James Roscoe suggested that I post here as well as in the offline forum.
Sunday evening before Labor Day we had nine people--James Roscoe and Jeannette, Renee, Jon Peterson and Elizabeth, K Story, myself and two of my long-time friends, Sallie who lives in MD suburban area of DC and Connie who lives near Annapolis (Sallie came along for the dinner but wasn't having any wine.)
James ordered a white wine off the restaurant list--2005 INAMA SOAVE CLASSICO. 12.5% alcohol. Medium straw color with clarity and transparency. Quite food friendly with the crepes I had as an appetizer. (The food was excellent by the way judging from my chicken/artichoke/roasted tomato crepes and pappardella with boar meat.)
I ordered a red off the restaurant list--2004 CIACCI PICCOLOMINI D'ARAGONA (SANGIOVESE) ROSSI DI MONTALCINO. My friend Connie and others kicked in for the bottle. I was not familiar with the Rossi di Montalcino but love the Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona "Ateo" (meaning atheist because it is a nontraditional blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot). Now the producer has dropped the "Ateo" label and labels it as a red from Sant'Antimo. I figured the Rossi di Montalcino would be good as well and it was even better than expected.
Dark ruby color; semi-transparent. Pretty color and heady fragrance. Bright cherry nose with subtle herbs. It had some viscosity and formed legs on the glass. Slightly drying on the palate with dark cherries. A delicate, light-to-medium bodied fruity wine.
The Rossi di Montalcino and the Petersons' contribution of a French wine were generally considered the red wines of the night (although the Chilean Carmenere was also quite appreciated and good QPR.)
Jon Peterson brought the 2001 GAUBY LE SOULA VIN DE PAYS DES COTEAUX LES FENOUILLADES. 14% alcohol with what I would describe as cherry/berry flavors and a nice nose. Jon said some on Cellar Tracker have been stating that their bottles of this were over-the-hill but that was not the case with the bottle we enjoyed at Dino's. Jon later looked up some information on the region in France--it is a bit north of the Spanish border apparently. A blend of grapes--more info on the offline forum under JC in DC.
Renee brought a 2004 ARMADOR CARMENERE, VALLE DEL MAULE, CHILE.
Dark garnet color with semi-transparency. Pleasant fruit taste--smooth and balanced. There was enough interest around the table to prompt Renee to call the person who purchased the bottle to find out the cost. At $14.99 it was good QPR and quite enjoyable. Maybe only my second wine from Chile.
K Story brought a Chianti Classico rather than a mature Gewurztraminer since I thought we would need some Italian wines to go with the food. The 2003 PODERE IL PALAZZINO LA PIEVE CHIANTI CLASSICO improved with airing. It was listed at 14% alcohol. Slightly sour nose and sour cherries on the palate. Pale to medium ruby color with semi-transparency. I thought it mellowed by the second time I tried it, losing some of the tartness.
I contributed a 2003 'R' (Runquist as in Jeff Runquist the producer) PETITE SIRAH which I like but I was in the minority on this one. Running at 14.5% alcohol it is a big wine from very ripe grapes from Salmon Vineyard, Clarksburg, CA. Dark crimson color, mostly opaque. Sweet tasting and not really well matched to the Italian dishes. Leggy and viscous on the glass. Very ripe dark fruit flavors. "Blueberry" was one comment and I don't really like blueberry in Pinot Noir so I probably shouldn't like it in Petite Sirah either. I got more blackberry or dark cherries and I think it was James (or was it John) who said it was at least a distinctive wine. Another forum contributor has said that there seem to be two styles of Petite Sirah in California--some quite tannic and needing a lot of aging and others (such as this one) made from ripe grapes with more hang time and not needing the cellaring. This cost under $30 at Dean and Deluca in Charlotte.
I may have made up for the red with a half bottle of dessert wine--2005 WILLIAMS SELYEM LATE HARVEST GEWURZTRAMINER. From Vista Verde Vineyard, San Benito County (which is near Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties but generally a hotter climate.) Label reveals 10.3% alchol, 13% residual sugar, harvested at Brix of 30.4. My notes mention honeyed, spicy, almost a Sauternes nose. I don't have much experience with Vendange Tardive from Alsace but this did remind me somewhat of a Trimbach Gewurztraminer Cuvee Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre which I had once.
We managed to find things in common around the table from shared church denominations to associations with American University, etc. K Story told us about the wine and meals at a farm in Italy and we shared other travel experiences. A great evening and it didn't require any 20- to 30-year-old wines to make it special. James, thanks again for getting it together and us together.
Connie says thanks for getting her out for an evening of fun (she's busy taking classes at American University and teaching marketing so likes to get away from textbooks occasionally.)
P.S. If there were nine bottles I'm leaving out two but I don't recall any others.