The Group Adds One More

March 31, 2010

The wine group that I first got involved with here in Santa Barbara about 5 years ago met at Fresco, our usual spot, to welcome our newest member, 5 week old Riley Grace Zant. We like to start them young... This group, depending on where we are, is known as The JTT (Jimmy Tasting Team), the Fresco group, or Los Borrachos. We are a motley crew of a few old scallywags, their respective better-halves, and a couple young pups to round it all out.

This particular evening was a joyous one about new beginnings and the welcoming of our diminutive new member. As usual the evening was more about enjoying each other's company than anything, but wine is always our motivating force. Here was the lineup:

-Cold Heaven Viognier Voglezang Vineyard 2008*** - Elegant yet rich throughout. Wonderfully enjoyable wine that disappeared from the bottle fairly quickly. Honeysuckle and pear abound.
-Foxen Pinot Noir Julia's Vineyard 2004*** - This wine fooled me a little bit at first. The color was slightly brickish in hue and at my first approach the nose was dull and palate tired. After revisiting this wine about 20 minutes later it was reborn. Quite amazing how a wine can be dumb upon opening and so quickly awaken into something beautiful. The nose had spiced baked cherry, saddle leather, and damp earth. The palate had a revived opulence of fruit and finished with something that touched on the savory side.
-Foxen Pinot Noir Julia's Vineyard 2005*** - The nose was dark with forest floor and bramble berries and the palate showed a great purity of fruit backed up with more of that earthy richness while never being anything less than elegant.
-Three Saints Syrah 2006* - This wine was inky dark, had a nose of espresso like density, and palate of black currants.
-Andrew Murray Syrah Oak Savanna Vineyard 2006** - Plenty of fruit on this wine. Black cherries and some pepper to finish.

Food for thought: There are typically two schools of thought regarding pairing food with wine.
1. Do the research, find traditional matches, and go with common practice.
2. Ignore what others say and simply drink a wine that you like with a food that you like and who really cares if they "go together" or not?

I'd like to offer a third option; open two bottles of wine with your meal and see how each wine plays off of the meal differently. You may get two completely different experiences as your meal progresses. It may be fun and you might actually learn something along the way.

Cheers!


0 Stars - No rating
1 Star (*)- Not of significant quality or interest
2 Stars (**)- A notable wine of legitimate interest
3 Stars (***)- Great wine that is worth searching out
4 Stars (****)- Fantastic wine that should not be missed
5 Stars (*****)- An absolutely mind-bending wine - beg, borrow, or steal to get your hands on some of this amazing juice!

Disclaimer: This rating is based on my palate and at the given time when tasted and may differ from yours. Also, I may catch a bottle in a dumb phase or it just may not speak to me at that particular time.