Madeirized, over the hill. Totally gone.

Lovely, pale green. A beautiful nose of grass, some lemon, and starfruit. This is very lithe but somewhat dilute on the palate, shy on fruit, high on acid, and thin on the finish. From the nose I was expecting much more, but I found this lacking.

Slightly 'cheddary' on the nose with a somewhat oxidized smell. On the palate this is surprisingly thick and spicy but with altogether too much wood. Ugh, I like my Pinot Gris fresh...

My bottle. Wildly tropical nose with apricot and pineapple. This has a lush entry, dances on the palate, and tastes flittingly of fruit cocktail. On the finish a fair bit of wood and heat shine through marring the wine somewhat.

This was among my favorite white wines of the night. Deep gold. On the nose this has a slight doughy smell with some burnt sugar, ash and mineral. On the palate this has a sexy entry with really voluptuous mouthfeel and incredible fruit for wine of this age. This has a nice, long finish. Lovely!

When I poured this in the glass I was optimistic to see a light color. Is this unoaked Chardonnay from Napa? The nose of green apple confirms this. On the palate this show nice acidity with simple fruit, but it is very light, very tart, lacking in character. In fact, it has an overly bitter, green finish that starts to grate on me.

This is somewhat cloudy and light in the glass. The nose is very toasty with a hint of ash. On the palate this has lots of wood with a nice core of acidity. The finish is tight and tart. Solid effort but not great.

My bottle. Butterscotch nose. The palate is like a fluffy, down pillow it is so soft. Compared to the prior whites this seems almost flabby, but it is pleasant with an almost marshmallowy softness and sweetness. I liked this more than I expected.

My bottle. On the nose this is very spicy with some toasted filbert hiding. Voluptuous mouthfeel. This has an incredible finish of searing green apple. However, despite the descriptors this doesn't hang together terribly well.

This was quite a treat. This was recently bottled from a 150 year old Solera, and the wine is only bottled every 20 years. On the nose this is very nutty, almost buttery. Roy said he would kill me if I described this as "spirity", and while I picked that up at first either it softened or I got used to it. On the palate entry, this is shockingly salty and almost has a lime-juice sharpness to it, laser focused. This is an acquired taste which starts to grow on you and is amazingly cleansing and refreshing. The real surprise is the finish and long aftertaste which sneaks up on you and then hits you over the head with butter pecan. Gorgeous!

This has a reluctant, earthy, dusty nose. On the palate this has an explosive entry and is lusciously silky. I don't have a lot of notes, but this was a classy young Pinot with loads of power and elegance.

This has mint and olive on the nose. On the entry this has a mild note of sweet dill and a medicinal quality I have come to expect from aged CA-cab. Unfortunately the finish is a bit thin and dry which took away from the experience.

My bottle. Wow, I have had this wine three times this year, and it has given me unprecedented pleasure. This was the unanimous wine of the night. On the nose this has tobacco, earth, some clove, and a very distinct barnyard element. At first the palate is searing, but with time this gains in sweetness and fleshiness. All the while it has remarkable complexity. A long, balanced largely resolved finish caps the experience, yet there is still clearly structure there. This wine has to be at peak and is simply amazing drinking right now.

A very faint nose. On the palate this was dilute, almost vinegared. Somewhat bitter on the finish. While it is pleasant to drink a largely resolved cab, this one wasn't giving me much pleasure.

This was my #2 WOTN. The usual piercing, floral aromatics of Quilceda with a distinct violet element. On the palate this shows stunning power and depth. This is amazing juice, although it is monolithic in comparison to the 1982 Leoville Poyferre we enjoyed on the same evening. The finish is endless and caught both myself and Peter off guard garnering some loudly exclaimed "whoa" shouts.

Bell pepper on the nose. A sweet entry. Fairly thin finish.

Remarkably intense dill on the nose on the palate. This is simply overpowering, and I have never seen an herbal element this clear on a wine. This has good persistence on the finish, but an otherwise well made wine is marred by this 'over-dilling.'

Grapey, simple and hot. Not my cup of tea.

My notes are thin on this one. It is minty on the nose, sweet on the entry, and has a very fresh wintergreen element that I found to be very refreshing. This is a nice, distinctive wine.

My bottle. This is very international in style with obvious chambord and floral elements. While the descriptors are similar to Quilceda, this is far less Bordeaux in spirit in my opinion. On the palate this is searing and primary, but with time this is softening quite a bit, gaining a plush, sexy texture, and some earthiness is peeking through all that fruit. The finish is endless and searing. I won't revisit another one of these for about 6 years I think. I initially rated this as 88 and upgraded as I had a chance to see this evolve and soften a bit.

At first I was put off by this, but it is a harlot of a wine and eventually wears you down with its incessant flirting. This of course has the trademark elements of huge wood, yet somehow this is sweet, creamy and almost integrated amidst all that plush fruit. This has lots of power and is quite pleasant although something you could easily burn out on.

My bottle. The blueberry element on this is over the top on both the nose and palate, and of course this has toungue-numbing tannin. It didn't do well relative to the other wines, and compared to the Pride Petite Sirah I had a couple of weeks ago this was more monolithic and lacking in spice.

Wow, I loved this. Honeysuckle, lavendar, simply unctuous. Just unreal.

Caramel, some nail polish, very syrupy. Enjoyable.

This was a bottle with a remarkable story. It still had the pricetage on it from a purchase back in 1940, this was apparently bottled in the 1920's. This was a unique experience for which I have few words. Amazing acidity and that saltiness on the entry which reminded me of the sherry we had earlier in the evening. This has simply remarkable persistence on the finish.

My bottle. Well Roy thought it was horrendously spirity, although I enjoyed it. Coffee and chocolate dominate the nose and palate, and with fallen chocolate cake this is a lovely accompaniment.