NV Yalumba Antique Tawny Museum Reserve (Barossa) Rich and hazel-nutty, dried apricot sweet yet with good balance and super long finish. Nice sticky.
2005 Gregory Graham Zinfandel Crimson Hill Vineyard (Red Hills) The waiter offered us up a taste of this as a “dessert wine” to go with our cheese course. He was right, it’s a good match to the ripe bleu and extremely farmy (and tasty) cow’s milk cheese (forgot the name) so we bought a glass. But this is more of a "port" than what I prefer in a Zin. The flavors are of ripe, ripe red fruits with some peppery zing. There is a hefty glycerine feel that is completely mouthcoating and an off-dry finish with enough acidity and spicy flavors to really be interesting. Surprisingly, there is no sense of heat and the structure is exceedingly smooth. It reminds me of Heitz Grignolino Port (which I really like) but not quite as yummy.
1999 Cave de Tain l’Hermitage Hermitage les Nobles Rives (N. Rhône) Decanted 2hrs. Ok, this isn’t the most complex wine but it is sure is tasty. Lots of dark fruit infused with smoky pork products, a very silky texture, soft, integrated tannins, and a decent peppery mocha finish. No sign of decline but I’m not sure if it has the stuffing to evolve much more.
2006 Edmunds St. John Gamay Bone-Jolly Rosé Witter Vineyard (El Dorado County) My last bottle and it sure was a good one. Bright crisp strawberry infused fun. I particularly love the tart, lip smacking finish. This has been my favorite rose of the summer so far and has held up exceedingly well.