Glenn and his girlfriend Lisa were in town, so a few locals met at Afghan Kebab on a steamy Thursday (actually a thunderstorm cooled things off as we were dining, good timing). Nice to see Glenn after years, to see Ramon and Brent, and to meet Mike and Lisa. The grilled meats at AKH were a nice complement to the Syrah theme, though I thought the bulanee weren't as good as I remembered.
Fun night, with lots of good wines, though nothing truly wowwed me. I did not take notes at table, just a couple reminders, these were based on memory while on train home.
2010 Chateau Riotor (Cotes de Provence)
Pretty pale pink rosé, crisp, berry fruit with a nice hint of herb. Quite enjoyable. B
2007 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Kabinett Riesling
A bit mute at first, opens up, limeade and citrus zest, good acids, good with so-so pumpkin bulanee. A glass on train was lovely. A-/B+
2004 Gerin "La Loye" Condrieu
Floral without being overly exotic, balanced, I'm not a big Condrieu fan but liked this. B/B+
There was also a Languedoc rousanne dominated wine that I found interesting- a bit oily, floral, not too fat. I liked more than I would have expected. I neglected to write down name. Mike said it came from Grapes, but I didn't see it this AM looking at site (Posner has a much better store than website). B/B-
2005 Havens "Hudson" Syrah
Initial attack had very high acids. A little time in glass seemed to calm that down a bit. Nice restrained fruit, a hint of funk, quite nice once it settled. B
2000 Edmunds St. John "Wylie Fenaughty" Syrah
I should have brought an AhSo, cork was like sawdust, eventually just pushed through and dealt with the floaties. Dark fruits, herb, meat, but finishes quite short. Not my fave ESJ by far (if a representative bottle). B-/B
1998 Chapoutier "La Sizeranne" Hermitage
Nice northern Rhone flavors of tar and meat over the black fruits, a little vanilla, I thought a bit lacking in heft for Hermitage. B-/B
1997 Delas "Les Bessards" Hermitage
More weight than the Chapoutier, soft acids, ripe dark fruit, herb. B
2004 Clape Cornas
My red of the night. Blackberry, spice, bacon. Dense but not heavy. B+
Fun night, thanks to all
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.