Sept 7 Dinner in Memphis

Just the three of us. Two locals, Latour67 and stemor, along with the traveling BHVineyards. We found a convenient and wine friendly restaraunt, and brought three ... no, make that FOUR ... bottles of wine.

They were:

'90 Chateau Clinet Pomerol (from Latour67)
'90 Livio Sassetti Brunello (from BHV)
'99 Justin Isosceles (me. I can't he'p myself!)

I was going to bring a '94 Ridge Montebello, but then realized that I was dining with Latour67. Why bring a California "bordeaux style" when you KNOW you're already going to enjoy the real thing?!? So, I opted for something different, going for YOUNG and FRUIT FORWARD..

Then, there was a fourth wine, but that was later.

<< EDIT: See separate post, below. * means that I messed up on recalling my notes, transposing these two scores. >>

'90 Chateau Clinet. Throwing strong sediment, most of it staying in the bottle. Great aroma (after opening up) and taste of juicy dark berries and chocolate. Consistent ruby color all the way to the rim, showing very light orange shade. SM93*

'90 Livio Sassetti Brunello. No sediment, nice consistent cranberry color. Typical nose and taste of cherries, along with some leather and earth/mushrooms? I even thought I was smelling cigar smoke after it sat in the glass for a while. Moderate finish. Good, well balanced acidity and tannins. SM91.

'99 Justin Isosceles. Completely decanted (that is, in an ideal decanter with HUGE open space for oxidation) for 1:45. It didn't hurt that our waiter's name was Justin, so we shared with him. He loved it. We loved it. Everyone else here has either bought it, tasted it, or isn't paying attention. You know the drill: Dark, opaque, fruity, with legs trying literally to stretch all the way out of the glass. It's not terribly complex or built to age, but I love this stuff NOW. SM94*.

Oh, and we collectively had two racks of Lamb (aka British Columbian Scampi? ) and a Prosciutto-wrapped Tuscan Grouper. It was beautiful.

Lastly, BHV snuck another bottle in to the table wrapped in aluminum foil. He poured and asked what it was. We swirled, we sniffed, we swished, we waffled.

Old Zin. New Syrah blend. California. Australia. Can't be Pinot, which I expected based on my first perception of the color (and the fact that that is what BHV grows 100% on his Oregon property). I don't know.

When pressed, we agreed that it was a zin-ish wine that was light in color and showed the restraint that you might expect in a wine made in '95 or '96. Probably California, probably mid-state ... NOT a over-ripe wine, therefore probably from Napa/Sonoma?

Well, it wound up being '96 Ridge Grenache, Lytton Springs. Ironically, it was exactly this wine (from '97) that I tried to give away at the 6/15 dinner and no-one took, so I brought it home with me (as I mentioned in a post just a few hours before my dinner began. Funny how things work, huh?!?) This wine was not only delicious and unique, it sells for ~$20 through the Ridge ATP. Why pay more? SM93.

Thank you BHV for not ONE but TWO delicious wines. Thanks to Latour for the Muscat back at the Chateau. Thanks.

[ 09-09-2002, 08:20 AM: Message edited by: stemor ]