Opened tonight with a dinner of heirloom tomato Caprese salad and bread:

1999 Dom. du Gros Noré Bandol
nose: very aromatic esters, tar, deep, plummy fruit
palate: smooth as silk, full bodied, rich, deeply fruited, tar, spices,
pine resin

This bottle was hand-carried back from the domaine, which we visited in
the company of Nils and Christina Lindgren and the redoubtable Mike
Tommasi. It has perhaps aged faster than the ones I've purchased here
in Indiana, as Kermit Lynch has better temperature control than my
Peugot had. Nontheless, this wine was á point tonight. In its honor,
we attempted to recreate the phenomenal tomato tasting that Mike took us
to afterward (that, and the glut of tomatoes currently Chez Nous): green
zebras, a black non-Krim and a pink German, all with mozzarella di
bufala della Campagna and some fresh basil. The winner of the tasting
was the green zebra by unanimous acclaim for its vibratn acidity and
great tang. The wine was phenomenal, too, reminding us of nothing so
much as a top-quality Amador County Zinfandel. You now know what I'm
bringing the next time I show up on your doorstep, Mike!

Nostalgically yours,
Mark Lipton

The wine was phenomenal, too, reminding us of nothing so
much as a top-quality Amador County Zinfandel.

I have only had one Amador county wine - it was a Ravenswood old vine
zinfandel which I got to taste in concert with its cousin. The 2001
Amador County was considerably thinner than the 2002 Sonoma county one
(both were Ravenswood old vine zins), and I much preferred the 2002
Sonoma county ones. I like deep, rich, full bodied zins.

Was this an anomaly, or an effect of different years? Or are the Amador
county wines somwhat less robust?

Jose
--
There are more ways to skin a cat than there are cats.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Mark Lipton wrote:
mozzarella di bufala della Campagna

err... Make that Campania. Too much wine, I guess! :P

Mark Lipton

Jose wrote:

Was this an anomaly, or an effect of different years? Or are the Amador
county wines somwhat less robust?

I find Ravenswood in general less robust than most Zins I prefer. Zins
from Amador such as Karly, Story, Soban and others are generally robust
with up front fruit and strong tannins along with above average alcohol.

"Mark Lipton wrote:

The winner of the tasting was the green zebra

You now know what I'm bringing the next time I show up on your doorstep,
Mike!

to which "Mike Tommasi" wrote ......

Door is wide open !


Lord & Lady St.Helier will be in on that one too!!!!!

--

st.helier

On Wed, 06 Sep 2006 20:50:06 -0700, miles wrote:

Jose wrote:

Was this an anomaly, or an effect of different years? Or are the Amador
county wines somwhat less robust?

I find Ravenswood in general less robust than most Zins I prefer. Zins
from Amador such as Karly, Story, Soban and others are generally robust
with up front fruit and strong tannins along with above average alcohol.

Amador County makes some great zins. The Renwood offerings are
noteworthy, especially the Grandmere and Grandpere which have
routinely showed a lot of aging potential.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com