Lunch this month was as interesting as ever.
1998 Devil’s Lair Margaret River Chardonnay – this one fooled many of us into thinking it was something else. Bit of citrus in the nose and some vanilla, medium body and quite crisp at the end. Not exactly what you expect in an Oz Chard.
Notes from a very enjoyable dinner-tasting of Bordeaux of the 1990 vintage. These wines have always seemed to me to be more fruit forward and ‘Californian’ in approach, if you will, than the more classic and arguably more austere 1988 and 1989 vintages that together make up this wonderful triptych of Bordeaux.
I’m delighted and honored to have been invited by Mike, and I haven’t been very good about participating yet 
Too much work, too much grey weather here, too distracted.
However – this must change! Living in the Napa/Solano area means it is easy to visit wineries outside the context of a holiday. In fact, there are many wineries I’ve driven past for years because I take them for granted. Silly me.
As spring soon explodes, it will be time to catch up with those places I’ve missed and this blog is a catalyst to share those experiences.
Cheers!
Notes from a recent dinner with friends:
With amuse-bouches:
1996 Pol Roger Blanc de Chardonnay – nice and yeasty, with a fresh lemony presentation. I tend to prefer Champagnes made with the usual red varietals as they tend to have more character, but this blanc de blanc was very good and drinking well now.
Australian wine writers will persist in using language in wine reviews that is incomprehensible to most of their readers. How do I know? I read out bits of reviews to my introductory wine classes and ask them if they know what the reviewers mean. Most often they don’t.
