With fantastic beef stew!
Marcel Lapierre Les Raisins Gauloises XI: fantastic light, simple, and utterly delicious slurper wine. Savory, but with good Gamay fruit and just a touch of funk. 88 points
2007 Hopper Creek Petit Sirah From a vineyard source in Pope Valley. Delicious pet blueberry fruit, but with plenty of freshness due to the acidity. Nice savory core. Hoppe Creek remains one of my favorite under the radar, rustic, low key wineries...the antithesis of the glitzy tourist-oriented megawinery. Friendly people who have been there a long time. Great wine! 92 points
2009 Alexander Valley Reserve Cabernet I love Cyrus, their Bordeaux blend, but for $20 less, the Reserve Cabernet from their Alexander Valley estate vineyard is mighty fine. This is still a little tannic and primary, but it has that wonderful tangyness and savory, bell pepper core that I find in all their younger wines. 13.8% a.b.v....I don't think they picked the grapes in November! One friend found this a little too green, and I can see why, but I tend to like greener Cabernets. In five years, the oak will have integrated nicely and the fruit may be more balanced, but I had no problem at all drinking this tonight! 90, with strong upside potential. The 2008 is already showing amazingly well at the winery!