Dinner w/ Boyce Et Al
No..."Et Al" doesn't mean that Boyce et everything in sight. It is lawyer-speak for "...and all the
rest of this motley crew".
We meet up at IlCortile, a new Paso Italian restaurant. Joining us are Boyce's family, wife Deneen and
daughter Phoebe; John&Kimberly Cabot; ToddFrench/Berserkers; PaulDavid/WinePairings/Denver; and BryanKane/
VIE&SolRougeWnry.
Phoebe was quite excited by the prospect of having dinner w/ a real-live physicist. Had I known that
ahead of time, I would have worn my vinyl pocket protector and strapped onto my belt my (Post) slide rule,
so's I could have dazzled her w/ my blindingly-fast skills using the LL3 scale. She was probably expecting
some sort of dweebish guy in horn-rimmed glasses. But I think I probably convinced her that physicists can
be suave/debonair/charming/witty and stunningly handsome. I sent her home w/ the schematic to the W85 and
explanations on how it operates. Once she rounds up some SNMCat3, she'll have a pretty nifty science fair
project for next year...one that could take out all of Charlottesville....with a fallout cloud that
should even reach Richmond downwind.
Among the many wines we tried were:
1. Quenard Chignin-Bergeron LesTerrasses 2008: This is 100% old-vine Roussanne grown on high terraces in
the Savoie. Light gold color; very pretty/perfumed appley/minerally/spicy slight earthy nose; soft appley/
minerally/floral slight earthy/chalky quite perfumed flavor; med.long appley/minerally/chalky bit floral/
perfumed finish; not obviously Roussanne in character but a very pretty/lovely wine.
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2. Alban Roussanne EdnaVlly AlbanEstate (13.6%) 1999: Med.dark gold color w/ some cloudy; rather hazelnutty/
roasted hazelnuts/pungent ozone/diesel fuel slight floral/honeysuckle complex nose; tart very rich/lush
hazelnutty/nutty/smokey/pencilly/oak pungent valve oil/diesel complex flavor; long complex toasted
hazelnutty/pungent/diesel lush/rich some floral/honeysuckle finish; still surprisingly fresh w/ that
toasted hazelnut character that old Roussanne takes on; not as oxidized/hazelnutty as I would have
expected; should go out another 5 yrs perhaps.
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3. Horton Syrah Virginia 1998: Rather murkey/cloudy slight browning/bricking color; rather earthy/dusty
pencilly/toasty/oak some oxidized tired old red nose; soft fairly oxidized/pencilly/cedary quite earthy/
dusty flavor; pretty tired & over the hill w/ little fruit remaining; at one time this was quite a lovely
slightly Rhonish/earthy Syrah, but has not stood the test of time.
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4. Adelsheim Syrah CalkinsLaneVnyd/Willamette (14.2%) 2006: Very dark color; rather strong toasty/charred/oak
some blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah slighht peppery/cold-climate rather spicy/smokey/pungent nose; tart
fairly rich strong toasty/charred/oak some blackberry/cola/Syrah slight peppery/cold-climate flavor;
med.long strong toasty/charred/smokey/oak light pungent/blackberry/Syrah/peppery finish w/ modest tannins;
Tastes like a Syrah made by a Burgundy-producer; not nearly as good as the Cristom and only a slight
peppery/cold-climate character; interesting but just that.
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5. Baumard LeVert de l'Or Specialite Vin Blanc Doux NV (L2001): Because of its similarity to Chenin, back
in the early 1900's, the French brought in some Verdelho from Portugal. Though the vine is now totally
illegal in the Loire; Baumard still has a small block of it located in the centre of his StCatherine
vnyd in Coteaux de Layon. The name is a play on the word Verdehlo. Med.dark gold slightly cloudy color;
very strong grapey/fruit cocktail/canned peaches slight botrytis somewhat complex nose; fairly sweet
(Auslese level) strong grapey/canned peaches soft bit complex flavor; very long fairly sweet very intense
grapey/canned peaches finish; more like a passito wine than a botrytis wine; much more grapey and less
lively than the Baumard CheninBlanc/botrytis wine; interesting but just that; will hold on for another
10 yrs or more but not going to get much interesting I suspect.
Tom
