WTN: 92 Fisher Wedding, 93 Mondavi Reserve & more

[geo t.]

We got together with Dan and Carol Myers on Friday night for more food, wine and friendship, and as is always the case, had a very good time indeed. The setting was casual, as we started off with some Sauvignon with bread, crackers, cheese and pâté.

2000 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly Fume En Chailloux, 12% alc.: Of this pale gold, Dan exclaimed, “Wow, this has a serious citric bang to it,” and he had a point; it shows lots of tart grapefruit and lemon, with a very subtle note of creamy oak, racy acidity and some mineral and detergent on the finish. As it warms and opens in the glass, notes of guava and pineapple emerge in the background. An excellent match for a triple cream brie, and as well as it’s received, this is still young and primary; I’d love to try it again in about five years, but alas, it was our last bottle.

1992 Fisher Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon Wedding Vineyard, 13% alc.: This dark garnet Cabernet is showing no hint of rust as of yet, and drew immediate descriptors such as asphalt, tar, poop, leather and cedar, and these were indeed complimentary components to the considerable cassis and black currant character of the wine, and there’s a little chocolate and a nice kiss of oak here as well. I found it to have a velvety texture, despite tannins that still need five years or so to tone down; Dan described as “more like silk,” explaining, “Velvet has a little more texture, silk just glides.” Whatever the case, you probably get the picture; this is a lovely wine, and as it opens, it becomes even smoother, with the tar and asphalt layering into the background as it undergoes a continuous, marvelous evolution, showing more and more fruit, but never becoming a “fruit bomb.” Great with a bite of Montgomery Farmhouse Cheddar, and even better with Dan’s roasted root veggies and pan seared filet mignon on a sliced baguette with caramelized onions and parsley lemon compound butter.

1993 Robert Mondavi Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, 13.5% alc.: An inky purple garnet, this is a rougher wine than the Fisher, and despite the fact that it smoothes out nicely with extended air, it never does achieve the “silk” or “velvet” of the previous selection. Still, it shows plenty of black currant, cassis and plum, accented with notes of dark chocolate, saddle leather, cedar and a hint of mahogany; Dan added impressions of “bright cherries and a nice, sharp, tart spiciness.” Another good match for the filet, this is a very fine wine on its own terms, and one that needs even longer to resolve the considerable tannins than does the Fisher, so there’s no reason to be in any hurry to open one if you have any.

Reporting from Day-twah,

geo t.