Despite unseasonably warm weather this past month, the leaves have changed color, the skies have clouded and the red wine has been brought forth from the cellar! ;-)
With broiled rack of lamb:
1999 Hochar Pere et Fils ("Baby Musar")nose: berry fruit, minerals, pencil lead and a sappy quality palate: medium-full body, fully resolved tannins, dark berry fruit with some plumminess, more of that sappy element and excellent balance
It does bear some resemblance to its more ambitious stablemate (mostly in its slightly resinous character), but also to a good Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux. Excellent with the lamb and a decent bargain at $17 locally.
With apple-smoked duck:
1999 Grand Tinel CNdPnose: classic kirsch and smoke with a slightly gamey element palate: medium body, initially quite acidic and tight, but opening with time to show rich cherryish fruit with great structure and a medium-long, gamey finish
I'd dithered over whether to pull a Pinot Noir, Crozes-Hermitage or CNdP with the duck, eventually deciding to avoid Pinot Noir for fear of being overpowered by the smoke and the Crozes for having darker fruit than I wanted with the duck. In the end, Jean and I both found the match to be excellent, with the duck noticeably enhancing the wine (a 4 on the Hoare scale). This is a wine on the lighter side of the CNdP scale, and one that's still not showing a lot of the meatiness that some of our older bottles have. This wine probably has another 5 years of peak drinking time ahead of it, so it'll be fun to follow.
Mark Lipton