Courtesy of Mark Johnson w/ comment by Kent Keating at the bottom…
Greetings!
We went to the Bonaccorsi tasting tonight at Paradise Pantry – here are my notes:
We started with the 2006 Viognier from Vogelzang Vineyard. At $53 it’s one of the most expensive Viogniers I’ve ever had, but it also was one of the best. Very lush and tons of fruit.
Second was the 2006 Pink Monkey Rose of Pinot at $18. It was simple and a bit like Kool-aid.
Third up was the 2005 Santa Rita hills Pinot. We all liked it as our favorite of the two Pinots, but not worth $60.
Fourth was the Melville Pinot at $62. It was a bit rustic and lacking fruit and finesse.
Last was the 2005 Larner Syrah. We all noticed a hint of spritz at first but it quickly went away. It was a good wine, but once again we’ve had better Syrahs (like the recent Saxon Brown I had) for less money.
Though their 1 oz. pours were a kinda skimpy, they at least had a very nice all you can eat cheese, proscuitto, and bread buffet.
For dinner, we walked down to Café Bariloche. It was my first time there. The food was pretty good, but not remarkable. Kent’s main dish and salad dish was great, Kathie’s Jerk chicken was tasty but not spicy enough, and mine was blah. For wine I brought a 2003 Carlisle Petite Sirah that was pretty good with lots of clean fruit showing, but Kent’s wine was better: the 2005 Carlisle “Dry Creek” Syrah. It was deep, rich, and smoky.
Note: they could use new glassware.
Mark Johnson
Commander Printed Products
3450 Camino del Sol
Oxnard, CA 93030
805-988-5880 / Fax: 805-988-6880
Comment from Kent Keating…
My wine was actually the 05 “Russian River” syrah. Really enjoyed the South American restaurant with dishes from Argentina and Chile primarily. The empanadas were very tasty. Some pretty authentic food. Nice wine list of wines from Argentina and Chile.
Let’s all get together for an official “open that bottle” night. This is when you actually open that bottle you’ve been saving for some special occasion – you know, the one with the sentimental story behind it or the one given to you by a special friend or the one you paid an exuberant amount of money for. That’s the one! For those of you interested, we can select a night, find a location or do this virtually – whichever works best for you – bring your special bottle, tell your story and finally enjoy the wine. If you’re not in the Ventura County area, you should still plan an “open that bottle night” party where you are, with friends or not and then share your stories on the blog. It’ll be great fun hearing everyone’s stories of why this particular wine is special to you and also how the wine tasted once you finally opened it up. Who’s in?