Over the past few nights we've had quite a few different wines, starting
with our annual party for our graduate students. Although this event is
quite frenzied and wine is hardly the focus, we did start out with a
pair of nice Champagnes:

NV Duval-Leroy Brut
nose: light, mildly fruity
palate: somewhat soft, rich, lightly toasty

NV Piper-Hiedsieck Brut
nose: vibrant, toast, green apples
palate: crisp acidity, toast

Of the two, the Piper-Hiedsieck was the clear favorite for its more
defined flavors and better structure.

We had a few wines leftover from the party, so last night with some
black bean-buffalo chili we had:

2009 Perrin Côtes du Rhône-Villages
nose: dark cherries, stones
palate: rich fruit, chalky tannins, balanced acidity

This is probably the most appealing CdR I've had from Perrin, which says
good things about the vintage, I'm sure.

Tonight, with some venison steaks from a doe freshly killed by my friend
Jerry, I opened:

1995 Domaine de la Terre Rouge Syrah Amador
nose: initially, very minty with deep underlying fruit; as time passed,
more blueberry fruit and baking spices
palate: rich fruit, decent acidity, full body, briary tannins

I met Bill Easton back in the days when he was a retailer in Berkeley
and I've bought his wines since he relocated to Amador County in 1990.
This wine was a monster in its youth, and is still very youthful. The
tannins have softened and the wine is now approachable. To me, Syrah and
venison is one of life's great combinations and this was no exception.

Mark Lipton