WTN: Ggrich, Prieurie Lichine and Aida

along with a beautiful Chablis ordered from the 55 Degrees Restaurant Wine List that I did not make note of, and a rich, somewhat heavy white Chateauneuf de Pape that I didn't like as much. This was my first Chablis, and I was pretty well in love!

Entrees included an amazing duck, a delicious venison, steak, roast chicken, and scallops.

Anyway, my wines (my fellow diners bought my dinner, so a good time was had by all ) :

Ggrich Hills Yountville Selection 2002 (Napa County): A lovely wine, wotn for the table but this was drunk way too young. Decanted for two hours-quite a bit of sediment, actually. The nose was just amazing, a combination of Bordeaux complexity (leather, tobacco, herbs) and rich Napa fruit. Maybe a little heat, (14.7% abv) BUT! NO ANNOYING VANILLA OAK!

The palette was nbot quite as developed-this wine has some TANNINS! Still, a lovely combination of red and black fruits, with good acidity. Not as much secondary flavor on the palette as suggested by the nose.

Solid ***, with strong upside potential to ****+??? Biggest negative: this was a major splurge $$$$. Not sure it's four times better than the Charles Krug Yountville Selection-which it reminded me of.

Chateau Prieurie Lichine 1996 Margaux. Third bottle I've had from this producer. Decanted at the restaurant, with no visible sediment. Again, a lovely complex tobacco and leather nose. At first, there wasn't any fruit, but it definitely opened up-odd??? This bottle was more green than the last one sampled in late december-a touch of bell pepper and herbal elements, but not to the point of annoyance. Based on that lovely nose alone, **1/2 or ***/ I will probably buy again, even though I liked the second bottle the best.

Aida 1999 Petit Sirah Saint Helena Last vintage! The grapes have now been torn up and replaced with Cab to produce Vineyard 29 Cult Cab. Dark black color. Decanted for two hours with no visible sediment. Sour cherry and a little bit of tobacco on the nose.

Napa Petit Sirah has a completely different character than the Lodi and foothills Pets I am more familiar with. This wine reminded me a lot of another Saint Helena/Calistoga Pet that a lot of wine shops are pushing right now-the Madrigal;. Definietly a red fruit wine, with sour cherry, raspberry, and a lot of acidity. Not a lot of noticeable tannins, interestingly enough. This wine was not as popular as the other two, but I still found it intellectually interesting. solid **. Probably won't buy again-I actually prefer the roasted black fruit character of Lodi and Foothills Pets.

[David M. Bueker]

Brian,

Thanks for the note on the Prieure Lichine. It's an estate I really like, though the style has changed a bit in recent years towards a more lush, fruity example (though not so far as to be unrecognizable). Parker went through a period of savaging PL, and I just kept on drinking it.

I agree! I do notice some bottle variation, which is interesting. The second bottle was a *** or ***1/2 wine, but I still enjoyed this one.

I hope the new style still tastes French. I had a Cru Borgeois the other month that could have been a California Syrah (no oak, at least)

I am just lucky the local BevMo has been carrying this wine. It's a lot closer than San Francisco!