) She served a lovely medium rare prime rib with tasty scalloped potatos and a salad.
With the salad=Chimney Rock Winery 2006 Fumee Blanc. The oaked side of Sauvignon Blanc, of course. Thye oak adds a nice fuzzy texture and some creamy notes, but this lovely wine has some good grapefruit and nice acidity. Not quite as enjoyable as the Elizabeth Spencer Chardonnay, but certainly a solid wine 14 points
with the entree 1999 Beringer Home Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. When opened and decanted, this was very funky on the nose. Unfortunately, the palate was very simple and unevolved. A very strong licorice and a blast of cherry, underlain by pretty heavy oak that's not yet been absorbed. On the other hand, maybe the problem is the wine was corked? It was not heat damaged, 'cause I acquired it from the winery direct this winter. Maybe I should have decanted this for three hours instead of an hour? To be honest, this was my first serious disappointment in an upper end Beringer Cab. My brother and sister still liked it, though-my sister preferred it to the Chianti last night! So....take my low score with a grain of salt-some like the more primary fruit=forward wines. For the price, I just want a little more! (The 2003 Private Reserve actually has tasted more evolved and more interesting than this-and Home Vineyard makes up a big part of the blend. Maybe 1999 was just not a great year for Beringer???) 10 points, given the QPR.