From a dinner with friends last night:
2005 Russell Creek 'Tributary', Columbia Valley (Washington)
Made from a blend that's mostly cab and merlot with occasional dollops of syrah thrown in, this full, ripe wine was soft and ready to drink. Flavors of black cherry fruit with a bit of mint and a lingering cedar plank smokiness, it paired extremely well with Susan's delicious and strongly flavored Asian-style beef stir fry. Much much better than my contribution, which was:
2002 W H Smith Pinot Noir, California
In spite of a better nose, on the palate this wine had a very green, almost savagely herbal quality that became a little less unpleasant with time in the glass but it was hard to say whether or not the fruit opened up more or we just got used to it. Whichever, it never actually went away, and it marred everything that's usually great about California pinot. I'm certain I had another bottle that we liked better than this a few years ago so I'm not sure what happened. It definitely wasn't TCA.