We returned yesterday from three days in upstate New York, some of spent visiting some of the Finger Lakes wineries. ellwer and I had arranged to meet for dinner at Pascale's in Syracuse and we were joined by Chuck, the restaurant owner and an avid wine enthusiast. ellwer brought a 1982 Cos d'Estournel and I've never had a great Cos...til Monday. The '82 was just reaching it's prime and was rich, smooth, and elegant, yet with an iron fist in that velvet glove. I brought a 2002 Marquis Philips Shiraz 9 which has been reviewed frequently. Suffice it to say it paired excellently with my confit.

After a disappointing experience at the Arad Evans Inn in Fayettteville outside Syracuse the night before, Pascale's was a welcome change. The food was excellently prepared and the service attentive, yet pleasantly unobtusive. The two hours flew by. I hope to have a retrun engagement, and ellwer, if you ever get down this way, we'll get a group together. Thanks for setting this up.

P.S. I'm trying to get ellwer to this site. He'd be a welcome addition.

sounds like a great dinner. i'm glad you finally found a cos to your liking. i remember discussing that in nyc. by the way we won't hold it against ellwer, that he is a friend of yours

Pimp the site, Board-o, pimp it!

LOL. I'm not indiscriminately pimping the site. I still have a fear that this site will get too big and degenerate the way the WS site has. ellwer was a great pleasure and I'd love to see him here. Hey, we just got Maresh here. His family owns a well-respected vineyard (winery also?) in the Willamette Valley.

I do not fear that my pimping the site will make it de-evolve into mayhem -- that is why we have moderators here. heh heh

Besides, I think it takes 10 successful pimps to get one regular poster here.

i know what you mean tj. i got bret here for 2 posts and i haven't seen him here since. that reminds me, when i see him this weekend i will have to ask him where he's been.

Ant-- I was gonna ask you about him. Is he still the Luke Skywalker to your Obi-Wan/Yoda?

tj,

yes and no. he just got engaged and i remodeling his house so i haven't seen him in a while. we are supposed to do dinner this weekend.

Smack him around and tell him to get busy tasting some wine. Prioprities, man, priorities! Sheesh.

ellwer emailed me last night and said he was going to take a look at our site.

now everyone remember to be on their best behavior. we will be having a friend of pizza man stopping by for a visit