Well....he is kinda short...but boring??? NoWay!!.
Tried this at lunch last Thurs w/ John:
1. Santino AmadorCnty Zinfandel DryBerrySelect WhiteHarvest (7.1%; TotallyBotrytisAffected/TBA; Hrvstd: 10/15/85; TA: !.8 gm/100ml; pH:3.4; RS: 31.5%; Winemaker: ScottHarvey) 1985: Very dark murky brown color w/ suspended sediment; very intense raisened/pruney/caramel/creme brulee slight botrytis/peachy complex nose like a great/old PedroXimenez; very tart very sweet very intense raisened/pruney complex flavor; very intense PX-like/raisened/pruney slight botrytis/peach syrup/apricotty very sweet very complex finish that goes on & on; very much like a 30-40 yr old PedroXimenez or old Erbaluce de Caluso passito; in amazingly good shape and going strong.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I first met JohnLahart out here in CyberSpace probably back on the early WineSpectator board. He & I both moved on to less "children scrapping in the sandbox" venues. Then he sorta vanished from sight on wine boards in CyberSpace for a number of yrs. Some 1-2 yrs ago, he magically resurfaced on eBob and has been a fairly regular contributor since then.
John always struck me as a guy I'd like to sit down and share a glass of wine with someday, over the yrs. I've found his posts always well-reasoned, thought-provoking, and civil. He has a way of thoughtfully summarizing a (usually controversial) thread in a way that makes you think. Don't always agree w/ his viewpoint...but it makes me think and often take a different view on the issue.
So...when I was planning my recent trip back to NYC/Seacaucus...I suggested to John we get together for lunch...which we did last Thurs in Rutherford at Park&Orchard restaurant. I asked the front lady, when I showed up, if it was legal in NJ to bring your own wine into a restaurant (it is). She was pretty adamant that it was not a good idea since they had such a good wine list. When I told her it was a White Zin...she really started fussing at me. But I persisted and when she saw it was not a SutterHome WhiteZin....she relented.
We had a very relaxed lunch and wide-ranging discussion. A good day all-round.
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2. This wine was one of ScottHarvey's first wines at Santino (later Renwood). Scott spent a yr in Germany has a high-school exchange student w/ a wine-making family...where he developed a fondness for Riesling and dessert wines. The grapes were harvested at a (then-) record sugar level for Calif. Botrytis is rare in AmadorCnty because of the low-humidity, but he did get some botrytis in '85. The wine was in amazingly good shape and developing some complexity. Not at all like a German TBA, but more like a PedroXiminez than anything. At a TA of 1.8, that's a screaming high acidity. But it balances the high RS very well and is probably what kept the wine in such good shape. Amazing stuff.
Tom