Château Gloria 2000 St.-Julien. Last of three bottles. Slightly balsamic nose but with some iodine and flowers, rough tannins outstripping the fruit; midway through the first glass, a faint but distressing note of TCA emerges, so we abandon the bottle; the next day, the TCA seems to be gone but the rest of the wine has collapsed, so down the drain it goes. Oh well.
Frog's Leap 2005 Rutherford. 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Cab Franc. Still young; bright, ripe red and black fruit; rich and energetic. Not an extraordinarily distinctive wine, but a very satisfying one, and a fine replacement for the Gloria.
Raymond Usseglio 2004 Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe Blanc. 100% Roussane. Musk melon, spice, white pepper. Very tasty, but as Andrea says, this has enough honeyed and spice notes on the nose and the attack to make you think it's going to be much richer on the midpalate than it is; in fact, it doesn't have quite the body to hold up to its alcohol (14%), and while the heat is barely perceptible now, I think we'll drink up our other bottle sooner rather than later.