One has to wonder what James Laube is using for taste buds these days.

After reading last November's Wine Spectator ten-years-after ("TYA") review of the 1993 California Cabs, I sort of got a little worried. I didn't buy a lot of '93s, but the ones I did buy, I bought by the case, and I'd tasted them and thought they were pretty darn good. One or two of them got "respectable" (i.e., 90+) scores in this review. But a lot of them didn't.

This isn't the first time I've noticed that wines heavily hyped by WS when they came out got less than spectacular reviews once they'd had a chance to develop some. You'd think they'd try to cover up this kind of discrepancy, but my suspicion is they just don't credit their readers with long-term memory. Or they rely heavily on turnover.

Anyway, curiosity getting the better of me, I decided to crack a '93 Philip Togni Cab tonight. Laube thought this was a "beef stew" of a cabernet. Well, whatever floats his boat. I love the way Philip Togni makes wine. I'd still be buying by the caseload if he still shipped to Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, wine shipping (in case you hadn't noticed) is going through a little prohibitionary period right now and Pennsylvania (despite its attempts to prove otherwise) is still the Neanderthal of wine markets in this part of the country, so . . .

Anyway, if you have a few of these beauties stashed, sleep well tonight. They might not have totally burst out of their cocoon yet, but they're already providing lots of pleasure. The bottle tonight paired perfectly with a delicious less-than-medium rare grilled buffalo tenderloin. Every sip was a delight, with the exception of the last half ounce, which contained the only evidence of sedimentary pucker. Some unexpected tartaric crystals on the bottom of the cork were a bit puzzling, but without noticable effect. It happens. The wine was about as far from "beef stew" as I can imagine a wine being, with wave after wave of subtle fruit and mineral nuances and a rich, full mouthfeel. California but with a Bordeaux veneer. Classic Togni.

Laube gave this an 88 in his TYA. I'd give it a 94 minimum. But who's counting?

Don't mind me. I just can't seem to keep up. But despair over the Philadelphia Eagles' failure, yet again, to get to the Superbowl, has driven me to the blog. We made up a huge pot of chili to enjoy with the game tonight, and it (the chili) was pretty good, though a little heavy on the hot smoked Spanish paprika (pimentón) (it's marvelous stuff, but it packs a wallop and a little goes a really long way.)

Also poured in a healthy splash of 1994 Cline Zinfandel Reserve, which still packs quite a punch of its own. The rest of the bottle went really well with the chili. Right now I'm a little descriptor-challenged, and the ones that come to mind are football-related and quite impolite. I'll try to make a point of getting back here more often, but I've also resolved to get to the gym more often and so far I'm not doing too well on that score, either. Blaming it on the weather, you see.