I took a bottle of '04 Ridge Geyserville to Bistro des Copains on Saturday and shared it with my cousin Bob and his wife. I had rack of lamb - I knew it was on the menu and sort of picked the wine on purpose. It was exactly as expected, lots of Draper perfume and the rich old-vine field-blend flavor. Ready to drink now, maybe 5 or even 10 more years before it gets old. A couple of guys at the next table who are ITB asked if I'd share some with them and they offered me a bit of their '07 Tempier Cornas. Perhaps I'm prejudiced, but I think the Geyserville won.
Sunday evening I had spaghetti, my own version of Grammy's and Mom's meat sauce. I opened an '07 Yoakim Bridge Zinfandel. (Dry Creek Valley, dry farmed, vines about my age, which makes them before WW2) It was a bit more acidic than I expected - not corked, lots of aroma and a nice brambly and blackberry attack, and not tannic, just a bit of acid in the finish. Tonight I walked to Bistro 29 in downtown Santa Rosa and took a bottle of '96 Foppiono Estate Petite Sirah. Probably the best wine of the three. They had their midweek $29 prix fixe special, and tonight it was a duck leg confit. Once again, I picked the wine knowing what I was going to order. When the waiter opened the wine, it stunk up the place, (excuse me, the delicious aroma of black fruit filled the restaurant) and the person at the bar next to me, who works in a tasting room - I'd met him last weekend and we were a bit surprised to see each other - commented on the aroma. The nose was as heady as the aroma, and the first sip confirmed that I had a quality bottle. The same story - rich, dark fruit, thick smooth texture, very long finish. Tannin was certainly present - it's Petite Sirah after all! - but it was smooth and unobtrusive. I ran through half a bottle almost without noticing it.
Gory details: Geyserville: $32.99 at Cosentino's in San Jose in 7/07. 75% Zin, 18% Carignane, 7% Petite Sirah.
Yoakim Bridge: $36.00 wine club in 3/11. 14.5% alcohol
Foppiano: $33.33 at the winery in 1/12. They were clearing out library wines. 13.5% alcohol
Life is good.
