"Dale Williams" > wrote in message
...
> Usually this recipe leads me to a red with a bit of spice, so I pulled
> out the 2002 Cline California Zinfandel. This is an annual buy for me (the
> '99
> of this was one of my all-time CA QPR favorites).

I don't know if Ian mentioned it when he visited you, but Cline was one of
the wineries we visited while in the Carneros area.

Our guide (whose name I've forgotten) gave us a grand tour of the grounds,
including a ride to the top of the vineyards, a description of the history
of the place, and a visit to the "aviary" with its exotic pheasants.

The best part was the tank room, where we tasted anything we wanted from
sample valves on the sides of the tanks. We ran the gamut, from Alicante to
Zinfandel, with Mourvedre, Cabernet, Viognier, Chardonnay, and a number of
others. This winery has much greater breadth than I was aware of, and the
quality was uniformly high. I've seen their prices in the stores and they
deliver excellent QPR.

Tom S