The Wines
87 Whitehall Lane cab sauv
92 Ryecroft McLaren Vale chard
96 Joseph Phelps cab sauv
97 Fife Redhead zin97 Sommer Alexander Vly merlot
98 Le Gramenon Cotes du Rhone
98 Mon Coeur Cotes du Rhone
98 Unti zin98 Witch Creek Carlsbad merlot
99 Rosemount Estate shiraz/cab
Pezzi-King (dessert wine) This was good. What was it?
Topolos Late Harvest Riesling
Irishman's Blood:
BJ's Red
Big Rock McNally Irish Ale Style
No Vote Taken
Roll Call: Judi, Jim, Ruthie, Steve, Jo Anne, Clark, Susan!, Matthew!, Treeva!, Jim!, Harry, A. David
My tasting rating (0-10): 8
No one in Ireland would ever have wine to celebrate St. Patrick's day, but then they don't have corned beef and cabbage in Ireland either. So what the heck.
(See Tasting Rating for tasting ratings.)
A WORLD-CLASS THANK YOU TO JUDI & JIM!
Notes: A most excellent wine dinner. I expected a broad selection of beer and wine and I got what I expected. (This is not to say all the beer and wine was selected by broads.) I decided not to take a vote because of the eclectic nature of the selection. But if I had taken notes:
The beers were interesting. The BJ's Red was fresh and had a malty sweetness that was not balanced with enough bitternesss. This comes from a stuck fermentation or the brewer did not use enough finishing hops. But good.
The Big Rock was a clean tasting ale that had good body to it and would make a great anytime quaffer. I am not sure what an "Irish style ale" is, but it's good.
The Rosemount Estate shiraz/cab blend is one of the most consistent wines made. Always a people pleaser with a good balance between fruit and acid and soft tannins. Don't bother aging this one. Just drink it. A bargain. Didn't this have koala bear on the bottle?
The Fife Redhead is also a very consistent wine. And also not very age-worthy. Good zinfandel nose and nice acid bite. Not as spicy as I like my zin, but you can't have everything. I have tried all kinds of zin with corned beef and... no.
I guess consistent is going to be the characterization of the wines I liked, because the Joseph Phelps is as consistent as Riedel crystal. Great nose, great fruit, great balance. Even ageable for 3 to 5 yrs. And still reasonably priced! Gee, I need to go buy some more.
The Witch Creek merlot was a real surprise. I usually don't think much of wines from South of Ventura and not much of California merlot in general, but this one had something different going on. Where most CA merlot is just wimpy and washed out, this one actually had some cajones to it. If someone had taken a Bordeaux and mixed it with CA merlot, you would get this wine.
We may try a component blending someday, but it will be red meritage components. This is actually a lot of fun. And sometimes you end up with a one-of-a-kind blend that is fantastic!
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Hey, my glass is empty...