Jean's birthday was celebrated, as per her request, by a weekend spent
camping in a State Park. Our first dinner on Friday was (for us) the
traditional grilled ribeyes with potatoes and onions. To accompany
this, we opened:

1995 Buehler Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
nose: cassis, plums, cedar
palate: medium body, silky tannins, good acidity, smooth finish

One of our older CalCabs, from a producer that you don't hear much about
(but who, in my experience, produce a tannic, ageworthy Cab). I went
with CalCab rather than Bordeaux because of the steaks and the desire to
open an older wine from the cellar. Although still fairly primary, this
wine worked as hoped for and seemed very classic in its proportions.

For her birthday dinner, Jean wanted spaghetti with meatballs and tomato
sauce (with an eye to what Andrew would willingly eat), so I cooked
that with a salad. As an aperitif with the opening of presents, we had:

NV Gruet Brut
nose: toasty, apples
palate: soft entry, mild toast, simple lemon/apple fruit

Not the best example I've had from Gruet, but still a reasonably
appealing sparkler.

With dinner, we opened:

1999 Rosenblum Eagle Point Vyd Zinfandel
nose: oak, oak, oak, dark fruit
palate: oaky, soft, undistinguished

This was the last bottle of Rosenblum Zin in our cellar and, on the
basis of this performance, we won't be buying more any time soon. In
their defense, though, a recently opened bottle of the '99 Rosenblum
Hendry Reserve Zin was much less oaky and more enjoyable. Still, this
wine was simply obscured by the excessive use of new oak, and just
barely enjoyable with the spaghetti. It also led me to wonder just how
long, if ever, it would take for the oak to integrate?

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net