Oh, my! Now I'm ordinarily an instant gratification sort of person. But the thing is, I don't much care for headaches or hangovers and young tannic red wines tend to give me both. Which is why I generally just stick (red) stuff in the cellar for a decade or so before even trying it. And so it was when I came across a few bottles of 1994 La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet Franc several years ago. I stuck it in a rack and forgot about it. Until tonight.

Tonight we were having a grilled eland chop for dinner (eland is an African antilope and if you want to know more about it, just plug it into your search engine or, ok, here's a link). Anyway, I was looking for something that was dramatic but soft enough to go with this very elegant meat. And for some reason I thought of a Chinon or a Bourgeuil from the Loire Valley. Unfortunately, I'm fresh out of those (big mistake) but there was the La Jota sitting quietly in its rack, waiting. Why not?

I don't pretend to know a lot about Cab Franc. I just don't get many opportunities to drink it in its pure state. I understand it's supposed to have violets on the nose. Well, violets on the nose is one of my favorite things and this didn't have it, at least not at first, but what it did have was a wonderful seductive nose and palate that suggested exotic forests and nuts and berries and earth. And in the background, yes, forest flowers. It was a great match for the eland, bringing out the most primitive yet positive of its gamey notes and hinting at highlights of the diet the animal might have consumed. For a vegetarian, that probably sounds pretty gross. For a game meat lover, it's kind of the essence of what we seek in a meal.

This wine was just delightful if you like them a bit earthy. It had a huge, rich but subtle mouthfeel and, surprisingly, it threw almost no sediment and was delicious down to the last drop. And, yes, toward the bottom I did start to think of violets. I don't have a lot of these and I frankly don't know which direction they're headed in right now, but I doubt I've got the willpower to resist my last few bottles very long.

So this blog has a new look. Hey, there are still some kinks to get out, but it's way overdue.

As long as I'm here, I might as well mention that we popped a 1995 Sauselito Canyon Zinfandel with a few braised beef short ribs tonight. This is a wine that I went nuts over when I tasted it on release at the Talley Vineyards tasting room, but the case I ordered when I got home never quite hit the mark. I've got one left. Not bad but nothing special. And I doubt that there's anyone else on the planet that still has any sitting around.

So get this. Last night I find a bottle of 1990 Chateau Souverain Zinfandel in the rack. That's got to be bad, I think. Why ever did I hang on to it so long? No way will it be drinkable. Right?

Wrong. While I won't say it was the best bottle of zin I've ever had, it had an amazing amount of fairly fresh fruit and was still an incredibly vibrant shade of red for a sixteen year old $5.99 wine that's, you know, not supposed to age. Pretty darn good.

Worth coming out of retirement to mention. Oh, and there's still a 1990 Ridge Howell Mountain sitting in the same bin. I'll get back to you on that one.

So much for promises...

Anyway, to pick up where I left off, who was it again that said Zins don't age? We were back to 1991 Lytton Springs last night, this time the Ridge label. I didn't take notes. I was just too busy enjoying. This one was still big and ripe with plenty of that deliciously mellow dark fruit that really good old Zins get, but plenty of backbone that just begged to accompany something hot off the grill. Not a bitter note in the bottle.

Will the wines they're making these days will get this way. Will I live long enough to find out? Stay tuned (if you still are).

1991 Lytton Lytton (Lytton Spings black label) Zinfandel. Wow! This wine hasn't exactly been stored in pristine conditions, but I'm not sure it was ready yet. Oh well. It's gone now. Packed full of black raspberry fruit and spice, still plenty of tannins left, not to mention lovely racy acidity. It was a powerful match for a grilled wagyu skirt steak dusted with pimentón dulce.

(Yes, I know I've neglected this blog badly. I'll try to do better.)

I have nightmares like this.

Expensive Wine Sold for Cheap

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

In a tale sure to break the hearts of oenophiles everywhere, thieves stole an expensive wine collection and sold some bottles to a convenience store for $300 and cigarettes, the San Francisco Examiner reports.

San Francisco police say convicted drug dealer Sterling Gerard, 36, and one or more accomplices broke into attorney Adam Belsky's house while it was being renovated this past August.

Cops say Gerard happened upon the basement wine cellar, propped open its door with a bottle and walked out with 250 other bottles -- mostly top Italian and French vintages -- worth a total of $20,000.

Police found Gerard's fingerprint on the bottle left behind and charged him with burglary late last month.

At a nearby deli, cops discovered 52 of Belsky's bottles nestled among the chocolate bars.

The store owner said he'd given $300 in cash and a few cartons of cigarettes for the bottles to a man other than Gerard, who told him it was his recently deceased mother's collection.

Unfortunately, several of the recovered bottles may have been ruined by improper storage in the deli. Still missing are the other 198 bottles.

"These guys were idiots," Belsky told the newspaper. "It's devastating and frustrating because they didn't know what they were taking, but it meant a lot to me."

Belsky's insurance will cover the monetary damages. He's trying to come to grips with the sentimental loss.

Gone for good may be the $500 bottle of 2000 Chateau Lafite Rothschild Bordeaux that he'd bought at his son's birth. He'd planned to open it on the boy's 21st birthday.

Also probably lost is a $100 bottle of 1997 Altesino Brunello Montalcino Di Montosoli that Belsky and his wife bought in Italy.

The SFPD couldn't prove the store owner knew he was buying stolen property, but the state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control may slap him with buying wine from an unlicensed seller.

Oy! It's changed again. I actually do have a whole bunch of new stuff to post on, but I'm just dropping in right now to say that I'm still tasting, please stay tuned, and also to see if I still know how to work this thing 'cause I heard that they screwed with it yet again. Okay, I'll be back shortly....