Snacks and wine were brought by all. First up were two 'whites'. The 2006 Kettle Valley Pinot Gris was the darkest pinot gris I've ever seen--a pale salmon orange in fact, the color that some very old rose champagnes turn. In the nose and on the palate, it was sherried. Strange. Next was a white burg, a 2004 Boillot Chassagne-Montrachet Le Macharelles that was fresh, floral, complex and giving. It will hold at this level for awhile but I can't imagine it getting better than it is right now.
Then a red got opened. I only knew when it went into my glass that it was a zinfandel, so I was pretty shocked when someone said it was a 1990. From Meeker, who I believe is a Sonoma producer, it has aged quite well (at least to a palate that appreciates necrotic wines, most zin drinkers wouldn't be so interested). Lightly stewed berry fruit with spice and a sweetish finish, someone remarked that it was reminiscent of a very mature Rhone.
Next up was the 2001 Nota Bene from British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. Not well known outside of the area, this is possibly BC's most culty cult wine. Produced in teensy quantity and in high demand, when the email goes out announcing availability the wine sells out in less than an hour. Last year, it was just 25 minutes. Made from 46% cabernet sauvignon and the rest merlot and cab franc, this wine is in a nice spot of middle age with secondary development adding nuance to still-primary blackberry and mulberry fruit flavors with cigar leaf tobacco, canned black olive and classic Pac NW green bell pepper undertones. I loved this wine.
What followed is a similar wine from BC's Fairview Cellars. I didn't catch the vintage, but called The Bear, the resemblance to the Nota Bene was obvious, yet every thing that had been great about the Nota Bene was dulled down here by sweet vanilla oak. Pleasant enough, but to borrow an appropriate cliche--no cigar.
The next wine was the 2004 Long Shadows Feather. Made by iconic California winemaker Randy Dunn out of 100% Washington state cabernet sauvignon, the wine's very primary but open and drinkable. Dense black color with black huckleberry fruit on the nose and palate and a LOT of that green bell pepper thing. Interesting and surprising to me that the bell pepper thing was so prominent as it's a fabled characteristic (and some say flaw) of Pacific Northwest fruit that most NW producers are trying to get away from, or at least make a minor player out of as with the Nota Bene, and I saw virtually no evidence of it in any of the wines we tasted last weekend in Walla Walla. Will be interesting to see where this wine goes with time.
But I do just *love* games! Put a deck of cards in my hand and I'll never go home.