We held an off-line at our house on 12-23. MLV, as always, did an amazing job. Emilio from WS is the group scribe, so I will post his write-up followed by my notes.

Emlio wrote: "First of all a big thank you to mona lisa vito and Jcocktosten for hosting this event. You cannot ask for any better or more gracious hosts. The food mona lisa vito prepared was great as usual! Attending the offline were Jc and mlv, Board-O and his wife and son, gary44 and his wife, myself and my wife. Here are the wines we had for the evening and my impressions....

1994 Newton Napa Valley Chardonnay

This was in a magnum but thought this wine was getting tired and fading. Not a lot of fruit at this point and kind of reaffirmed my belief that California Chardonnay does not age very well. 82 points but was probably much better when it was in its prime.


2004 Martinelli Chardonnay 'Martinelli Road'

Aroma and flavor of apple and pear. Full bodied, creamy style, well balanced with a touch of lemon and oak on the finish. 91 points.


2004 Domaine Zind-Humbrect Gewurztraminer

Beautiful floral nose. Taste of lime and white grapefruit with a very long, crisp, dry finish. Great wine with the food. 91 points.


1999 Dr. Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese

Tastes of lime and apricot with a bit of spritz. Great acidity and mildly sweet for an Auslese. Could have rated this higher if the finish were longer but delicious anyway. 91 points.


2004 Alesia Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir

Lots of cherry and strawberry in this very well balanced Pinot. Great acidity with smokey, berry flavors on the long finish. 92 points.


2001 Laurona Montsant

Predominant blackberry flavor with a hint of cassis and a bit spicy. Finish is very dry with firm tannins. I thought this might benefit from another year or two in the bottle but might have been in the minority on this. 89 points.


2000 Shafer Relentless

Lots of tobacco with a slight bit of blackberry and boysenberry. I thought this was very austere and didn't seem to have the fruit of the '99 Relentless. Short on the finish and unbalanced. 82 points.


2002 Hugo y Eduardo Pulenta Gran Corte

A Malbec, Cabernet, Merlot blend from Argentina. Quite a bit of raspberry and fig flavors with a taste of chocolate on the finish. Tannins are firm and although I liked it I thought it could benefit with a couple more years of bottle age. 89 points.


2003 Martinelli Jackass Hill Zinfandel

A fruit driven, juicy wine with layers of strawberry, raspberry and boysenberry. A touch of spice on the very smooth, long finish. I love drinking this wine. 93 points.


2004 Nadeau Critical Mass Paso Robles Zinfandel

Raspberry and raisin flavor and quite sweet. This was on the verge of being a port wine and definitely should be served with dessert. Very smooth, sweet finish with an aftertaste of raisin. 88 points.


We also had a Champagne to start the evening but I took no notes as we were having too much fun socializing. Once again a big thank you to mlv and Jc for putting together such a wonderful dinner. Great to see everyone again and will look forward to the next offline. Missed seeing Rothko and his wife and hope they can make the next one. "

These are my notes
"Thanks to everyone for coming. It was a pleasure as alwaysm and thanks to Emilio for taking notes.

This is all from memory so here we go.

The Champagne was N.V. Tarlant Champagne Brut Zero - Extremely dry champagne - som eyeast, some apply and a slight tropical note. Quite nice. 88 points.

1994 Newton Napa Valley Chardonnay

I agree that this was past its prime. Neutral in flavor with not much fruit showing. Still interesting to taste an aging Cali Chard. 84 points for me.


2004 Martinelli Chardonnay 'Martinelli Road'

Quite tasty, more oak than I usually prefer in Chards, but very powerful and creamy. 91-2 points.


2004 Domaine Zind-Humbrect Gewurztraminer

Golden in the glass - Powerful nose with violet (possibly) but definitely floral. Loads of grapefruit and lychee with an oily texture. Delicious and one of the best deals around. 92 points (this has always scored 90-92 for me).

1999 Dr. Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese - I don't recall specific notes from this one other than I really enjoyed it and it paired superbly with the potato pancake/smoked salmon course. Definitely over 90 points though.

2004 Rhys Alesia Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir - Our first sample of these which we have received in the last month or so. Delicious wine, tons of cherry, some smokiness, hints of dark berries as well. Long balanced finish. Very nice. 92-93 points.

2001 Laurona Montsant

I enjoyed this wine. Very Rhone-line in its nose and flavor profile. Earthy, yet fruit driven. Darker fruits with some leather. Quite a tasty wine. 88 points.

2000 Shafer Relentless

Extremely dark in the glass. Tons of tobacco on the nose. Somewhat lacking in the fruit initially. I agree this was out of whack on Saturday. 84-85 points on Saturday night. However, we revisited this last night, and it was far superior. In realm of 88 points for me, which is a significant change. I suspect that this should have been decanted to show better.


2002 Hugo y Eduardo Pulenta Gran Corte

I concur with Emilio's note on this. 88 points.


2003 Martinelli Jackass Hill Zinfandel

Simply divine. I loved this wine. It was far more balanced that I expected and although it has been a while, I think I prefer it to the Jackass. Loads of power with an excellent texture. Easily 94-95 points for me.

2004 Nadeau Critical Mass Paso Robles Zinfandel

Figuring that not much could follow the Jackass Hill, we decided, on a whim, to open this as an additional wine. We recently received it and knew it would be an over the top Zin more suited to match dessert. Coming in at a whopping 17.1% alchol. Primarily rasiny on the nose and palate, with some red fruits showing as well. Raspberry and raisin flavor and quite sweet. I enjoyed this and really like this producer. 89-90 points.

Defnitely missed Mr. and Mrs. Rothko."

I was wondering when you guys were going to post your notes!

Sounds like an absolutely fantastic time, with lots and lots of wines (although it seems like a few were disappointments).

I wish we could have gone, but I wouldn't have been much fun, as I probably would have wound up on the couch asleep at about 9:00 pm.

I hope to be able to attend the next one.

It was great although we missed you guys.

Definitely a couple clunkers mixed in, but overall great food, great wine and a great time had by all.

My notes and scores were from memory so may be off here and there. We still have the lineup on display in our Dining Room as we have big dinners set for tonight and New Years as well, so we will see what happens.

The Rocket Scientist and I will hopefully be able to make the drive to the next one! I mean, Tampa's not *so* far, right?

Its not. Chilepepper from the Tampa area made it to one of our off-lines last year, so hopefully you 2 can make it to one.

Yes, would have been nice to be down there and enjoy this one, but unfortunately Christmas related activities kept me up here. I'll get down there again sometime...but it looks like its possible to actually get a Tampa group going here finally.

FWIW's I recieved my daugther's gymnastics schedule and there is a meet at her gym in Weston on 2/4...which is also my son's birthday. If a 2/3 date would work I could probably attend. There's also a meet in Miami on the 17th/18th..but I'm not sure if she's signed up for that one.

Welcome to VC, neighbor