Merlot. Isn't is almost a cliché these days? At least the California varietal type, I mean. Well, there still are some superlative examples out there, and one of them has been made for many years by Arrowood. I drank my last bottle of the '90 Saturday, and it was mellow, balanced and beautiful. This isn't a wine I buy every year because, frankly, it isn't a wine I can find every year. But I do look out for it and it does reward.

(Oh, and remember what I was saying about boycotting French wines being bullshit? I changed my mind. Buy California! Or Spain! Or even Italy! But what I already have in my cellar, I'm drinking, dammit. Not pouring down the drain. That stupid, I'm not. So....)

In the 1990 mode, we also opened a bottle of the Pichon Baron. Oooo, la la! Still drowsy and not quite integrated, this was a killer bottle that probably would have been more fun to drink by itself than with a hunk of buffalo tenderloin. I frankly don't know what possessed me to open a bottle of Bordeaux with buffalo to begin with. While the Arrowood was a beautiful match, this one sort of strutted around insisting it was important and refusing to play its part in the ensemble. To its credit, however, it maintained this position throughout the meal and refused to surrender.

Ok, ok, enough of that already. It's true, though. The Pichon shows every indication of greatness and is lovely (even if a bit closed) today, but still has a way to go. Something to look forward to.