Tonight, after a few days of turmoil in Jean's family, I offered to cook
her a nice dinner. Her suggestion was duck breasts, but our local
grocery was out of them, so after some consultation I went with grilling
some ribeyes. I also saw some fresh golden chanterelles for sale there
(amusingly mislabeled as "wild Shi'itakes") so bought some for the meal.
With our dinner of grilled ribeyes, sauteed chanterelles, roasted new
potatoes and sauteed sugar snap peas, I opened:

1989 Ch. de la Gardine Chateauneuf-du-Pape
nose: a bit reticent at first, minerals, cherry, a slight hint of meat
palate: medium body, good acidity, resolved tannins, moderately fruity

This wine was purchased on release shortly after our arrival in Indiana
and has sat slumbering in our cellar ever since. I have a sentimental
attachment to this producer, having been introduced to CdP with their
'78. This wine was, at release, described by Robert Parker as "dense"
and "tannic" but time has softened the edges, leaving a wine that, by
today's standards, is restrained and of modest scale. Very nice with
the steaks, though a bigger wine might have stood up better.

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

On Aug 28, 11:32�pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Tonight, after a few days of turmoil in Jean's family, I offered to cook
> her a nice dinner. �Her suggestion was duck breasts, but our local
> grocery was out of them, so after some consultation I went with grilling
> some ribeyes. �I also saw some fresh golden chanterelles for sale there
> (amusingly mislabeled as "wild Shi'itakes") so bought some for the meal.
> �With our dinner of grilled ribeyes, sauteed chanterelles, roasted new
> potatoes and sauteed sugar snap peas, I opened:
>
> 1989 Ch. de la Gardine Chateauneuf-du-Pape
> nose: a bit reticent at first, minerals, cherry, a slight hint of meat
> palate: medium body, good acidity, resolved tannins, moderately fruity
>
> This wine was purchased on release shortly after our arrival in Indiana
> and has sat slumbering in our cellar ever since. �I have a sentimental
> attachment to this producer, having been introduced to CdP with their
> '78. �This wine was, at release, described by Robert Parker as "dense"
> and "tannic" but time has softened the edges, leaving a wine that, by
> today's standards, is restrained and of modest scale. �Very nice with
> the steaks, though a bigger wine might have stood up better.
>
> Mark Lipton
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: �http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

Thanks for notes. Hope turmoil settles. Sounds like '89 Gardine was in
more classic style than some later ones.

Nice to see it is drinking fairly well. I still have one bottle
(somewhere) and should probably look it up. Also the 95 and 98.

This wine vies with the worst as far as being able to stack them in
normal wine cellar slots goes.