Had some friends over for "cowboy steak" on Tuesday night. A spaghetti western take on the classic bisteca florentine, this involved thick rib eyes dredged in a third/third/third blend of sugar, kosher salt and finely ground coffee, sliced off the bone and arrayed over a pile of arugula seasoned with squeezed lemon juice, olive oil and maldon salt then topped with a slather of pickled red onions. Everybody bought wine. Drunk before dinner, with dinner and later around the fire pit:
2015 Two Vintners Syrah Columbia Valley
Mine. For my tastes, very primary and in need of more cellaring. Hold for 2021.
2013 Portteus Petit Verdot Rattlesnake Hills
Marc's. Missing the sharp blue fruit and spice of a recent release, but it has evolved into a elegant red wine you'd never guess cost as little as it did. Amazing value.
2017 Structure Cellars Cabernet Franc Horse Heaven Hills
Another superb cab franc from my favorite minimalist Washington winery.
2017 Navarro Vineyards Pinot Noir Rosé of Pinot Noir Anderson Valley
Here's my Navarro program: buy 1 case of the pinot noir rose, put it away for next summer. Then drink last summer's. It needs a year to settle down and evolve, always worth the wait.
2018 Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough
Zesty but not tropical or OTT fruity, not ripe just vivid with precise acidity. Best vintage since 2014 IMO.
2012 DeLille Cellars D2 Columbia Valley Red Bordeaux Blend
Layne's. A perennial great value in my state. Nicely evolved with velvet tannins, low acidity and spicy blue and black fruit. Very pleasant and probably at peak drinking over the next two-three years.
2013 Township 7 Cabernet Sauvignon Blue Terrace Okanagan Valley
Layne's. Almost feel stupid saying a red wine can be too dry, but this one's unpleasantly dry. Not just savory, but lacking the fruit that should be there in a young new world cabernet from a good vintage.
2015 Trinity Hill Syrah Gimblett Gravels
Mine. Another CT reviewer nailed it with: "Green pepper, steak, juniper, red and black berries, coffee bean. Juicy yet cool. Needs time."
2014 Tinhorn Creek Syrah Oldfield Reserve Okanagan Valley VQA
Mine. Big blackberry and black cherry fruit, peppery, spicy, lots of elegance and attitude. Loved it, but I wish I'd waited a few more years.
2014 Hightower Cellars Reserve Red Mountain Red Bordeaux Blend
Margot's. Medium plus body with restrained red and dark fruits, loam and tobacco leaf--more savoriness and sophistication than I typically associate with this label. Very good.
1998 Château Prieuré-Lichine Margaux Red Bordeaux Blend
Mine. From magnum. Overdelivered compared to expectations based on recent 750's others have described on CT, thankfully. Nicely mature fruit with those "autumn forest" notes Zweder described, it drank fine on first pour and got more leathery when decanted. No sediment.