With the Wino4Evers and some other folks.

BIG REDS IN AUSTIN - 34th Street Cafe Austin, Texas (1/19/2006)

Wine and bike geeks get together for a fun night at a local restaurant.

• N.V. Krug Champagne Brut - France, Champagne
  New label - Unmistakably Krug but in a lighter fashion. The 375s I've tried have been a bit darker in color and had more weight so perhaps they are bottled differently or age at a different rate. I'm betting that with time the new label will be very similar to the old label bottles. (93 pts.)
• 2003 Saint Gregory Pinot Meunier - USA, California, Mendocino County
  A nice drinking wine with a sweet, fruity character. Better with food. (87 pts.)
• 2003 Acorn Cabernet Franc Alegría Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
  A very solid wine with with a remarkably floral and fruity nose. I generally don't care for Cab Franc and this really surprised me. Good structure and it matched extremely well with the food (varied American bistro type of foods). (90 pts.)
• 2002 Novy Syrah Sonoma County - USA, California, Sonoma County
  This is a 90+ wine last night. A nice meaty nose and palate along with a good structure. A touch of heat on the finish otherwise a nice drink. (90 pts.)
• 2002 A. Rafanelli Merlot - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley
  Perhaps it's just very young but this merlot should not have the green, herbaceous streak that it did. Lots of green pepper and a harsh, acidic finish. There is definitely room for improvement. (86 pts.)
• 2002 Lewelling Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley
  Again an 89+ and will probably end up around 90. Solid cab that needs additional time. I like the style of the Lewelling wines as they are not over-the-top. I revisited this one later and it had improved with air time. (89 pts.)
• 2003 David Coffaro Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley
  Pleasant and fruity but without much to it. It matched well with some very peppery steak that was not going well with the other cabs. (87 pts.)
• 2001 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select - USA, California, Napa Valley, Stag's Leap District
  93+ and should improve rather dramatically. It's clearly too young to drink but I had to know how long we want to hold this wine. Tastings of this wine are few and far between. When first opened the entire kitchen filled with an espresso aroma. It was notable for the strength of the aroma. After a two-hour double decant the wine started to exhibit more complexity with blackberries, dark chocolate. It tasted very similar to the 1999 HSS at this point in its life. It had great structure, focus and the fruit was just glorious. Tannic as to be expected. I get the hype but the question is how long to hold the wine? There is something about the wine that makes me think that holding it too long might be an issue but it does have a good track record. [$$$; Decanted back into the bottle for two hours, needed more air time; Maybe 2008 for the next bottle?] (93 pts.)
  

Posted from CellarTracker

What a fun evening - my tongue is STILL purple!

My two WOTN's were the Lewelling and the HSS.
Imagine that - W4E digging two big Cali cabs.
Dunno what it is but I have always dug the Lewellings young much like WHL and Turnbull cabs for that matter.

Oh the Krug was definitely WOTN material too.

My two honorable mentions were the Acorn Cab Franc and the Novy Syrah. The Acorn had a wonderful floral bouqet and nice structure. The Novy was kind of a dark, thick, fruit monster and while I loved it at first (earlier in the evening) upon revisiting it after the cabs and such it seemed almost sickly sweet and jammy.

The Raf was a bit off - a bottle we had on a cruise just a month or so ago showed much better which is one of the reasons I brought it. And it was an '01 btw.

The Coffaro was waaaay tight. Personally I like his blends far better.

The Pinot Meunier was a very nice wine too.

All in all it was some damn good drinking and eating especially for a fairly short-notice get together. Kind of funny - as we mentioned last night every person there I had met through the web.
Well, except for my wife.

The Big Reds were way good - and the Internet people not too weird. LOL.

We need to become regulars at Uchi so we can talk them into letting me bring in the bubbly. That would be "Bubblies and Bait" in Austin.