Last night I went to a potluck bringing together parents from my daughter’s class, most of whom I had never met. Perhaps I am not alone at cringing, slightly, at the prospect of this sort of thing, but it was great fun, in an ample, comfortable, and tastefully decorated Soho loft, with gracious hosts and animated conversation. Certainly the best of these I've ever attended.
The wines were, of course, all over the place, and even included a magnum of Yellowtail shiraz bottled under crown cap. For the sake of sanity, I limited myself to three:
2008 Gougenheim Malbec Tupungato Mendoza 13.5%
Favorable reports from Jenise and others on this board had made me curious about this wine but it let me down. A textbook example of super-ripe Argentine Malbec fruit bomb. My pendulum has swung too far away from this and I had to toss.
2007 Herdade das Anforas Monte das Anforas Alentejo 13.0%
No surprise here, since I brought this one. Wines from the Alentejo are perennially good party wines, and this was no exception. Fruit was simple, but the acid/sweet balance is correct, and it goes well both with food and as a sipper. Unexceptional, but good QPR.
2002 La Serenissima Cabernet Sauvignon John Tiso Family Vineyard San Diego County 12.5%
I am writing these cursory notes from memory just to call your attention to this, the surprise of the evening. While searching for some Alentejo, our attentive hostess, no doubt noticing the word GEEK emblazoned on my forehead, asked me to tell her what I thought of this Cali cab, made by a friend. I looked at the label and thought, hmmm, promising, a Cali cab with 12.5%, some bottle age, and named after my favorite city. Rich aromas (prunes, blackberries, cedar) jumped out of the glass, followed by good mouth weight, mature and pleasant tannins, good acid/sweet balance, well-integrated new (this was, I believe, their second vintage) oak, alcohol just right, expressive and restrained at the same time. Tastes like grapes picked at optimal maturity, thankfully without trace of surmaturité. Beautiful. I don’t drink much American wine (other than ESJ) but this is the sort of winemaking that can change that. The site http://www.laserenissimavineyard.com says they don’t use fertilizers, bottle without filtration, and make a cab franc that must be interesting too, if made with similar restraint.