Friday we went into town for a goodbye party at my friend Arv's. Arv has already been living and working in Sacramento for a couple months, but this was a chance to see folks before they packed up. Jenn and Arv had out a nice assortment of meats and cheeses, and he was opening some serious bottles even if the crowd only included a couple of geeks. The ones I tried
1989 Certan de May This was quite lovely, a midbodied Pomerol with good acidity, lots of dirt (clean dirt!), dark berry fruit. Some tannins but more grippy than hard, good length. A-
2000 Clos Chaumont (1er Cotes d. Bordeaux) Solid little Bordeaux, cassis and black plum with a bit of tobacco. Drinking well now. B/B+
1998 Peby Faugeres Very polished, large-framed, sweet Merlot fruit covered with a veneer of vanillin oak. Not my favorite style, but an extremely well made example. B
Afterwards we stopped uptown at Cipolla Rosso for some dinner. I started with a frittura of asparagus and proscuitto, followed by pappardelle with wild rabbit ragu, Betsy had a salad and lamb chops (otherwise good meal, but the "rack of lamb" special consisted of 5 chops the width of the bone, she asked for medium rare but with that thickness everything is well done). I had carried the 2004 Nino Negri Sfursat (Valtellina), I've never had a Sfursat before, and from comments elsewhere was expecting a somewhat rustic Nebbiolo. This was actually rather smooth and modern, a big wine with a bit of toasty oak. Rich deep red fruit, a bit of raisin, powerful, tanninc. Like a midmodern Barolo on steroids. Not what I expected, but quite interesting. B/B+
Saturday night we had lobsters, corn, and salad, with the 2005 Drouhin "Montmains" Chablis 1er. A tad subdued, ripe apples, moderate acidity, a touch of seashore. Good wine, but I kept waiting for a bit more verve and complexity. Maybe in a partially closed state? B
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.