Tonight's dinner was a throwback to the earliest days of our
relationship, when Jean and I would get Indian food delivered (ah,
Manhattan living...) and open a bottle of aged Zinfandel from the stash
that I'd drug cross-country to grad school. We discovered the joys of
Zin with lamb Vindaloo as well as each other's company (ah, alcohol, but
that's another story...) and the rest is history.

History repeated itself tonight with a dinner of takeout lamb Vindaloo,
channa masala and onion kulcha with a bottle of "Zin" from the cellar:

2001 Ridge Lytton Springs
nose: cedar, brambly blackcerry fruit, tarry
palate: rich, full bodied, smooth, acidic

We first looked in on this wine in '07, finding it quite oaky at that
time and benefitting from lots of air. Tonight, the oak had completely
receded, now noticeable only in the texture of the wine. The pairing
with the lamb Vindaloo wasn't as good as our earlier experiences
(changing tastes? different preparation? different wine? all things
are possible) but it was still a decent match and well well enough with
the other dishes, too. As usual, Paul Draper's notes on the back label
are spot on: best from 2007-2012, he says. We'll hang on to our
remaining two bottles to see where this wine heads to. I'm sure that it
will last longer than Paul Draper conservatively suggests, so let's see
what that amounts to.

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

On Oct 11, 12:43�am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Tonight's dinner was a throwback to the earliest days of our
> relationship, when Jean and I would get Indian food delivered (ah,
> Manhattan living...) and open a bottle of aged Zinfandel from the stash
> that I'd drug cross-country to grad school. �We discovered the joys of
> Zin with lamb Vindaloo as well as each other's company (ah, alcohol, but
> that's another story...) and the rest is history.
>
> History repeated itself tonight with a dinner of takeout lamb Vindaloo,
> channa masala and onion kulcha with a bottle of "Zin" from the cellar:
>
> 2001 Ridge Lytton Springs
> nose: cedar, brambly blackcerry fruit, tarry
> palate: rich, full bodied, smooth, acidic
>
> We first looked in on this wine in '07, finding it quite oaky at that
> time and benefitting from lots of air. �Tonight, the oak had completely
> receded, now noticeable only in the texture of the wine. �The pairing
> with the lamb Vindaloo wasn't as good as our earlier experiences
> (changing tastes? �different preparation? �different wine? �all things
> are possible) but it was still a decent match and well well enough with
> the other dishes, too. �As usual, Paul Draper's notes on the back label
> are spot on: best from 2007-2012, he says. �We'll hang on to our
> remaining two bottles to see where this wine heads to. �I'm sure that it
> will last longer than Paul Draper conservatively suggests, so let's see
> what that amounts to.
>
> Markk Lipton
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: �http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

Sometimes the match has too much heat for me. The Vindaloo is spicy
by it's very nature and todays zins can be pushing 16.5 ABV which can
be damned hot! I usually go with the usual suspect....cold Kingfisher.