WTN: Steak House Wines (Shafer, Two Hands)

[David M. Bueker]

Business dinner at a steak house in Raleigh, NC tonight. Someone else's expense account, so I was given the wine list & told to find some good wines that didn't break the bank. Everyone was eating steak & I was the only geek, so I figured Cali and Aussie would appeal more than my personal favorite Bordeaux.

2005 Shafer Napa Valley Merlot
Not bad. It's got plenty of fruit, though I thought it a little dilute in the mid-palate, allowing the alcohol to show. Overall a good match with the steaks. It certainly had enough structure to keep it from being flabby/formless.

2005 (?) Two Hands Barossa Valley Shiraz 'Gnarly Dudes'
Also pretty good without any intrusive alcohol & with plenty of ripe red fruit and underlying black fruit and tar elements. Very easy to drink. (I think it was the 2005, but it could have been 2006 - I wasn't paying that close attention).

The one funny element was rescuing the waitress from hacking into the screw cap on the Two Hands with the knife blade from her corkscrew. I asker her to pass me the bottle, gave it a twist & voila. She was shocked that a red would come with a screwcap. No reduction by the way.

Business dinner at a steak house in Raleigh, NC tonight. Someone else's expense account, so I was given the wine list & told to find some good wines that didn't break the bank. Everyone was eating steak & I was the only geek, so I figured Cali and Aussie would appeal more than my personal favorite Bordeaux..

I think many of us are familiar with these pressures and can relate. But while you probably made the safer and more gentlemanly decision, surely a Bordeaux would not have been unpopular, especially as I can imagine the list had plenty of ripe young examples. When my companions want something bold and easy I have a much more difficult time choosing/ignoring the Pineau d'Aunis, Grignolino, or Poulsard that my palate often wants. But, I too make the gentlemanly decision in the interest of the wider group. Unless it's my birthday or something

The one funny element was rescuing the waitress from hacking into the screw cap on the Two Hands with the knife blade from her corkscrew. I asker her to pass me the bottle, gave it a twist & voila. She was shocked that a red would come with a screwcap. No reduction by the way.

It is also funny when servers present the plastic closure for inspection and I have to keep telling them that there are no worries the wine is definitely not corked.

Although, Clint's post may make me re-think that! And, I guess it is still important to give a sample taste even from plastic, glass, screwcapped bottles because they might be heat damaged.

[David M. Bueker]

As far as the Bordeaux goes, there was a grand total of 3 bottles on the list. They were all quite expensive as well (4x what I would normally pay). Both the Shafer and the Two Hands were priced at a not-unreasonable markup.

An interesting etiquette conundrum is when the server brings you the cork (and/or gives you an initial pour) of a wine that you brought. Since you can't very well send it back, while there is still the "genteel" factor, it is meaningless, and smacks of pure, unthinking habit.

An interesting etiquette conundrum is when the server brings you the cork (and/or gives you an initial pour) of a wine that you brought. Since you can't very well send it back, while there is still the "genteel" factor, it is meaningless, and smacks of pure, unthinking habit.

Yes, although if you are in a large party it might be preferable for one person to taste the wine and approve it before pouring in everyone's glass and then having to quickly dump it from everyone's glass.

An interesting etiquette conundrum is when the server brings you the cork (and/or gives you an initial pour) of a wine that you brought. Since you can't very well send it back, while there is still the "genteel" factor, it is meaningless, and smacks of pure, unthinking habit.

Yes, although if you are in a large party it might be preferable for one person to taste the wine and approve it before pouring in everyone's glass and then having to quickly dump it from everyone's glass.

Good point.

I've been to that same Sullivan's Steak House in Raleigh a couple times and their wine list tends to run heavily to California wines. I'm not sure if that is the same throughout the chain or if it varies from location to location.

David, you were within a block of Enoteca Vin. You should have suggested an after-dinner glass of wine there.

[David M. Bueker]

David, you were within a block of Enoteca Vin. You should have suggested an after-dinner glass of wine there.

I know it was soooo close. I'm too geeky for them though.