2008 Verus Furmint (Slovenia): Delicious crisp and herbal white...reminded me just a little bit of a more herbal New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc? Fantastic fruit and great acidity. Yum. I can see why Decanter listed this as a new find in their November issue!
2003 Veraison Bordeaux Blend-Stagecoach Vineyard, Napa Valley. Anise, bright red fruit, pencil shavings/graphite, a little hot, but quite nice. Can I really taste the red volcanic minerals in the Atlas Peak soils? Probably not...but I convinced myself I do.
2004 Chateau Du Tertre Margaux. Once it opened up, the red fruit came out with some elegance. A lot of soy and earthyness right now, though. I know...infanticide.
2004 William Harrison Cabernet Sauvignon. Somewhat corked, so dulled flavors. Second bottle from this vintage and this winery that I've had corked . Not a good batting percentage.
2003 Diamond Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon (Diamond Mountain District). Not a "famous" producer, but this was a major wow wine for my siblings (and me!) at Christmas dinner. Great tangy acidity, fantastic nose with balanced (i.e., not egregious) oak, nice cassis fruit and a mix of black and red fruit. A very nice cabernet! Only 13.8% abv!
2004 Fontodi Chianti Classico This may be my wine of the month. Pretty much a wow Chianti for me...Awesome acidty went well with the beef tenderloin. Fantastic black cherry fruit. Tobacco and leather notes already appearing. And, above all else, amazing tangyness that I look for in Chianti! Delicious...as good as the Diamond Terrace was (and I did enjoy it), I kept coming back to this wine. Happily, K&L Wines in San Francisco has two cases of the 2006 (no 2004)
2005 Ahnfeldt Cabernet Sauvignon. From a tiny property near Silverado Country Club. This is another nice discovery...an amazing amount of complexity, with great acidity, piercing red and black fruit, minerality, herbal notes, a hint of "French" funk, a lot of earthyness. I loved the 2003...the 2005 was even better. Craig McClain is the winemaker....they use Bin-to-Bottle for production.
2006 Casaeda Syrah Napa Valley. Karen Culler's second label Syrah, and I love this wine. White and black pepper, earth, cherry fruit, a little bit of meat. I enjoyed this more than some of the prestige cabernets that were being poured at the party...and which cost four times the price.