Dr. Doug (Dohrman) came to town )Vancouver) last week from Texas on a medical
conference - that's what he said, but I suspect that he spends his summers
cruising from one end of the continent to the other visiting wine buddies.

I arranged a dinner at my favourite local, and we adhered to my usual brown bag
rules.

The first course was Parma ham on melon balls, followed by a nice piece of
fish, sautéed sweetbreads on mushroom risotto, and then elk, followed by
cheese.

2000 Albert Mann Altenbourg Gewurztraminer - showing a bit of colour, typical
if a bit restrained Gewurz nose, more on the floral than on the lychee side and
some residual sugar.

2003 Rochioli Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc - pale wine with a
non-grassy sort of sauv blanc nose - in fact we fumbled about awhile as to
whether it really was SB, our first impression, or something else. Quite rich
in the mouth with good feel to it.

1997 Quinta do Crasto Reserva - the home team figured that the out of town
contingent would have trouble with this, particularly as Dr. Doug is a self
confessed California junky. Dark wine, nose a bit indeterminate but showing a
fair bit of sweetness. Slightly high acidity (fine with food) and drinking very
well now.

1989 Abreu Madrona Ranch Napa Cabernet Sauvignon - an rare bird in this
neighborhood, and one of the lesser vintages, but it was so good we were
figuring it for a mid-80s wine from a much better vintage. It had a sweet
Bordeaux nose with a little smokiness. It is showing pale edges now, but was
elegant with good balance and length. Nice wine.

2001 Behrens & Hitchcock Kenefick Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon - Big dark wine with
a sweet nose of dark fruit and spice. Warm in the mouth, and very sweet and
concentrated fruit on palate right from the start. Very long with soft tannins.
This is pretty darned good right now, and I'm not sure it will improve much
with time, although the tannins will integrate a little better. It would be
hard to hold if it were in my cellar!

1988 Ch. Palmer - good colour and decent nose of dark fruit and cedar that
opened up with time, showing almost a bit Rhonish. Clean acidity, good length.

1996 Turley Tofanelli Zinfandel - I'd wanted to keep this for toward the end,
with 16% alcohol, it would have given lighter wines a tough time, and it went
well with cheese anyway. Ripe dark wine with lots happening in the nose,
including black pepper and toffee. As it opened up, the nose switched to spiced
marmalade! Excellent length and concentration. Alas, my last bottle.

1996 Leonetti Cabernet Sauvignon - a good choice for a Cal-cab fan. Dark wine,
cocoa sweet nose, lost of acidity, and very long, but I have to say it was
quite un-cabernet like. Good wine, hard to guess.
2001 Williams Selyem Late Harvest Gewurztraminer Vista Verde Vineyard - I
managed to get the varietal right, but only because I find that Gewurz retains
less varietal character when done in late harvest style, and because this wine
had a nose that just didn't match anything else. Quite light colour and
excellent acid balance.

2001 Tinhorn Creek Late Harvest Kerner - a German varietal that didn't get
frozen so they made it into this instead of icewine, and I'm glad they did.
Only 80 gm/l RS, this one showed peaches in the nose and on the palate, and was
well balanced.