Tuesday was my birthday, and my friends and neighbors H&T made me dinner - I had just returned from SF that afternoon. We ended up as a group of 12 - close friends all, on the back deck, enjoying the end of summer with a potluck dinner. A few lovely wines:
2006 Abeja, Viognier: Nose of exotic fruits, very thick and heavy aromas of pineapple, guava, flowers, honey, melons. On the palate, rich, sweet fruit, quite heavy on the tongue. It is delicious, but I wish it wasn't quite so ponderous. The finish has a nice nutty quality. (3.0-)
2006 Macualan, Vespaiolo: My favorite summer wine, all melons, honeysuckle, peaches and apple. Fresh and lively acids. (3.0+)
1999 Trimbach, "Cuvée Frederic Emile" Riesling: A monster, with loads of petrolic apple, pear and mineral essences, surprisingly well-balanced in the mouth, long finish of pears, minerals and a hint of almond. (3.5)
1999 Alvaro Palacios, "Finca Dofi" Priorat, from Double-Magnum: A superb wine, still very young. Loads of berries, earth and chocolate on the nose. Very dark fruits - hints of leather and spices as the secondary aromas begin to emerge. On the palate, deep, plums, currants, coffee, lovely. Firm tannins and good acid - this big bottle still has 15 years in it! Lovely finish, with the tannins very ripe and velvety. (4.5-)
1995 Bartolo Mascarello, Barolo, from Magnum: Classic Barolo, with tar, truffle, dark cherries, violets and dried rose petals in spades. Really classic, though beginning to show a bit of age at the very edges - this is not one for holding much longer. Soft in the mouth, with the fruit still very much present. A bit dry at the finish. Lovely (4.0-)
1991 Diamond Creek, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gravelly Meadow, Napa Valley: Deep cassis and earth aromas. Very harmonious nose. Though I am not a huge Cab aficionado, this smelled lovely, and did not disappoint on the palate. Loads of dark cassis, plum, dark chocolate and leatherin the mouth. Tannins well-integrated and fully resolved. Drinks beautifully now, but consume before 2011. (4.0+nb)
I woke up in the middle of the night to a pounding rainstorm.
The next evening:
1998 Numanthia, from Magnum: 750ml bottles of this first vintage of Numanthia in my cellar seem to have started fading in the last year, so I was worried that this would be starting to go soon, but it is not - the nose is all dark chocolate and raspberries, with earthy, mushroomy elements. The over-the-top vanilla aspect that I remember from this wine when young was completely gone - totally integrated into the rest of the wine. On the palate, it was deep, chocolately and subtle - none of the whack-me-over-the-head quality that this bottling had young. The finish was long, smooth and lingering ... perfect with a stuffed Mexican-style pork loin. (4.0-)

The last day in San Francisco - lunch at
Dinner at
It is an incredible piece – I am not a huge fan of conceptual art, but this was so haunting, hopeful and lonely in an unselfconscious way that I couldn't help but be touched by it. There was nothing particularly voyeuristic about it (a concern I had before walking in to see it; there's LOADS of bad stuff out there that coasts on smug superiority ...), none of the messages are attributed, none are given any context, none are presented differently from any other. It's mind-boggling, how many conversations are going on at any given time – how many people are reaching out, trying, all the time. The piece was absolutely, completely mesmerizing. I went to see it on two consecutive days, and would have gone a third, except the museum was closed that day. Some other interesting installations as well in those galleries.
My friend
Last night,
I can't say enough about the wine choices - I loved the list. The menu really lent itself to whites, and we stuck to those all night. A revelation was the 2003