So after going over all my options yesterday twice, I ended up choosing the '98 D'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz (McClaren Vale) to go to a birthday party for a close friend wherein the main course was going to be smoked baby backs. After reading the comments in Cellar Tracker I figured that even if it had another 10 years of life in it, it was just about ready to go and would be a splendid food match. Well, my heart was in the right place but the wine wasn't. Decanted and cleared of it's copious sediment about four hours before, then returned to the clean bottle and recorked until service, I was surprised when my glass tasted of juicy boysenberry fruit and overreaching acidity. It had tasted better earlier right out of the bottle, with more meaty notes and tobacco on a bigger richer midpalate that frankly lacked for nothing but some tannins I hoped would smooth out with air. Wrong! If you're holding this wine, either pop and pour or hold.
The Dead Arm's rampant acidity was made even more apparent by the '96 Kenwood Artists Series Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma) from double magnum the preceded it. The Kenwood's drinking perfectly, with rich black fruit and resolved tannins. Not as complex or structured as a KAS is in better vintages, and not one to hold any longer, but good now.
Since said friend and wife are in the jewelry business, I thought it would be fun to pour my single bottle of 2006 Gold Sauvignon Blanc, a Napa Valley SB bottled by I-don't-remember-who with real gold flakes floating about. Bottled in clear glass and unlabeled but for writing in gold paint on the bottle, it's a very pretty package. So much so that I, normally wary of such novelties, couldn't help but buy it. Surely it would be worth the $26 just for the fun factor alone? Well, no, it wasn't. Terrible wine: flabby overripe pear fruit just weeks away from showing oxidation. DO NOT BE TEMPTED!
Okay, so if you're counting, I'm 0 for 2 on the wines I've brought to this event, and dinner's now over and I'm feeling pretty puny about my contributions, so I push to open the 1981 Bertani Amarone I brought even though we honestly didn't need any more wine and our host was planning to serve port yet. Might as well die trying, you know? I was saved. Not only was it excellent to outstanding, the birthday couple, who are big fans of Amarone and who collect Quintarelli in particular, were totally impressed because they've been buying 70's and 80's vintage Amarones from distinguished producers and have poured almost every single one down the drain. Seductive nose of soft cherries, raspberries, spice cake and pancakes with maple syrup. More of same on the palate, with a bit of clove and fresh cedar. One of the guests present, who has never had a wine like this nor a wine this old, commented that she could taste it at the bottom of her throat--a great way to characterize a flavor that just goes on and on and on.