Oh, the weekend already..any wine plans?!!

Think I will open the `00 Crasto Reserva from Portugal and maybe a Petaluma Riesling. I was contemplating my Mt Riley Sparkling SB but will wait till next month.

Apart from the Bin 28s I already posted on last night, I'll be opening some undecided, cheap and juicy wine today to use mostly in a pot of beef I'll be simmering for hours, but which I'll drink a glass of also. I think a Nögne Ö IPA is in order also. Maybe I'll open up something nice also if I get social and invite someone over.

So in other words, no plans as of yet!

My expected dinner guest has just gotten called into work, so no idea what I'll be doing now.

I will be bottling my'05 Cab Franc and Vidal and probably drinking the dregs.
But if I feel ambitious and cook a chicken dinner tomorrow, I may open a Chard.

I've been invited to a private portfolio tasting tomorrow for one of the wine reps in town. I haven't been to any of these particular tastings before but there are 21 wines including some Barolos and Oregon Pinots, along with some good food, I'm told.

After that it's the Grey Cup - which means beer.

It was in the mid sixties today, sunny, and the fall colors are still gorgeous, so I loaded up my bicycle and went to the lower part of Napa County. Tried a Dutch winery with a very interesting "Late Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon" and a smooth, rich, delicious Petit Syrah (sic: his spelling), Hagafen (meh. Very nice people, nice place, but not my flavor profile/style of wines, frankly), and a big surprise-Signorello (boy, that hillside is quite a climb when you are, shall we say, too plump to be a good cycling hill climber). Lovely place, very nice and fairly priced wines. I'll go back.

Think I will open the `00 Crasto Reserva from Portugal and maybe a Petaluma Riesling. I was contemplating my Mt Riley Sparkling SB but will wait till next month.

Always nice to report back on how things turn out! Only one glass last night but this is a cracker!! Portugal is WOTM over on Netscape and this is tops. Notes coming soon.

Well, the weekend ain't over yet, but I've tried three so far:

'03? or '04? Round Hill California Merlot out of plastic cup at the Club Fugazi caberet. It was red and wet.

'03 Goosecross Cellars Napa Valley Merlot. This bottle had been open for at least ten days (stoppered with one of them there plastic topped corks you find on a bottle of brandy) and Zari had been sipping from it while I was in Dallas. When she drug it out of the cabinet last night I had my doubts. Boy, was I ever surprised! It had not browned at all, had this deep, deep cherry aroma, and the slightly spicy, clove-like flavors I had experienced when I had originally opened the bottle were still there. I did detect a hint of oxidation, but it enhanced the wine.

'03 Edmunds St. John Rocks and Gravel. I got this bottle of '03 when I picked up my '04 and couldn't find a fourth bottle of '04. I tried this twice, once on Friday night and then 24 hours later on Saturday evening. It was a very pleasant wine whose first impression in the mouth was that of sweet berry fruit. It was finely structured with tannins which did hit you over the head. Although quite enjoyable alone, something off the grill to keep it company might have heightened the experience

Friday nite was zip due to high school football game.

But Saturday we revisited Cumin, the site of one of our better offlines, for dinner before a show. Two nice wines, a L'Ecole 41 Semillon and a Bethel Heights PN, were consumed by 5 of us with a very tasty Indian dinner.

Today, I am smoking about 14# of pork shoulder but not for dinner. Wine will be determined after we figure out what the main course will be.