I invited my uncle Dan and aunt Amy to join me for dinner at K&L Bistro in Sebastopol last night. We had a wonderful time - the food was good and I dug out my bottle of Joseph Swan Trenton Estate PN 2003.
If I had another bottle, I'd be happy to keep it another five years!
I got to the restaurant a few minutes early and asked the waiter to open the bottle immediately, which was a good idea. It took the 15 minutes or so before Dan and Amy arrived for the ounce in my glass to open up. Over the next two hours, the evolution was a joy.
I started with pear and endive salad dressed with walnuts, Gorgonzola, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then ordered a mesquite-grilled ribeye steak which was served with French fries and arugula.
The only note I put in my spreadsheet last night was, "Oh, wow!"
Clear ruby color, no lightening at the rim at all. Started out (on opening) with a slight sour-cherry aroma and taste, but after it opened, the sour was gone and the taste was more cherry and raspberry, with a good solid Pinot base. That phase held through the salad, and with the main course I began to get more black fruit, and with the meat I could see the oak if I looked for it. Amy ordered moules mariniere, which she loved, and found the wine a great match. She kept saying how the mussels and wine brought each other out.
I was the only dessert person - I ordered crepes Suzette - and finished the last glass with the crepes and coffee. By then (surely helped by the coffee) the wine had found some black fruit (but not blackberry) in its aroma, and the tannin had become quite firm.
I didn't detect any drying at the end at all.
Best dinner I've had in some time, mostly because of the company, and one of my top ten bottles of wine ever. About as good as, though totally different from, the '86 Foppiano Petite Sirah I had in 2006.
John