We happy that Bernard, who has sampled so many wines, has shared his notes with us. We do have, or have had for sale a few of the wines Bernard writes about, and we include a link to our stock page whenever it is a producer we carry (but since the stock page is kept up-to-date and the wines are sold, don't expect any but the newest of wines to show up in our stock!). Mostly though, since we specialize in County of Santa Barbara Wine and Central Coast Wine, we don't carry a lot of the wines Bernard writes about. But we think it is important that you be able to have an idea what they're like in case you are planning to buy some somewhere, or have them in your own collection. Enjoy.

Here are Bernard's notes from February 1, 2003:

The day began with tragedy over Texas [loss of Shuttle Columbia], a feeling of loss and a need for camaraderie and escape. The drive up the 101 evolved from partly cloudy blue skies to a foggy, overcast grayness on the western reaches of the Santa Ynez Valley, a condition that typifies the cool climate of the region. We met at Sanford Winery’s La Rinconada Estate Winemaking facility, about 8 miles farther out on Santa Rosa Road than Sanford’s better known tasting room. Already at the winery when I arrived was Brian and his girl friend Laurie, Charlie, local Lompoc “foodie” John Tomasso, Bruno d’Alphonso (Sanford’s winemaker of nearly 20 years), Bruno’s girlfriend Chris Curran (who was to show us her wines next), and winemaker Rick Longoria. [Peter was to join us later when we met at the “Ghetto” in Lompoc.] Joining us soon thereafter was a local wine aficionado named Heidi and her soon to graduate college son who is interested in pursuing a career in the wine industry. Bruno was very helpful in giving the lad hints how to follow his interest.

For those who haven’t met Bruno, let’s just say the man has a strong personality that might overwhelm the insecure. Chris Curran is certainly his equal in terms of forwardness and self-confidence. As an aside, I’ll point out that Wine Spectator last year misidentified Richard Sanford as the winemaker at Sanford. While Richard is majority owner of the winery, Bruno is a junior partner and makes the wine.

As I had arrived a few minutes late, I missed the first wine, Sanford’s 2001 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir. But when I did show, I was in for a heck of a treat. All the first group of wines are Sanford Winery barrel samples.  

01 La Rinconada PN (an approximate, hypothetical blend from two steel tanks)—Great nose. Bit astringent still, but classy fruit. Somewhat reduced. Elegant. Better than the 2000 vintage.

02 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay—Bright, lemony, balanced. Zippy acids. Excellent. This will be a fantastic bottle of entry-level chardonnay. Sanford also produces their famous Barrel Select chardonnay that is generally bigger, longer, and more oaked. 

We were then offered a sample of a co-fermentation experiment using 2002 fruit. Co-fermentation involves the mixing of red and white varietals during fermentation, the theory being that white grape phenolics help stabilize the color and strengthens other components in the red wine. (There may be other benefits that I don’t recall.) The addition of viognier to syrah in Cote Rotie is a well known example. In this case, Bruno combined 6 parts S&B PN fruit to 1 part pressed pinot gris skins and stems. He chose PG because it is genetically related to PN (as is pinot blanc). As an aside, Bruno also produces pinot grigio (and sangiovese) under his own Di Bruno label. The resulting wine, compared to the pure 02 S&B PN tasted next, is darker, brawnier and very aggressive. Slightly stemmy (perhaps from the addition of extra PG stems), the wine also shows more aggressive tannins. Bruno says the wine will need to age about 8 years before it is ready.

Next up is the 02 Sanford & Benedict PN (which includes 20% Gamay Beaujolais clone). Lovely perfume. Lush, subtly deep fruit. Wonderful palate feel despite the ultra fine tannins. This may exceed the 01 S&B PN. As other samples of 2002 S&B PN fruit from other wineries will show, 02 may be a banner year for the vineyard.

We moved onto various lots of 02 La Rinconada PN. First is a blend of Mt. Eden clone and clone 114 in Boules barrel. Dark ruby color. Bit closed, reduced. Chunky, cranberry, spice, cocoa. Needs time. Then from Rousseau MT barrel a blend of clones 667, 777 and 114 still undergoing malo. Toasty, slightly reduced, sweet fruit. Liqueur-like intensity. Then pure 777 in Camus oak. Bit lighter ruby. Well-formed bouquet. Lively. Nice feel, lighter weight. Excellent oak for this wine. Slight tannic finish. These samples indicate that 2002 La Rinconada should be every bit as good as 01, maybe better.

Last up, the 2002 Di Bruno Sangiovese (Stolpman Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley)—Smells like sangiovese! Excellent rendition of the varietal. Tart, rich, fruity. Chalky, talcky finish. Excellent. I’ve been very impressed with various producers’ versions of Stolpman Sangiovese over the past few vintages. While the vineyard makes distinctly CA styled fruit (riper, jammier than you get in Tuscany), Bruno’s maintains varietal character without the herbaceousness that often infiltrates varietals mismatched to their vineyard location. This is a fine QPR CA sangiovese that will sell in the mid-teens, if I recall from previous vintages.

As an aside, La Rinconada fruit is organically farmed. The winery has state of the art design features, including steel tanks on elevator shafts to permit gravity flow racking and blending. The winery’s cool temperature is naturally maintained by the Pacific climate.

At this point, we caravanned over to the Lompoc “ghetto” where Chris, Rick, and  the Brewer-Clifton boys ply their trade. First up was Chris Curran’s brand new Sea Smoke Cellars. Chris has been making wines in SB County some years now. She owns nearby vineyards along and above the Santa Ynez River in the Santa Rita Hills AVA. She has a few blocks of chardonnay planted near the river along with 3 newer blocks of PN. The majority of her 103 acres of PN vines are planted a few hundred feet above the river, including some very high blocks on impossibly steep slopes. The first Sea Smoke bottling will be in mid-March, with release in June. The winery will only sell PN. The chardonnay is produced in too small a quantity for commercial release. 

Peter C. and Steve Clifton joined the crowd at Chris’s Sea Smoke Cellars, along with Brewer-Clifton cellar rat, Tim. The wines:

01 Chardonnay (Wente clone, 100% new oak)—Leesy, yeasty nose. Rich, butterscotch, gold fruit. Bit over the top, but not in a generic CA clichéd way.

02 Chardonnay (Wente clone)—Still active. Very floral. Bone dry. Luscious honeyed fruit with slight bitter finish. I liked both Chards a lot!

02 PN (Mt. Eden clone, Sirugue barrel)—Funky, reduced. Dark purple. Rich, oaky, chewy. Black fruit. Yummy. Pretty high sugar, concentrated. Burly. Clean.

02 PN (clone 2A, Sirugue)—Fairly dark. Perfumed. Blueberry, black cherry. Deep, rich, liqueur-like. Fabulous. Note: 2A is a principle clone at Talley’s Rosemary vineyard.

02 PN (clone 05 from the well-drained U block, François Freres)—Rich, superb, bit toasty. Still in malo. Dark blackberry flavor. Pretty big.

02 PN (clone 777 from very steep slope, Sirugue LT)—Balanced, elegant, more layered feel.

02 PN (clone 115, Ramond)—Lovely oak nose. Complete package, blueberry, black cherry flavors.

02 PN (clone 667, blend of barrels)—Less oak, more perfume. Thick fruit, bit flat toward end. Slight astringent finish.

02 Curran Syrah (not Sea Smoke Estate, purchased from Reeves Ranch, east end of SY Valley, Estrella clone, Ramond barrel)—Smells like Port, spicy, exotic nose. Still in malo. Acidic, tight. Impressive.

The first vintage of Sea Smoke PN should be a winner. We only tried a fraction of the components, but each is special. When released in June, this should raise the bar among Santa Rita Hills PNs. It might even outshine Bruno’s La Rinconada. Bravo!

From here, we wondered across the parking lot to Steve’s Palmina winery, adjacent to Brewer-Clifton, to clear our palates. Heidi and her son cut out. Palmina is Steve’s venture in Italian varietals, which he does quite well. We sampled a mock Friulian blend of 30% Sauvignon Blanc, 35% Traminer, 15% Tocai, and 20% Malvasia Bianca. Pretty good, crisp, palate-cleaning fresh wine. You don’t look for terroir in such a wine, but one would be hard pressed to know it didn’t originate at the hip of the Italian limb. The kind of wine you’d expect to drink at a seafood bar on the Viale Miramare in Trieste.

Rick Longoria had an appointment to keep later that afternoon, so we scooted across the lot and checked out Rick’s wines while he was in. 

02 Mt. Carmel Chardonnay (Wente)—Still undergoing ML, slightly reduced, some oak. Luscious, lemon custard. Bit soft.

02 Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay-Still some R.S. while completing fermentation. Grapefruit, mandarin. Will be quite good. 

02 PN Bien Nacido Vyd (Santa Maria area)—Mushroomy, earthy. Black fruit. Bit flat in middle.

Rick next began sampling us on his relatively new estate vineyard called Blind Faith. The first vintage of PN was 2000. I understand Ginger Baker lives somewhere in the SY Valley, so there’s probably a connection.

02 BF Vyd PN (Pommard clone)—Still active. Much classier than the Bien Nacido. Classically proportioned, good structure, focused.

02 BF Vyd PN (clone 667)—Toasty, reduced. Excellent palate feel. Burgundian styled, elegant but concentrated fruit.

02 BF Vyd PN (clone 115)—More closed. Feminine proportioned, simpler flavors.

02 BF Vyd PN (Mt. Eden)—Still in malo. Pristine fruit, mulberry. Yummy.

I expect the final blend of 02 Blind Faith PN to be elegant, layered and classy. Next, on to the 2001 Blind Faith PN, recently put in bottle. Gorgeous nose. Elegant, relatively soft, stylish, bit woody. The oak will probably integrate with a little bottle age.

01 Alisos Vyd Syrah (barrel sample)—Dark. Lovely perfume, sweet. Liqueur-like sweet fruit, which is big enough to contain the 16% alcohol. A big bruiser, should appeal to fans of Martinelli zins and over the top Aussie shiraz. 

02 Alisos Pinot Grigio—Cold fermented, no ML. Refreshing, floral aroma. Crisp, clean, soft. A perfect palate cleanser before heading back over to taste with Steve Clifton.

Steve takes us into the B-C winery next door to Palmina. Steve and Greg take minimal interventionism to new extremes. Influenced seemingly by Rudolf Steiner, they only pick in the wee hours, sort and de-stem in the vineyard and resort again in the winery. I think they extract the juice from the grapes, not by the force of a press or the beating of boots, but by playing gentle Barry Manilow recordings until the berries weep away their saccharine fluids. They maintain a chilled fermentation room, top off every barrel with CA Registered Organic CO2 to inhibit oxygenation, and possess no mechanical devices. [Well, actually, I think they own a fork lift.] Anyway, on to the wines…

From the cold room, 02 Palmina Malvasia Bianca (Larner Vineyard)—Lovely straw bouquet, zippy, yummy. Dry. Excellent. 

02 Brewer-Clifton Sweeney Canyon Chardonnay—Hay and lemon nose. Huge intense, zippy, kick-ass acidity. Lot of grapefruit and some fleshy stone fruits. Wow!

02 PN Cargasacchi Vyd—The first wine of the day from Peter’s vineyard. Odd, grassy, leesy nose, probably from yeast. Very tight attack, high acid, bitter almond, cherry lozenge. Dry chalky finish. An awkward stage and too soon for me to tell about this one.

02 PN Melville Vyd (clone 114)—Also a grassy nose, with raspberry notes. Bigger than the Cargasacchi. Pomegranate, red cherry. Fine integrated oak. Excellent.

Then back over to Palmina for the best group of Italian varietal wines in CA.

01 Sangiovese Stolpman Vineyard (Santa Ynez Valley)—Cherry cola, cream soda nose. Big, dark, brooding, tannic, chewy cherry and chocolate. Very different from Bruno’s sangiovese from the same source. I’m certain that Steve snuck some Pride merlot into this wine. It is simply too “Napa”, too “brooksian”. Dynamite of a wine, but should be undrinkable with anything resembling Italian food. Try it with lacquered duck.

01 Nebbiolo Stolpman Vineyard (Santa Ynez Valley)—This is more like it. Lovely traditional character in the nose, probably in part from the use of Slovenian oak (as opposed to Slavonian, for you forest connoisseurs). Very tannic, traditional style. Bouquet is not unlike the 90 Scavino Barolo I had a few weeks ago. Dusty character. Terrific, but will require long aging. This is the most “old world” Italian varietal I’ve had from CA.

02 Syrah Alisos Vyd. (18 yr vines)—Nice nose. Very primary. High acid. Very big, thick.

02 Syrah Alisos Vyd. (7 yr vines)—Flatter finish. Dark chocolate. Lot of oak.

02 Barbera Bien Nacido (Santa Maria area)—Lovely pure barbera nose. Really, it smells like the varietal should. Really lush, sweet fruit, high acid. Super. Styled intermediate between generic Barbera d’Alba and the barrique aged Asti gems of Braida. Second best CA barbera I’ve had, after Renwood’s 93 Reserve.

02 Nebbiolo Rancho Sisquoc Vyd—Still in malo. Red cherry flavor, rather primary. Soft, but some chalky tannins in finish. Nowhere near as convincing as the Stolpman.

02 Merlot Honea Vyd (Los Olivos)—Slightly funky, red aromas. Mulberry, cherry, heavy oak. Served blind, no one guessed the varietal. It seemed like Petite Sirah to me. None of the greenness that usually infests local merlot. Interesting wine, but they had to kill the varietal character in the vineyard to dissemble the local terroir. A good move!

So now it was getting on 3 pm and we’d been tasting 5 hours. About time for some food. We stopped at Taco Loco in Buellton for some Mexican food that was way better than the name or location would lead one to believe. But then just about anything would taste good on an empty stomach with all the above barrel samples having scoured the insides of your mouth. Since after lunch we were going to finally head over to the “bastard ghetto” at Kahn Winery where Loring Wine Company runs its operation, and realizing what kind of wines Brian makes with pinot noir, I decided to kill off whatever taste buds remained by ordering Loco’s fieriest bowl of green chili. (For you grammatophiles, I ask why is the verb form of the noun “fire” spelled “fiery”? Why not “firey”, with the superlative forms being firier and firiest? Inquiring minds…) 

We arrive at Kahn with a note posted on the door saying that Wes Hagen of Clos Pepe, who also makes wine at the facility and who had been invited to join the fun, would not be able to join us. Wes did set aside bottles of his 2000 and 2001 Estate PNs for us to sample, and Brian tapped into Clos Pepe’s 2002 barrels at the end of the day before chasing us out of the winery. ;-)

Bruno, Chris and Rick met back up with us along with some other friends of Brian. Peter was busy knocking over barrels of Road Kill with the fork lift while Bruno’s German Shepards were running around the winery attempting to corner a mongoose on the loose. Turns out the mongoose was in the wrong place, as the only cobra around was Bruno himself, spitting venom at each of Brian’s barrel samples. Thankfully, the chili burn moderated any sensitivity I would otherwise have had to any defects in Brian’s wines. On with the show…

First victim of professional (being Bruno, Chris and Rick, not yours truly) criticism would be Brad Lowman. This might be Brad’s first foray into winemaking, I don’t really know, but if Brad is reading this, maybe you can comment. Pete got off the fork lift in time to try the Lowman version of 2002 Cargasacchi Vyd PN. Harvested at 23.5% according to Brad’s instructions, the choice of when to harvest drew immediate, stern disapproval from Bruno, and concurrence without scorn from Chris and Rick. Apparently, PN does not reach physiological maturity until the sugars reach 25% or higher around these cold climes. However, Brad had told me last year, over at Bob Senn’s LOW&SE, that he was after a higher acid, more restrained food friendly wine than is typical of the Santa Rita Hills. I’ll hopefully get a chance to try Brad’s finished product to see if he got what he was after.

02 Lowman PN Cargasacchi Vyd (Mt. Eden clone)—Bright berries, dense, black, spicy, licorice. Zesty finish.

02 Lowman PN Cargasacchi Vyd (115 clone)—Closed. Smokier than the other. Fizzy. Bit bitter, tarry, tannic. Too soon to tell where this will end up.

At this point, Brian started us on his line-up, what we’d waited all day to try. At this time I feel it is only fair to confess that the bit about the chili is a stretch of poet license, because if the reader had made it that far into the story, a little humor might be necessary to ward off slumber. In fact, I had chosen pretty neutral chicken fajitas.

First up were two samples from Brosseau Vyd (I believe Brian said Chalone AVA, though I’m not familiar with it). Brian considers this a possible mid-level price candidate for his portfolio, so he can offer a wine for that market segment.

02 LWC PN Brosseau (clone 113)—Sour cherry nose. Tart, bitter, with off flavors. Unpleasant. Bruno thought the fruit was improperly farmed.

02 LWC PN Brosseau (clone 115)—Brighter cherry nose. Sweeter fruit, better clarity, but astringent finish. 

Brosseau is a questionable wine. Methinks Brian would be well advised to treat any blend of these two samples with great care. The 113 seems so out of sorts that no blending could render it drinkable. But then I’m just the amateur critic.

02 LWC PN Rancho Ontiveros (113, Santa Maria AVA)—Classy, warm chocolate, vanilla nose. Very good black raspberry fruit. Lively on the palate.

02 LWC PN Rancho Ontiveros (114)—Smoky oak, black cherry nose. Zesty, ripe black cherry flavor.

02 LWC Rancho Ontiveros (115)—Bit higher toned. Sweet, cherry, w/ toast. Bit tart in finish. These 3 components should make a fine wine, with none of the typical vegetal quality that often afflicts Santa Maria PN.

02 LWC Rosella’s Vyd (667, Santa Lucia Highlands, run by the other Gary)—Reduced, dark fruit, fine tannins.

02 LWC Gary’s Vyd—Still fermenting. Good fruit, black, earthy. A “clonal” selection from Pisoni Vyd.

At this point Bruno and Brian argued over the use of the word clone. Brian called this a Pisoni clone. Bruno called it a selection. According to Brian, a set of vines propagated from a single cutting represents a clone. According to Bruno, given the allegation that Pisoni vines are propagated from a La Tache cutting, the clone is that of La Tache, and the Pisoni cutting is merely a selection from that clone. As a rocket scientist, I would want to put this to a quantitative test by genetically testing the Gary’s vines vs Pisoni vs La Tache, using a predetermined rule for defining distinct clones based on the number of genetic differences. I don’t think this will happen, but it sure is ponderous.

Then I learned that Gary Pisoni has planted merlot 3 deep closest to the roadway so that any prospective vine thieves would end up with a big surprise a couple years later should they try to propagate stolen cuttings. I then pointed out that Gary Pisoni himself may have fallen prey to that same trap. Apparently La Tache is planted to a few layers of Gamay Noir vines near its perimeter exactly to foil such surreptitious shenanigans. There’s a pretty good chance that Pisoni fruit is nothing more than high powered Moulin-au-Vent. At least that’s how it has always tasted to me. Anyway, back to reality…

02 PN Clos Pepe Vyd (667)—Deep aroma. Very dark, plumy, rich fruit, big tannins. Gnarly. Excellent. So far, I have to say I’ve preferred Brian’s editions of Clos Pepe PN to Wes Hagen’s. Nothing against Wes, as his estate wine is excellent in its own right. 

Now it was Peter’s turn to face the jury. While Peter is more the vineyardist than the vintner, he has tried his hand (to good success) at winemaking. Peter is using all used barrels. Bruno likes the fruit enough to encourage elevage in new oak.

02 PN Cargasacchi Estate (115, barrel #1)—Slight VA, very sweet fruit, slight soapy character. May still be active. According to Bruno, there might be microbial issues in this barrel, but not too late to eliminate the problem with proper care and a new barrel.

02 PN Cargasacchi Estate (115, barrel #2)—Reduced, skunky. Really good fruit, lush, toasty oak. Excellent.

Now for a change of pace. Presented blind is what turned out to be Peter’s soon to be famous “Road Kill” wine. This is made from 2002 syrah grapes from French Camp Vyd up in Paso. Cropped at 5 tons/acre, the story goes that a truck loaded with fruit had an accident coming out of the vineyard, toppling its cargo onto the highway. Peter made a low ball offer on the fruit, collected it off the road and trucked it to Buellton. Somehow, while waiting to be unloaded, another accident caused the load to be dumped, this time onto the asphalt parking lot. The double shock essentially pre-destemmed much of the fruit. Peter collected all but the bottom layer touching the pavement, essentially reducing the effective yield from 5 to 4 tons/acre, using the benefit of wishful thinking.

02 “Road Kill” Syrah French Camp (Paso Robles)—Slightly funky (is that tar?!), animal fur. Sweet raspberry, blackberry. Yummy!  

02 Cargasacchi Halama Vyd Syrah (co-fermented with 20% viognier)—Good nose, tasty, balanced, peppery. Chalky finish. Note: Halama is just outside the SRH AVA.

02 French Camp Cabernet Sauvignon—Great perfume, high acid, purple fruit. Lush, intense, long. Very good. Probably what Tom Hill has in mind when he preaches the potential of Paso cabernet. A good dose of new oak might help this challenge Sonoma and Napa cabs in the $25 price range.

Next, on Wes’s instructions, Brian presented a couple of barrel samples of 2002 Clos Pepe Estate PN. A blend of Pommard and 115 clones in 3 yr. old oak showed great dark color. Funky, reduced. Bit astringent. Fine dark fruit flavors. The next sample was the same clonal blend but in new oak. Also reduced. Still fermenting. Perky, peppery, good mouthfeel. Quite fine. Wes was kind enough to have set aside bottle samples of his 2000 and 2001 Clos Pepe Estate PN. The bottles were both about ¾ full and I do not know how long they had been open. I thought the 2000 showed a bit dull. The 01 was better, but I did not take notes.

At this point, we had run out of barrels to sample and it was time for me to return to Santa Barbara. You might think this is where it should end, but NO!, I mean, NU!

It was now about 5:30 and we had 7:30 dinner reservations at Restaurant NU, which I’ve reported on several times over the past year. On this occasion, Brian and Laurie, Charlie, John and Cindy, Peter and Julia, and Sam and I had a more relaxed, slower paced meal with wine. The food, as usual, was excellent CA cuisine, with French technique and a few Asian influences. I did not take notes and cannot recall all of the wines. But here are a few impressions:

95 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex—Very tight, mineral driven. Some lime and grapefruit zest aromatics, light citrusy fruit, more minerals, and very compact structure. Even with extensive breathing, even taking home the unfinished bottle and trying it over several nights, the wine never opened up to reveal much fruit. Still tastes very young. I had had this pre-release (probably in 96) and thought this had tremendous potential. I’m not so sure now because the fruit has not developed. But since the wine is still very primary, I’ll keep my mitts off the other bottle for maybe another 6-8 years. This could end up being like a top Haut Brion Blanc, needing a couple decades to strut its stuff. But at this point, I’m stumped. Not especially pleasant to drink. About 84 points. Better was…

NV Bollinger Brut—Good, not great bubbly. Just fine with the gravlax appetizer. A pleasant drink, but neither stylish nor structured. Medium mousse, golden fruit flavor, not especially yeasty. About 87.

96 Perrot-Minot Charmes-Chambertin—Pretty nice aromatics, with some earthy and woody tones atop black cherry. This started tight and needed 45-60 minutes to open up. I kept some in a glass while everyone else finished theirs early on to move into the CA PNs. Big mistake. When it finally opened, it showed classy, elegant balance and nuanced berry fruit. Well integrated oak. Modest length in finish. Started about 88 and got up to 92 point range. Paired nicely with double thick veal chop and wild mushrooms.

There were about 4 CA PNs, including two Lorings (one a Pisoni), a 2000 Longoria (missed the vineyard), another producer’s Pisoni, and maybe one more. I did not note the LWC vintage of Pisoni PN, but it was big, dark and brooding, showing excellent potential. Brian likes the way it drinks now, he’s so objective! It’s not in your face or oer the top like some Pisonis, but I think it will be better in 3-4 years after the youthful boisterity has a chance to mature and reel itself in.

We also had the 2000 Lagier Meredith Syrah, a wine I’d previously had at Hospice du Rhone where it showed well enough to spur me to buy some. At this time, the bottle seemed tight. Excellent fruit and acidity (not excessively tart like the first L-M vintage), but holding a lot back. If you got ‘em, I suggest letting it sleep for 2-3 years. It will last more than a decade.

We finished with a LH wine that stumped everyone as to the varietal. I brought the bottle, but I thought the chenin blanc fruit to be obvious. The wine was 1996 Pichot Les Larmes de Bacchus, a berry-selected late harvest, botrytised Vouvray in ½ bottle. I thought the botrytis was only marginally noticeable in the nose, but the chenin character was pretty obvious. OTOH, LH chenin is not a wine most people, even wine geeks, often encounter. Some guessed Riesling, but the Burgundian bottle shape should have ruled that out, as should the lack of yellow stone fruit, slate or paraffin. This was also less sweet than I’d have expected, about high VT or BA level. Floral, good acidity but not zingy. Crisp, refreshing finish went well with my Asian rice pudding (accented with ginger).

At this point, one expects the usual summary blather (e.g. a good time was had blah blah blah). I’ll let other participants in the day’s proceedings add to and comment on my notes. In any case, many thanks to Brian and Peter for making this happen; to Bruno, Chris, Rick, Steve, Brad and Wes for sharing your wines; and to Charlie for triggering it in the first place. 60 wines, plus another 8 or so at dinner. Not a bad day’s work.