Lunch notes:

2003 Montes Alpha Chardonnay - little oak and lots of acidity - which had me
praising it and others declaring it too lean. Chacun a son gout.

1978 Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico Reserva - a very interesting pale
colour with orange edges. I thought the nose indicated Nebbiolo (I went for
Italy right off), as it had a bit of cherry there and some earth. This wine
rides on its acidity and presents well, but fades reasonably quickly - not
unexpected at that age. Very nice.

1996 Alain Graillot Crozes Hermitage - fairly dark with a nose that was quite
nice except for the green element, though that seemed to fade. Fair bit of
acidity and some more time might improve it, but I wasn't at all happy with the
wine and am not sure if it has anywhere to go.

2002 Geil Bechtheimer Geyersberg Riesling Spatlese - clean, crisp wine, but
with no detectable Riesling characteristics - we were all over the globe trying
to nail this one down. It almost had sauvignon blanc elements in the nose, had
a sizeable presence in the mouth, and good acidity, but was simply not like a
German wine is expected to taste!

1995 Dom. Les Clos des Cazeaux Cuvee de La Tour Surrazine Gigondas - a light,
limpid colour, good fruit in the nose, and some pepper and mushroom in the
mouth at the end, following a sweet middle. An elegant Gigondas.

1999 Ch. D'Aiguilhe Cotes de Castillon - dark with a sweet vanilla nose, fairly
big in the mouth and harmonious, this claret drinks very well now.

2001 Isenhower Batchelor's Button Cabernet - pink edges (!), and a real cocoa
and fruit nose, good length ending with oak and soft tannin. Tasty wine.

2002 Montes Alpha Cabernet - these guys always seem to be a class act. Purple
wine with some mint in the nose, good fruit and lots of tannin that came in at
the last half on palate. Buy some and leave it alone for 5 years.

1997 Frescobaldi Montesodi - this Tuscan Cabernet was fairly dark and had a
somewhat stinky dusty nose that did improve with some air time. Sweet finish
with medium length. Nice wine.

1990 Quail's Gate Optima - this sweet low acid grape is not my cup of tea. I
have had other (1998) dessert wines from Quail's Gate made from this as well as
those from other producers and was not impressed. This thing was so damned old,
however, that we just didn't know quite what to make of it. The colour was
rather dark, and the nose featured rotting Mandarin oranges with a cinnamon
overlay, and a sharpness we had difficulty describing. It was not as sweet as
you'd have thought, based on the nose, and was a bit hollow in the middle and
short.