Dinner with family

[Florida Jim]

With a salad of arugala, pears, walnuts and blue cheese:

2000 Pieropan, Soave La Rocca:

nose of cooked pears, linoleum, mineral and resin; nice complexity/

full body, very smoothly textured and tremendous concentration, flavors are all about the fruit and mineral aspects of the nose, ripeness approaching RS, lovely balance/

very long and flavor-filled finish.

A remarkable wine with a good future despite seeming ready to drink now. The concentration alone must be experienced to be believed.

About $20, discounted.

With salmon hash (made with potatoes, collard greens and spices):

1999 Grapeleaf, Pinot Noir Sonoma County:

Showed similar to a recent bottle with good cherry tones and a nice structure but a little too much wood for me.

About $22, delivered.

With cheese and nuts:

1996 Neyers Syrah:

Nice Rhone-ish fruit, good density and some complexity that all got masked by the dill/oak overlay (nose, palate and finish). A little remains for this evening – hopefully the dill will dissipate.

About $50, retail.

Best, Jim

[Craig Camp]

$20 for La Rocca? What a gorgeous wine. Makes all those $75.00 California chardonnays disappear from your mind. Why spend that kind of money when there are so many wines like this available?