At this gathering in Greensboro, NC, the theme was Zinfandels on Saturday and southern Rhones on Sunday. I drove through a real cloudburst from Burlington to Greensboro on Saturday, rain stopped as I checked into my hotel, and then rained hard again as I drove to the private home where we were gathering. I hadn't thought to bring an umbrella, so got my wines out of the passenger side of the car, put a plastic sack over my head and headed up the driveway to the front porch getting pretty wet. I said I was going for the "wet t-shirt look" but it wasn't a thin shirt fortunately. The hosts had covered grills going even in the rain and we had a choice of elk, lamb, boar or beef burgers with toppings, and side dishes such as potato salad and baked beans. Two types of cobbler were put out as dessert.
Some white wines were on offer before we got into the Zinfandels. I recall a Carlisle Gruner Veltliner from old vines in Steiner Vineyard, Sonoma Mountain, and a Chave Hermitage Blanc (1997?). I had a Beaujolais Cru chilling in the refrigerator because I hadn't packed it in ice for the car trip, and got that out before we got into the heavier red wines. The 2009 Pavillon de Chavannes Cote de Brouilly Cuvee des Ambassades was a pretty ruby color with raspberry notes and some pleasant grip on the finish. I thought it was drinking quite well but probably has a few years of life left in it.
Among the array of Zinfandels, the 2000 and 2007 Geyservilles stood out. I also enjoyed my 2007 Joseph Swan Zinfandel Mancini Ranch, Russian River Valley at 14.1% abv. and my 2011 Robert Biale Old Crane Ranch next to a 2011 Robert Biale Monte Rosso furnished by someone else. We also had a Rosenblum Richard Sauret and a Rosenblum Harris Kratka. I hadn't had the Harris Kratka vineyard Zin for several years now and enjoyed that. I believe there was also a Turley wine.
Sunday we had beer can chicken and duck, some of the remaining beans and potato salad and a goat cheese cheesecake on the table. Forgot to say that both days we had an amazing choice of cheeses with French bread, homemade chicken liver pate' and homemade duck liver terrine, and cold cuts, olives, roasted garlic, etc. I especially enjoyed the bleu cheeses. I brought a simple, semi-dry Chenin Blanc Vouvray (Domaine Pichot) but more in keeping with the theme of Rhone wines was a 2012 Guigal Condrieu La Doriane. I rarely get to sample Condrieus and enjoyed this one. Boyce Brannock took some photos of the lineup of Chateauneuf-du-Pape bottles but I didn't take notes. The first one I tried was a very pretty and charming Chateau Rayas, but I don't recall the vintage. Really nice! I sampled Beaucastel from '89 and '90--the '89 was marvelous, the '90 was on the edge for me as far as bretty elements. I believe there was at least one Pegau and two Donjons (I think these were from 2006 and 2007.) I compared the 2006 Donjon with a wine I brought, the 2006 Domaine Pierre & Fils Usseglio Chateauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee de mon Aieul. The Usseglio is primarily from Grenache. I also brought a
2007 Domaine Vieux Telegraphe La Crau, my second bottle opened of six I bought at a charity auction. I also sampled a Domaine de la Janasse. Quite a lineup indeed! While some gathered around the tv to watch the NASCAR race (hence the "Rednecks" in "Rednecks and Red Rhones"), I stayed on the patio most of the time enjoying a beautiful sunny day after a string of hot or rainy days. I didn't head back to Fayetteville until Monday morning.
COL Bob Cuozzi had some funny stories about his Army days but we missed Jim Cowan this year.