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After about 5 hours we called it quits and my hero of the night award goes to Ray who came from Baltimore, drove back and got up at 4 to go to work-- Oh to be young again.

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Left coast meets DC Coast--Crudites hold their own.. As I said you can always tell a Berkley girl-- but you can't tell them much. Lafon and her friend Keisha joined dinwiddie, Raybanz, and Capitolkat at Palena for a Pinot fest and good food, good conversation, and good wine was shared by all.

the wine line up was
Macphail-2003 sonoma coast- slightly yeasty on first note, which blew off with a slightly barnyardy residue. A light purple color with good feel in the mouth, emerged to have a currant body with good balance and toasty end.
99-Pomard -- Rugrines--another barnyard nose- not uncommon for this varietal was described as a good barnyard, but was subdued compared to the Macphail, with less balance and was probably the bottom wine of the night, sweet and short finish.
03 Kosta-Browne-- smokey nose, with cherry highlights. I almost would like to smell this wine as much as drink some others. could have used some more time to open up but it went down so smooth the bottle was soon at an end with this group. Balanced long finish that coated the tongue- Keisha said things like heavenly , yummy.. she was right!!
99 Martinelli--big powerful 15.9% alcohol content that was a hot wine that needs some more time to smooth it's rough edges. Developed in the glass over an hour to a jammy fruit bomb that coated the mouth,throat and probably my stomach.This wine could use a serious decant and would probably have showed better- but it still was a great companion to the lamb or duck Palena provided on its 5 course menu.
97-Gevrey-Chambertin-- a showy wine that is ready now. A decanter was quickly provided by the courteous Ben, our waiter. balanced , fruit included blackberries, and a dark cherry nose, but short finish kept this from being my wine of the night.

dinwiddie provide a split of Sauterne that I didn't write up as I only took a sip, but it was powerful , serious stuff that complimented the cheese and dessert well.

food was special as the 5 courses for all of us included a cheese plate and dessert developed by the former White House pastry chef- the restaurant's co-owner. my rabbit "en porchetta" was superb particularly accompanied by the mustard glazed endive. the crispy fricassee of Florida frog legs and cress had pickled shiitake mushrooms with a smoky black trumpet mushroom flan that was served with my favorite wine of the night- the K-B. super!!
Most that I saw had the roasted lamb or grilled muscovey duck-- the comments led me to believe the food was all terrific, and not much sharing went on as everyone sopped their plates with an extra portion of bread..Lafon regaled us with stories of her extensive cellar, buying sprees with the rich and famous, the Berkley Hills and an open invitation to share all that anytime we were in her neck of the woods. Keisha was a ringer who pretended to be wine novice with a great nose, exceptional pallate, and a charming fake innocence about wine. She has been invited to become a full fledged member of the Cru.

After about 5 hours we called it quits and my hero of the night award goes to Ray who came from Baltimore, drove back and got up at 4 to go to work-- Oh to be young again.

Norm

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