No, nothing too salacious, I'm afraid. Jean decided to buy a 1/2 leg of
lamb for dinner tongight, so I inserted 3 cloves' worth of garlic
slivers into the spaces between muscles and painted the exterior with an
impromptu glaze of Dijon mustard, red wine, olive oil and black pepper
before roasting.

With the roast lamb, we opened a half bottle of:

1999 Ridge Lytton Springs
nose: soy sauce, plummy fruit, cedar
palate: full body, plush, rich fruit, pencil lead, some butterscotch
early on that later fades away

I chose this wine rather than a Bordeaux because of the seasonings and
we weren't disapppointed. This was a lovely example of "Zinfandel" and
just all-around exciting to drink. Quite mature in 375 mL, I wouldn't
be surprised to see it live up to Paul Draper's comparison to the '76,
which he stated was still drinking well when he wrote his notes in 2000.
My only regret is that we don't have more of it, but this 375 was all I
able to locate of the Lytton Springs in that much-ballyhooed year. Jean
proclaimed her decision that she preferred Lytton Springs to Geyserville
-- heresy in my book -- because she found the latter more restrained
than the in-your-face LS. Personally, I find just the opposite, so
we'll do a head-to-head comparison some day soon.

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Dec 2, 3:18�am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> No, nothing too salacious, I'm afraid. �Jean decided to buy a 1/2 leg of
> lamb for dinner tongight, so I inserted 3 cloves' worth of garlic
> slivers into the spaces between muscles and painted the exterior with an
> impromptu glaze of Dijon mustard, red wine, olive oil and black pepper
> before roasting.
>
> With the roast lamb, we opened a half bottle of:
>
> 1999 Ridge Lytton Springs
> nose: soy sauce, plummy fruit, cedar
> palate: full body, plush, rich fruit, pencil lead, some butterscotch
> early on that later fades away
>
> I chose this wine rather than a Bordeaux because of the seasonings and
> we weren't disapppointed. �This was a lovely example of "Zinfandel" and
> just all-around exciting to drink. �Quite mature in 375 mL, I wouldn't
> be surprised to see it live up to Paul Draper's comparison to the '76,
> which he stated was still drinking well when he wrote his notes in 2000.
> �My only regret is that we don't have more of it, but this 375 was all I
> able to locate of the Lytton Springs in that much-ballyhooed year. �Jean
> proclaimed her decision that she preferred Lytton Springs to Geyserville
> -- heresy in my book -- because she found the latter more restrained
> than the in-your-face LS. �Personally, I find just the opposite, so
> we'll do a head-to-head comparison some day soon.
>
> Mark Lipton
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: �http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

I used to be a Geyserville partisan, but am undecided as I have tasted
more LS recently. I'm a fence-sitter! Thanks for notes.

On Sun, 2 Dec 2007 04:51:33 -0800 (PST), DaleW >
wrote:

>On Dec 2, 3:18?am, Mark Lipton > wrote:

>> With the roast lamb, we opened a half bottle of:
>>
>> 1999 Ridge Lytton Springs
>> nose: soy sauce, plummy fruit, cedar
>> palate: full body, plush, rich fruit, pencil lead, some butterscotch
>> early on that later fades away
>>
>> I chose this wine rather than a Bordeaux because of the seasonings and
>> we weren't disapppointed. ?This was a lovely example of "Zinfandel" and
>> just all-around exciting to drink. ?Quite mature in 375 mL, I wouldn't
>> be surprised to see it live up to Paul Draper's comparison to the '76,
>> which he stated was still drinking well when he wrote his notes in 2000.
>> ?My only regret is that we don't have more of it, but this 375 was all I
>> able to locate of the Lytton Springs in that much-ballyhooed year. ?Jean
>> proclaimed her decision that she preferred Lytton Springs to Geyserville
>> -- heresy in my book -- because she found the latter more restrained
>> than the in-your-face LS. ?Personally, I find just the opposite, so
>> we'll do a head-to-head comparison some day soon.
>>
>> Mark Lipton
>
>I used to be a Geyserville partisan, but am undecided as I have tasted
>more LS recently. I'm a fence-sitter! Thanks for notes.

I'd suggest that the older Lytton Springs bottlings (e.g. the '90s)
were the bombs, with the Geyserville more subtle. Today, I
increasingly find the Geyserville very forward and the Lytton Springs
increasingly "Bordeaux-like", which to me means nuanced and definitely
not blatant.

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