Dinner at Our New Home

Runny and Miki came over together with Olivia to celebrate our new home. Angela excelled herslf with the meal she cooked.

The slight oilyness of the salmon and the crispness of the raw chopped onions paired really well with the richness and weight of the Chardonnay.

• 2003 Kistler Chardonnay Vine Hill Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Deep and rich urine gold yellow colour. Nose is a great balancing act of mellowed oak and hand-crushed roasted lemons then lemon grove leaves and a touch of brioche. Palate is gorgeous rich and mouthfilling sunshine of lemon, honeysuckle, acacia honey and tons of minerals on the back end. Quite powerful....a wine with assertive weight but balanced by great acidic balance. Long powerful resonance on the finish, although a touch of heat....then a beautiful finale of crushed rocks and hand-crushed whole roasted lemons. Very enjoyable but this bottle lacked the wow! factor of the two previous bottles drank this year....my last bottle and I think it's time to drink these up....a 2004 drank last week was noticeably better.

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• 1998 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Dark crimson colour and totally opaque, which is a bit of a surprise given its age. Nose is distinctively New World assertive fruit...blackberry and raspberry.....still surprisingly fruit-driven and primary. Palate is fresh, refreshing, very well baanced, lots of nice layers of strawberry, raspberry...then some sous-bois, bit of smoke. Nice acidic poise. A really great palate. Finish is quite resonant and persistent....lovely light, chiffonesque fruit.. remniscent of fruit-flavoured mineral water - not dilute, just nicely light. A bit too primary compared to the Louis Jador Beaune 1er Cru Les Bucherottes we drank alongside it but otherwise very similar in lightness of weight.

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• 2001 Louis Jadot Beaune 1er Cru Boucherottes Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Beaune 1er Cru

  Transparent light red colour. Nose is classic lovely woodland strawberries and damp bracken undergrowth.....and a bit pongy in a good way. Palate is fully unfolded and matured, velvety, sumptuous, with a nice understated tannic structure as a contrast......secondary trending into tertiary but with nice acidic freshness, floral, really light but with nice finesse. Not much length but this was lovely on the evening and an interesting contrast to the 1998 Joseph Drouhin Oregon, which was surprisingly more primary.

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• 1996 Serafin Père et Fils Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Baudes 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  Semi-translucent blood red in colour. Nose is very rich deep strawberry and respberry...very rich and dark, refined and fresh. Palate is light, high-toned, high piano notes, bright acidity and well counterpointed by a tannic balance that made me think of the foliage from strawberries. Light on the back end and a touch dilute but nicely refined. No length...but very enjoyable over French cheese and fresh-baked French baguette. I preferred the bottle I had drank a couple of weeks ago, which benefited from more aeration and greater contemplation.

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We couldn't say "no" to more Chez Patrick Deli-sourced cheese so we cracked open another bottle of wine.....

• 2004 Ridge Geyserville 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  Completely opaque purple-tinged red colour with very slight transparency at the rim. Nose is very attractive fresh bramble and briar fruit, cedar planks, some high piano notes of briarberries and blackberry seeds...new rubber inner tubes still with the Franch chalk on them...finished with a nice pepperyness, 100% cocoa chocolate and more high piano notes of black woodland fruit. Complex and harmonious. Palate is fresh, very blackcurrant driven counterpointed beautifully by fresh acidity, warm mellow and well-rounded tannins and a gorgeous rich "white chocolate melted in espresso coffee" finish. There was also some blueberry cheesecake. Considerable power and intensity on the finish with medium-pitch but persistent resonance and reverberence in the finale. The second half of the bottle we drank the next day was even better...92+...so I really recommend a long double-decant overnight. This is a wine of surprisingly elegant freshness and poise which is rare to find in a Zinfandel...it is hard to believe it is 14.9% alcohol.... a tribute to the wine-making skills of the Draper team at Ridge.

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Great food, company, chat and wines.......