What a terrific evening! Despite some miserable traffic all around, a dozen of us met up atThe Girl and the Fig in downtown Sonoma. In attendance:

Board-O + lovely wife
Latour67
Pinot Envy + hubby (came up from SoCal! )
Babnik + delightful wife
She_Laughs
Skwid
Lafon Rochet
Myself & Teri

A full evening of great wine, great food, fantastic service, and most importantly fantastic people and stimulating conversation. It was wonderful to finally meet Board-O, and terrific to see both familiar faces and meet new friends. The Girl and the Fig was in top form, providing attentive service, plenty of decanters and glassware, and outrageously delicious food for extremely fair prices (waiving of more than half the corkage fees was a nice touch as well).

The wines? Well, I took my notebook and had every good intention of taking complete and detailed tasting notes, but as the wine flowed and the conversation got going the notebook got more and more neglected. Funny how that happens… Anyhow, I do have most, if not all, the wines listed as well as some notes:

2001 Gregory Graham Viognier
Purchased off the wine list for the reasonable price of $42.00. This was also present (a single bottle) at the New Orleans Magnum Party, and I do not recall being as impressed then as I was last night. Bright and refreshing, with a perfumed nose of melon and fig. Nice stuff.

1993 Amiot-Servelle Chambolle Musigny “Les Charmes”
Good color with just a little bricking around a light red core. On the nose this is very soft and subdued, with notes of tart cherries and earth. I little thin on the palate, and surprisingly (for a 93) little tannin. A pleasant, if not terribly remarkable, wine.

1985 Williams Selyem Rochioli Vineyard Pinot Noir
Stored in an underground passive cellar since release, the cork was soaked to within ¼ inch of the top but no sign of seepage . Nice dark color with surprisingly little bricking, I was thrilled to discover this wine is still holding up quite well indeed! A great nose, showing bright cherries, mushrooms, earth, and cranberries. Still sturdy with good structure and balance.

1999 Saintsbury Brown Ranch Noir
Nice nose, showing dark cherries and plum. A very pleasant and well done Pinot.

2000 Failla Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir
I said over and over again how much I love this wine. I still do.

2001 Tandem Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir
Wow, I love this Pinot. Full of stuffing, ripe and spicy fruit, a big bold wine with plenty of backbone.

1994 Matanzas Creek Merlot
I was really liking this wine and found myself going back again and again. Maturing, but still going strong, the tannins are smooth, ripe and soft while the rich ripe fruit is balanced with plenty of acidity.

1966 Mouton
What a nice gesture of Babnik to bring this wine! Some may remember the Board-O story of breaking his last two bottles of this wine – 20 years apart! So Babnik brought a bottle to share. A beautiful nose of white flowers, graphite, and cherries. Soft and elegant on the palate. Not a blockbuster, but a fine mature Boardeaux that was a treat to taste.

1994 Dominus
Wow, here is the real deal – and my WOTN. Deep dark color with a HUGE aromatic nose, displaying black cherries, plum, cassis, and spice. Deeply complex on the palate, with layers upon layers of intriguing fruit. Thick, rich, and compelling this wine still has a bright future and I would guess will improve for at least another 10 years. Simply a beautiful wine.

1992 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet
My #2 WOTN, but I failed to take any notes – just sipped and enjoyed this rich, complex wine. Outstanding.

2001 Hendry Primitivo, Block 24
If you like big, rich, jammy, but incredibly well balanced Zinfandel, you HAVE to get some of this. Full of stuffing, a compellingly rich and extracted Zin that qualifies as a food group in itself, yet remains elegant and balanced.

Tokay Aszú 6 Puttonyos Mézes Mály 1993
Delightful. Light and sweet, tre yummy!

1994 Grgich Hills Violetta
Babnik said this was the first wine he and Mrs. Babnik ever purchased when first coming to the Napa Valley – Very nice choice to share with this group. Apparently this is a blend of Riesling and Chardonnay, though I thought Board-O nailed the character of the wine when he suggested it might be a late harvest Sauvignon blanc. Rich and honeyed, very nice.

1963 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port
My 2nd experience with this awesome Port – both times thanks to skwid. I have pretty much come to the conclusion that I cannot adequately evaluate or appreciate young port, but once they are mature it’s a whole other ballgame – great stuff.

All in all it was a delightful evening.

Eric, thanks so much for setting this up. It was our great pleasure to meet you and the others we hadn't met before, and to see skwid and the Pinot Envy's again. We spent the last 5 days travelling with latour67 whose wife stayed home to help arrange a cleanup from a horrible storm. I loved sitting with PE for a time and talking about wine and anything else that popped into our minds. I had never tried a Tandem wine before and was very impressed by their PN. Eric was much better than me about taking notes. I brought my notebook and just threw it on a seat without writing a word. Thanks again to all.

Eric, I brought the Gregory Graham to New Orleans. It's pretty good stuff for the $$$ (especially in the summer). I believe MudPuppy still has some.