New Year's Eve
Sorry to have been away for a while - that happens during the busy Holiday Season. Now, I am back.
New Year's Eve was very enjoyable. We spent it with our good friends (how do I know they are good friends - more on that later). We ordered in Portillo's Italian Beef Sandwiches with salads and some pasta for the kids. Of course, we had great wines as well. Interestingly, we never did get to open any sparkling wine - guess we didn't need it with the quality still wines we were drinking.
My oldest daughter was sleeping at some friends that night. If you have read some of my previous posts, you will know that she is a freshman in high school. Well, she and a friend decided to ask some boys to Turnabout that evening just after midnight. They can't drive and the other girl's parents were hosting a party. So, we get the call. Of course, I wanted to drive her and see what was going on, but she was having none of it - it was my wife ONLY. Our friends were curious as to why we were called, since we had people over as well. We are apparently good enough friends with them, that my daughter felt comfortable stating that it didn't matter. And they felt that we were good enough friends that they could tease her just like I was - maybe that is why I was dismissed by her.
Anyway, back to the wine. How do I know they are good friends? Bryan decided to share a bottle of Shafer Hillside Select 2000 with us that evening. We have some earlier vintages available for around $300/bottle. I guess whether this wine is worth the price is a matter of economics. I will say this - I closed the decade with the best wine I had sampled in the decade. The wine had very deep coloring. It tasted and nosed of back fruits - notably blackberry. The tannins are subtle in this wine - the wine is not as weighty as some big cabs. However, it was a perfect harmony of flavors that lasted and lasted and lasted. This even paired well with the Italian beef!!! If you can afford these prices, there is not much better. Thanks again Bryan. As for current vintages, we get roughly 6 bottles that are usually immediately spoken for - if you want to get on a list should more become available, let us know.
The second wine we opened was a 2000 Conn Creek Anthology. Located in the heart of Napa on the Silverado Trail, this winery, which opened in 1973, specializes in Bordeaux varietals. The Anthology is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. This is a much bigger wine than the Shafer. It has Cherry, Blackberry and plum notes, and a full mouth feel. The tannins are much more prevalent. Overall, a very good wine, though hard to compare with what I had been drinking earlier. And, it would have paired better with a hearty steak than the Italian Beef. However, I would have no problem recommending it at its $55 or so price. I even had a little left in the bottle which I drank the following evening though I did not re-cork it. It still tasted excellent even after being open for 18 hours.
One more interesting fact about the Shafer - we still have some old newsletters we put out in the late 1980s. The mid-1980s vintages of Shafer Hillside were selling for under $20/bottle and we used to stack cases of it - hard to believe how far they have come and how much more difficult to acquire. Shafer does make some other wines that you might want to try like their Relentless Syrah, which we usually stock.
And as for my daughter....though I could not witness the asking, she now has a date for Turnabout - I wish she were 5 again!!!
Hope all of you had a wonderful New Year's celebration and wishing all of you health and happiness in 2010!!!
New Year's Eve was very enjoyable. We spent it with our good friends (how do I know they are good friends - more on that later). We ordered in Portillo's Italian Beef Sandwiches with salads and some pasta for the kids. Of course, we had great wines as well. Interestingly, we never did get to open any sparkling wine - guess we didn't need it with the quality still wines we were drinking.
My oldest daughter was sleeping at some friends that night. If you have read some of my previous posts, you will know that she is a freshman in high school. Well, she and a friend decided to ask some boys to Turnabout that evening just after midnight. They can't drive and the other girl's parents were hosting a party. So, we get the call. Of course, I wanted to drive her and see what was going on, but she was having none of it - it was my wife ONLY. Our friends were curious as to why we were called, since we had people over as well. We are apparently good enough friends with them, that my daughter felt comfortable stating that it didn't matter. And they felt that we were good enough friends that they could tease her just like I was - maybe that is why I was dismissed by her.
Anyway, back to the wine. How do I know they are good friends? Bryan decided to share a bottle of Shafer Hillside Select 2000 with us that evening. We have some earlier vintages available for around $300/bottle. I guess whether this wine is worth the price is a matter of economics. I will say this - I closed the decade with the best wine I had sampled in the decade. The wine had very deep coloring. It tasted and nosed of back fruits - notably blackberry. The tannins are subtle in this wine - the wine is not as weighty as some big cabs. However, it was a perfect harmony of flavors that lasted and lasted and lasted. This even paired well with the Italian beef!!! If you can afford these prices, there is not much better. Thanks again Bryan. As for current vintages, we get roughly 6 bottles that are usually immediately spoken for - if you want to get on a list should more become available, let us know.
The second wine we opened was a 2000 Conn Creek Anthology. Located in the heart of Napa on the Silverado Trail, this winery, which opened in 1973, specializes in Bordeaux varietals. The Anthology is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. This is a much bigger wine than the Shafer. It has Cherry, Blackberry and plum notes, and a full mouth feel. The tannins are much more prevalent. Overall, a very good wine, though hard to compare with what I had been drinking earlier. And, it would have paired better with a hearty steak than the Italian Beef. However, I would have no problem recommending it at its $55 or so price. I even had a little left in the bottle which I drank the following evening though I did not re-cork it. It still tasted excellent even after being open for 18 hours.
One more interesting fact about the Shafer - we still have some old newsletters we put out in the late 1980s. The mid-1980s vintages of Shafer Hillside were selling for under $20/bottle and we used to stack cases of it - hard to believe how far they have come and how much more difficult to acquire. Shafer does make some other wines that you might want to try like their Relentless Syrah, which we usually stock.
And as for my daughter....though I could not witness the asking, she now has a date for Turnabout - I wish she were 5 again!!!
Hope all of you had a wonderful New Year's celebration and wishing all of you health and happiness in 2010!!!
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