling in a descriptive mood but this one will last at least 5 more years.

That's good to hear, as I still have several bottles and was wondering whether I should push them ahead of some others on my "to-drink" rack.

tdedek wrote:I'm a newer Wellington fan and loved everything from the 2007 mixed case offer, but this one fell short for me. At the same time, I know there are plenty of fans of this release. I think I should probably revisit my second bottle one of these weeknights and try again, maybe with some pasta and meat sauce. I think that first time around, it was a second bottle.

I've found rather large variability in how much I like releases of the Duke. You do need to always remember, though, that it's $9 kitchen sink wine. I've found that it outdrinks most in that price range.

klezman wrote:You do need to always remember, though, that it's $9 kitchen sink wine. I've found that it outdrinks most in that price range.

My thoughts exactly. It's a good everyday value wine that pairs very well with food. Also, like most of Wellingtons wines, they need some air time to open up.

2007 Tolaini al passo paired with chicken cacciatore and saffron risotto. Great pairing due to the wine having a blend of 85% sangio and 15% merlot.

Edit: yes, it is drinking well right now. At about $20 a bottle, you can always get more. This will go really well with any Italian meal.

2011 Tobin James James Gang Reserve Chardonnay

with wanton soup.

cmaldoon wrote:That one gets overpowered easily. I recommend going light on the gyoza sauce. It is very nice when paired well.

So what would you say is a good pairing for it?

2012 pink Zep. With a ravioli soup kinda thing.
Like an Italian version of wonton soup.

jmdavidson wrote:2007 Tolaini al passo paired with chicken cacciatore and saffron risotto. Great pairing due to the wine having a blend of 85% sangio and 15% merlot.

So it's drinking well now? I have 4 resting and i'm dying to pop one.

it was my birthday dinner tonight... my friends and i were at washington dc's marcel's and decided to bring our own wine....

let's start with the backup wine in case the main wine didn't work out



we started with some bubbly



then went on to the main bottle... which... fortunately for me, totally worked out



i've been drinking aged wines for about a year now, but tonight took it to another level... i was literally speechless when i smelled the bouquet... and was in pure ecstasy afterwards... all i can say is... i love wine.

@sukeiasa: DAMN!

redwinefan wrote:How was it? Duckhorn always makes highly rated Zins and Merlots, and I know I've had their Cabs, but I don't remember them.

I've had the Duckhorn merlots and really liked them. This cab did not taste like a typical Howell Mountain cab. It was a pretty standard fruit bomb with little oak and no minerality to speak of. Not a sweet "crowd pleaser" cab like Caymus or Silver Oak, but very easy to drink.

sukeiasa wrote:

i've been drinking aged wines for about a year now, but tonight took it to another level... i was literally speechless when i smelled the bouquet... and was in pure ecstasy afterwards... all i can say is... i love wine.

Damn. I wish I could get my hands on one of those with good provenance for a reasonable price. Birth year first growth!?

Tonight for me was 2007 Chateau Bianca Pinot Noir with pan-grilled salmon with a dusting of sesame oil. Delicious wine and amazing pairing. Thanks to rpm for putting the salmon/pinot thought in my head.

This weekend Bach. Party.
I'm taking a vinito del finito and a 07' TO pig stai. Wish me luck.

klezman wrote:Damn. I wish I could get my hands on one of those with good provenance for a reasonable price. Birth year first growth!?

Same here. I have been looking for good 1980 stuff, but it gets expensive. Pretty bad year in CA from what I've been told.

sukeiasa wrote:



i've been drinking aged wines for about a year now, but tonight took it to another level... i was literally speechless when i smelled the bouquet... and was in pure ecstasy afterwards... all i can say is... i love wine.

Can I please come to your next birthday party?

Some Berserker Day spoils...

2009 Cellars 33 Chardonnay and then a 2009 Calluna Merlot Aux Raynauds with dinner.

Very curious about the Merlot. It was part of a bundle and would not be something I would normally pick up without tasting first. Have heard some good rumblings about it recently, we will see...

2005 Masi Costasera Amarone.

First Amarone. We'll see how this goes.

kylemittskus wrote:@sukeiasa: DAMN!

Agreed! That's pretty awesome, and glad it worked out for you.