(for two other wines from the same dinner please see this month's wine focus on Chardonnay)
Last night Table & Vine hosted a wine dinner with Jeff Kunde of Kunde Estate.
As I was getting out of my car someone handed me a glass of 2005 Kunde Estate Viognier which was typically floral & peachy and looked in vain in the trunk of my car for some acidity. I was impressed with its fruit level after a couple of years of age, but my general dislike of "fat" wines would preclude me from enjoying more than a small glass.
We waited a while for the actual dinner to start. Typically the winery representative worked the crowd (Jeff Kunde was a very fun guy to talk to), while the distribution folks huddled together working on their next strategy to protect the consumer by limiting competition & choice.
The scallop and edamame succotash course was accompanied by the two Chardonnays discussed in Wine Focus
The next course was supposed to accompany the 2006 Kunde Estate Sauvignon Blanc, but really ended up just taking over the room. We were served a Caesar salad that was so high in garlic that you could smell it the moment the plates were brought to the room. While I like garlic, it was not a good wine pairing. On its own the Sauvnignon Blanc was a lovely wine (and this from an SB hater) with crisp fruit, no vegetal elements and tons of refreshment value. I really liked it a lot.
The restaurant (Max's Tavern) was kind enough to ask for our preferences on the steaks. Our entire table went for rare & we were treated to some lovely, perfectly cooked beef. There were two reds to accompany our carnivorous feast:
2003 Kunde Estate Century Vines Zinfandel
My very first exposure to Kunde was from their zinfandel. I was really looking forward to trying this. It had red and black berry fruit, reasonable alcohol levels, but a spritz and a level of VA that just turned me off. I will say that it was 200% better with the steak, but whenever I went back to it on its own I picked up the pricklyness and the VA. Disappointing.
2004 Kunde Estate Syrah
Dark berry fruit, limited oak presence & a rich but not heavy mouth feel made this my favorite wine of the night. It's not the last word in complexity, but it's tasty, goes well with a hunk of cow & the alcohol is in check. Very nice stuff.