Dinner at Paul's

This was a small wine dinner Paul put together with his cousin & wife who were in from Florida. The only theme was good food and good wine. Red wines only were served because that's all anyone brought.

We tried to more or less start from lightest to heaviest, but most of the wines were quite big, and there was alot of jumping around. We held off on the David Bruce until late in the evening so we could all enjoy it and try it after these other wines.

For me, wine of the night was a toss-up between the Cims de Porerra 99 and the Gruaud Larose 85. Very different wines, but both thoroughly enjoyable. Once again though, while it wasn't my favorite of the night, I felt honored to try a wine of as much wisdom as the David Bruce cab.

The menu:

Hors d'ouevre of smoked salmon
Tomatoes with avocado & olive oil
Assorted Pizzettes
Salmon blackened rare
Mixed fruit tart

Most of the wines were decanted around 6pm and drunk from then until midnight. None were specifically paired with any of the courses, so there was alot of jumping around and trying different comparisons.

Wines are listed in the order I initially tried them.

• 2003 Georges Dubœuf Juliénas La Trinquée 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Juliénas

  Light, but tannic. Nice structure. Cherries and cedar on the palate. This needs a couple years.

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• 2001 DixNeuf Dix Priorat 91 Points

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  Dark red, medium bodied. Nose of red fruits and chocolate. Strawberry, raspberry, and leather on the palate. Wine was really brought out when drunk with a peppery zucchini pizzette.

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• 1995 Domaine Marquise des Mures Saint-Chinian 92 Points

  France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Saint-Chinian

  Light red color. Relatively subtle nose of strawberries, slight barnyard nose, a touch of chocolate. Tannic and a touch acidic but nicely balanced. Big smoked meats taste with tart cherries and some coffee notes. Quite good overall.

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• 1999 Cims de Porrera Priorat Classic 94 Points

  Spain, Catalunya, Priorat

  Dark purple, opaque. Nose of violets and black raspberry. Solidly structured, slightly jammy. Blueberries, black raspberries. Excellent. Big & round. Many years to go for this wine.

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• 1985 Château Gruaud Larose 94 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien

  Red with orange/brown bricking. Woodsy, barnyard nose. Flavors of woods, orangey flavors. Layers of flavor - very complex. Can't quite describe it - very classic bordeaux with hints of orange peel and leather. Really very nice.

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• 1995 Martinelli Zinfandel Jackass Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Brownish red, orange tints, translucent. Smells old. Nose of mandarin oranges??. Low acidity, very rounded. Leathery fruit, very dry. My initial thought: a touch past its prime? Hints of toffee, spices / cardamom and pepper. Cocoa w/ cayenne. Lingers on the palate. Opened very nicely through the night. May have a few years left yet.

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• 1977 David Bruce Cabernet Sauvignon 90 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Clara Valley

  Red with some bricking on the edges. Nose of alcohol. Soft red berries, strawberries. Shockingly good. Great to try this - amazing it held up so well.

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• 1997 Marietta Cellars Angeli Cuvée 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley

  Dark red, translucent. Nose of sweet red raspberry, red fruit, alcohol, and a touch of spice - black pepper and cinnamon I think. Slightly sweet - raspberry preserves, blueberries. Black raspberries, with real pepper - black & white. Nice residual sugar.

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All in all, yet another wonderful evening (thank you Paul!). Great wines all around, including a few surprises. I had very low expectations for the Marquise des Mures and the David Bruce Cab, and both of them showed very well. Great company and a lovely evening.