Wonderful dinner with Phil and Francine from Healdsburg to celebrate the post-holidays and the completion of Francine’s first book!! Congratulations, Francine!! 

1996 Marc Bredif Vouvray Moelleux Nectar:  My husband bought this bottle in 1998 (way before us meeting and our marriage).  He held on to this bottle for 15 year and it was a nice treat to enjoy this with Phil and Francine.  Paired this with the duck rilette pate with mix berry compote course.  It still has tons of fruit on the nose: green apple and grapefruit were prominent.  The mouth was very well balanced with some still vibrant acidity, rounded out well with a subdued sweetness.  This is very approachable wine in comparison to the sauternees.

2010 Carlisle “The Derivative” Sonoma County:  This is the first Carlisle white that we tried at home.  We’ve been club members with Carlisle for several years and recall Jay (winemaker) mentioning that they’d like to start dabbeling with whites.  Bravo, Jay and Michael!  Bravo!!  The body structure was similar to a white bordeaux. Very balanced. Good acids that paired very nicely with the sauteed shrimp with salsa verde sauce.  Nice lemony fruit flavors. Easy to drink. I look forward to sipping more Carlisle whites.

2004 Sean Thackrey “Andromeda” Pinot Noir, Devil Gluch Ranch, Marin County:  Pinot Noir in Marin County?!  Who knew!?  Over the past few years, we’ve tried a handful of Thackrery wines and it’s consistently awesome!!  We enjoyed the Andromeda with our pork tenderloin roast (roast was probably a bit too spicey for this delicate wine; damn you Emeril Lagasse and your spice) and the positive raves from the dinner crowd were unanimous.  I’m always afraid that our (older) pinot are over the hill; but my husband continues to prove me wrong!  This wine was immediately appealing, with zero time in a decanter. It was remarkably balanced, a wonderful fruit with a hint of chocolate flavor.  The aging of this wine brought out the complexity and long finish.  Right now it is an extremely enjoyable wine.  Once again, my husband was right!  We have a boat load of other 2004 Pinots to try in our cellar and I’m beyond excited!!