2008 Ridge Pagani Ranch Zinfandel – The weekend festivities started off with this wine, bought locally by Mary & Damon (right across the street of the Willard hotel at Press Liquors. I don’t know how much they paid, but they bought 2 bottles and both were gone fast. Ridge makes a nice, balanced zinfandel that you can drink more than one glass and not feel full or tipsy. Interestingly, this wine is primarily Zinfandel, with some Petite Sirah and Alicante Bouschet mixed in. Delicious wine that I recommend highly, even prior to seeing its high professional ratings.
2002 Neal Family Wykoff Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – Neal Family makes a solid cabernet…and sometimes it’s even spectacular. This bottle was solid, but not great. A bit of oak still to integrate, it just doesn’t have the same value ratio compared to other wines, like its little brother the Napa Valley bottling. I bought this direct from the winery for around $80.
NV Egly Ouriet Brut Grand Cru VP Ambonnay Champagne – I’ve had this wine a bunch of times now, and it’s always good. I bought a case of this from the Plucky for about $70 a bottle. Great value. This is a Champagne that is wonderful cold, but really interesting as it warms as well. If you don’t get a sense for how good the wine is in Champagne, have some of this warmer than normal. You’ll be surprised. I bring this up as I didn’t have proper time to chill this all the way down, yet I still enjoyed it.
2001 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape – Remember how I said that 2001 CdP’s are drinking really well right now…well, here’s another example. I expect that I bought this from a wine forum member, but don’t remember for sure. I do know that I paid $50. I wish I had more. Great wine that is well balanced and gives a great essence of terroir. More recent vintages of this wine have shown a pretty big and brooding wine, but this was just right!
2007 Peay Estate Pinot Noir – The best wines are those that are really good, and produced by really nice people who know what they are doing. I first had Peay at the Lever House in NYC back in 2005 or so. I was very impressed so I immediately signed up for the mailing list. This wine was about $48 direct from the winery. I thought it was delicious. And to show how classy the Peay family is…one of their 2007 wines was found to have been affected by VA (volatile acidity) after it had been shipped to consumers. They personally called everyone on their mailing list and offered to replace the bottles or refund the cost and pay for the shipping of the wines. Well handled (I kept the bottles so that I could teach myself more about VA and how it impacts a wine over time). Well worth seeking out and giving a try.
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