Saturday after a Little Dribblers Basketball game, Alison and I drove to
Dallas (TX) for a Valentine's dinner.

We stopped at Cru, A Wine Bar in the West Village and tried the California
Zin's flight with a a Cheese flight.

The chesse plate had some Manchego, Parmigiano, and Stilton with green
olives, almonds and green and red apple slices, and grapes.

The wines we

Beaulieu Vineyards, Beauzeaux 01, Napa, CA. A very unimpressive wine. Bland,
plain and generally dull.

Ridge Lytton Springs 02, Dry Creek Valley, CA Tart, sour berries.

Brian Benson Cellars, 02, Paso Robles, CA. All I can saw is WOW!. Black
cherry, coffee, dark chocolate and nutty with some oak. Very well integrated
and an excellent finish.

With there 5 cheese pizza we had a full glass of the Brian Benson.

We had not planned on having dessert, but on the dessert wine list I saw
that they had Ch. Y'Quem 1994 for $33 a glass. Rich, thick honey and floral
notes. There was something I could not identify though. Sort of a chemical
or processed. Very Yummy!

I could not check out the colors, and this place is very dark.

Cheers,

Walter

Walter L. Preuninger II wrote:
> Saturday after a Little Dribblers Basketball game, Alison and I drove to
> Dallas (TX) for a Valentine's dinner.
>
> We stopped at Cru, A Wine Bar in the West Village and tried the California
> Zin's flight with a a Cheese flight.
>
> The chesse plate had some Manchego, Parmigiano, and Stilton with green
> olives, almonds and green and red apple slices, and grapes.
>
> The wines we
>
> Beaulieu Vineyards, Beauzeaux 01, Napa, CA. A very unimpressive wine. Bland,
> plain and generally dull.

Betcha it was a little tainted with TCA, an issue BV struggled with in
the late 1990s/early 2000s. I've had Beauzeaux a couple of times and
it was nice, but the problem with low-level TCA contamination at BV
for a few years killed a lot of otherwise superb wine.

However, if you ever get a chance to try BV's Dulcet, don't be put off
by the odd name. It's a superb dry red.

> We had not planned on having dessert, but on the dessert wine list I saw
> that they had Ch. Y'Quem 1994 for $33 a glass. Rich, thick honey and floral
> notes. There was something I could not identify though. Sort of a chemical
> or processed. Very Yummy!

Would you call that odd chemical note a "vinyl" note?

Cheers,
Dana

"Dana H. Myers" > wrote in message
...

> Would you call that odd chemical note a "vinyl" note?

Well, yea... sorta plastic... but I just realized, a petrol note too...

Is that typical with Y'quem? Sorta reminded me of some of my favorite
Spatlese/Auslese's

I'll give the Dulcet a try... But the Brian Benson was top notch.

I am normally very sensitive to TCA... but I am but a mere newbie.

Walter

In article >,
Walter L. Preuninger II > wrote:
>
[snip!]
>
>Brian Benson Cellars, 02, Paso Robles, CA. All I can saw is WOW!. Black
>cherry, coffee, dark chocolate and nutty with some oak. Very well integrated
>and an excellent finish.


I did not know Brian Benson made a zinfandel. I have some of his cabernet put
away and I really like it, although it is fruit-forward. For those who
may not know this label, Brian Benson is the son of Norm Benson, the
owner of Dark Star Cellars. He can't be more than 22 years old. I think
he was helping his dad make wine before he was even old enough to drink
it. He has a microproduction label of his own on the side and I am very
shocked to see his wines making it all the way to Texas!


Dimitri

> shocked to see his wines making it all the way to Texas!

Well, I am saddened that it only seems to available at Cru, A Wine Bar...
It's a 2.5 hour drive...

Perhaps I will get to California soon!

Walter