The dinner at Chapeau was just extraordinary. Phillipe accomodated us with great spirit and a good deal of stemware. I did not take any notes; the following are simply retrospective impressions Unfortunately none of the wines were decanted, except for the Olson Ogden; following John Ogden's instructions I splash decanted it at home for an hour- He could not make the event and very generously sent along his wine!

There was a magnum of 1999 Talley Rincon Pinot Noir and, I believe, a 1995 Turley Moore that were not opened. We were eight, all at one table, and we had five flights, two wines each:

1996 Calera Selleck Vineyard Pinot
Leaner of course than the Williams Selyem but classic Calera flavor profile. Still structured, with black and red fruits, and a lovely, piney nose.
2001 Williams-Selyem Rochioli Vineyard Riverblock Pinot Noir
Fat, opulent, creamy, strawberries, raspberries and red currants; I could easily have drunk this all night.

1970 Montrose
I remember, in past years this wine had a trace of iodine on the nose, which later blew off. Not on this occasion, reticent nose, still vibrant, black fruits, plums, extracted and rich. I thought this got better over the course of the evening.
1978 Giscours
This was a particularly well stored bottle. SFWine thought this was five years past it's prime, while Matt preferred this to the Montrose. It definitely started out with a musty nose (which I referred to as vegetal, and Matt called "cheesy" , was very dry, but I don't believe it was past it (though I do wish I had found the 75 in storage!). Certainly it was more about secondary characteristics than fruit, but it was still redolent of black currants and toasty oak, and a fine accompaniment to food; certainly not oxidized in any way.

1985 Ridge Monte Bello
Where to start? Certainly leaner than the Montelena, with the characteristic mineral nuances from this vineyard, and black cherries. I hadn't thought about it when I picked these two wines but these were, I think, good examples of California Cabernet that are vinified in a Bordelais fashion. My friend Sharon said we had the full monty, which really got me laughing.
1987 Montelena Estate
Do I need to state that not one of us picked up any TCA taint? In the current climate I guess so. I recently tasted the 97 and simply called it stacked and packed and this was my impression here as well. This was dense, with black fruits, spicy oak, and amazing structure for a wine from this vintage.

2001 Corte Riva Merlot
This was a big favorite at the table, justifiably so. It certainly had a good deal of glycerin, and coffee and chocolate notes. It was a bit too sweet for my taste (unlike the Paloma or Switchback from memory), but perhaps that can be attributed to it's place in the line up.
2002 Olson Ogden Unti Vineyard Syrah
A beautiful rendering of the Dry Creek Valley style of Syrah, purple color; and with floral notes, black fruits, and French oak, all vying for attention.

1997 Rieussec
This was a major disappointment for me. Advanced in color, heavy on the palate, lacking acidity. I don't know if this might have had to do with poor storage or bottle variation.
2001 Darting Durkheimer Nonnengarten Rielaner Auslese
This wine just knocks me out. A grapefruit nose, with sparkling acidity, exotic, perhaps better suited to a course other than dessert.

Nice notes W_M,

Where exactly is Chapeau?

On top of your head!

David,

Bistro Chapeau!

out on Clement

Sounds like a great event Mook!

Bud,

Eric,

The food was utterly brilliant, even better than I had remembered, and again included an amouse bouche to start (a little cup of beet essence with goat cheese), a scallop dish, foie gras and crab/lobster salad as options, two extra desserts, all in addition to the three courses. Entrees and appetizers (previously mentioned) that had extra costs on the pre fixe menu were included in the cost, which was so modest I'm not going to quote it here! Chapeau and Alota fagina rock....