A Celebration Amongst Friends

Six of us got together to celebrate the completion of the last milestone in training. The wine room in the basement at Veritable Quandry provided the perfect setting. V, Wags, Pav, Ing, Kurt, Joe were all in attendance. We pulled unique bottles out of our cellars to share.

• 2001 Schramsberg Vineyards Reserve 90 Points

  USA, California, North Coast

  Golden yellow color. Nose was a little yeasty, almond, toasty, baked green apple. Tiny bubbles. Palate showed nice acidity, crisp, clean toasty almond flavors. Medium + finish.

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• 1994 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  From magnum. Beautiful nose of must, barnyard, forest, red berry, plum. Palate showed less fruit - had leather, funky mushroom, astringency. Finish was short. Did not improve with air. The next day, it was gone. A 1995 Laurene consumed previously smoked this.

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• 2006 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Westside Road Neighbors 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Darker color. Medium toned red fruit nose, roses, flowers, baking spices, mom's cookie dough. Palate was big, mouth-coating and had a bit of viscosity. Mild acidity (for a Selyem) Medium red cherries, wavy touch of tolerable candied elements, some cola/brown sugar, very light grippy tannin. Beautiful balance. 60 second finish. Excellent. This is in a sweet spot and will probably evolve favorably for a few years, but its great now.

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• 2007 Vista Hills Vineyard Pinot Noir Tusculum Estate 86 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

  The nose was slightly stemmy and medium toned red fruit. The palate lacked the beautiful finesse and acidity that the 07 vintage is now being lauded for. There was too much cola and flabby candied character to this wine. The wine finished abruptly hot. What acidity there was, was out of balance with tannin and alcohol. Hopefully, this is in a transition phase... I'll wait a year before the next.

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• 1992 Grace Family Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  Youthful dark red appearance not representative of its age. Only slight bricking and small meniscus. This wine had an astounding complex nose to me. Light skinned fruit, pumpkins, melon, a little bing cherry, flowers, maple syrup, subtle tobacco, leather, cedar. This was one of those that stops you in your tracks. (others found it less remarkable and even stemmy - they're wrong..haha). Alas, the flavors were less then the nose and the classic old napa cab fruit was surprisingly present, and had a fresh quality to it. There was a hollow-ness to the midpalate as well. Tannins were still present. Shorter finish. For me, the nose was 98 points. The wine 93+.

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• 1997 Quintessa 92 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  This wine was tight and its nose a bit unyielding. The wine was reticent and benefited from decanting. The fruit was somewhat restrained. Great flavors of cassis, leather, tobacco, cedar, and mint. An atom or two of green-ness. The tannins were nice and mature. The finish was short. This bottle seemed younger then other 1997s. Excellent wine, but for the bottle cost??

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• 1999 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

  Not much to add regarding flavor profile. This benefited from lots of air. Nice aged Napa cab with firm - yet not unpleasant tannin. Has the stuffing to last awhile. Excellent wine

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• 2000 Niebaum-Coppola Rubicon 88 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  This was a little tired. Fading fruit. Medium tannin. A bit of heat. Shortish finish. Hopefully my next bottle is fresher.

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• 2001 Andrew Hardy Shiraz Ox 95 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  This nose on this wine was dark fruit, flowers, quik chocolate, a little leather, sandalwood, mint. The restrained fruit was beautiful on the palate with waves and undulations of a myriad of subtleties. The finsih was 90+ seconds and had tons of flavors including a nice light mint. Wine is in perfect balance. This is a youthful sophisticated shiraz with old world complexity. Phenomenal wine.

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The 1994 Domaine Drouhin magnum was a gift from a patient - the perfect time to enjoy, albeit past prime. The 2001 Andrew Hardy Ox was the clear WOTN. Despite an admittedly weak midpalate, the Grace had the most amazing nose I've ever encountered in a wine. It stops you in your tracks. The 2000 Rubicon was a little tired. The Quintessa showed surprisingly young and benefitted from a decant.

Having utilized several different private room venues in Portland, the group's consensus was that VQ had the best combination of ambiance, intimacy, excellent and personable service, and quite good food. While better food is certainly elsewhere in this town, the entrees were impeccable, especially the osso buco and the opah. A memorable night, thanks to everyone for making this special.