Dinner with xhoser

Wildfire, Oakbrook
Tasted Wednesday, October 26, 2011 by AllRed with 519 views

Introduction

xhoser was in town on business so a few forumites got together for dinner at Wildfire in Oakbrook. Thanks to Bill for setting everything up. Stemware was of good quality, although we had to ask for it. We ordered family style, and the staff did a nice job- attentive to our needs without being overbearing.

In attendance was:
billhike
xhoser
M/M thelostverse
jcubed
trekkerdan
AllRed & Domino

At the end of the night we took an informal poll for WOTN. The '95 Pape Clement was the winner with 5 votes, the '96 Kalin received 2 and the '89 Pape Clement received 1. Lots of honorable mentions for the WH Smith, the Dagueneau and the '89 Pape Clement. The highlight of the evening perhaps was finding a Bordeaux that thelostverse actually drank...a part of me thought we'd never see that day. Perhaps there's hope for him yet!

Wines are listed in the order I tasted them. We didn't fuss over the wines, we simply pulled the corks and set them in the middle of the table so everyone could work through them at their leisure.

Flight 1 (9 Notes)

  • 1996 Kalin Cellars Sémillon 91 Points

    USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Livermore Valley

    Deep color. Opens with a waxy Rhonish quality, also mineral, slate and pear aromas with smoky overtones. Rich texture; flavors of lanolin, pear, stone and white fruit. Long finish. Subtle petrol quality too. 91-92 pts.

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  • 2005 Didier Dagueneau Buisson Renard 93 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Pouilly-Fumé

    Very light color. Aromas of lemongrass, mineral and cat urine- subtle. Racy acidity with flavors of grapefruit and minerals. Long finish. Thanks Bill.

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  • 1989 Château Pape Clément 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Red color, some bricking too. Notes of iron and currants, berries and earthy funk. Nice balance, with flavors of red fruit, beef blood, earth and mushroom. Medium finish. Not quite on par with the best examples of this wine, but still an excellent wine.

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  • 1995 Château Pape Clément 94 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Deep garnet color. Opens with earthy, funky qualities, turning to iodine, red currant and tobacco. Well-balanced and still showing some youthful power- chewy fruit. Flavors of red fruit, iodine and forest floor, with a long finish. A terrific showing from this bottle, thanks Jim!

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  • 2004 W.H. Smith Pinot Noir Maritime Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    One of TLV's bottles. Ruby color with initial aromas of rhubarb and black cherry, turning to cola, black cherry and florals in the glass. Very well-balanced and elegant, with red fruit, cherry and cola tones and a long, elegant finish. 92+ pts.

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  • 1998 Château Smith Haut Lafitte 92 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan

    Deep garnet color. Aromas of violets, iodine, black fruit and earth. Tannins are integrating nicely with the fruit. Flavors of dark fruit, herbs and iodine. Long finish, with just a hint of earth. 92-93 pts. Thanks Dan.

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  • 2002 d'Arenberg Shiraz The Dead Arm 92 Points

    Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

    Dark color. Eucalyptus/menthol qualities were dominant on the nose and palate. Still has some tannin to shed, but there's loads of dark fruit here too; ends nicely. Give it a good decant if drinking now. Thanks TLV.

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  • 2004 Araujo Estate Syrah Eisele Vineyard 91 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Opaque crimson color. Notes of blueberry, lavender & violets and dark fruit; has an elegance about it. Given what I thought of as an elegant bouquet, I wasn't expecting it to be such a bruiser on the palate. Full-bodied and unapologetic, with dense, chewy tannins and flavors of raspberry liqueur, incense and black fruit. Picks up some spice tones on the long finsh. 91-92 pts. Thanks xhoser!

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  • 1991 The Hess Collection Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder 87 Points

    USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder

    Ripe, prune and red fruit aromas. Medium-bodied, with spice, dark fruit and currant flavors with a ripe edge. Has a youthful tartness to it.

    I decanted this briefly off its sediment before we left for dinner, and this definitely needed more air than I had given it. The wine suffered as a result IMO, and could have shown much better had I allowed it to.

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Closing

Thanks to everyone for their generous contributions. Hope to do this again soon.

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