Why does my head hurt this morning?

Had some guests over last night for dinner and a little wine. And by "little" I mean way too much.

Before the guests ever arrived, we pulled out a white that we were using in a few of the recipes; of course, we didn't use the WHOLE bottle, so we drank it while cooking.

The View 2011 Riesling

I tasted this and reviewed it here, in October.

The extra five months in the bottle only enhanced it; I bumped the rating from 82 to 85.






After our guests arrived, we switched over to red and began the festivities with and old favorite from Portugal:

Quinta do Crasto 2010 Flor de Crasto Douro

Notes of raspberry and plum; well structured and pleasant, a good entry level wine (around $20). We have enjoyed past vintages of this more than this one, perhaps it needed a bit more time in the bottle to fully develop. 82.






For the main event of the evening, we pulled out a nicely aged red that I came across at the Liquor Depot the other week:



Wolf Blass 2007 Grey Label Shiraz ($51)

The nose will get ripe berries with just a hint of chocolate and pepper. Very fruity palate; with well integrated tannins and a long, silky, soft finish. Terrific now and would likely improve with another 2-3 years in the cellar. 91.





Next up, in my never-ending quest to find a good Malbec, we opened up this bad boy:

2007 Valle Las Acequias Malbec ($21.95)

This had a very strange nose; my wife and mother described it as "mothballs". I'm not sure I agree with that description but it was definitely something off-putting. On the palate, it was better, but still nothing spectacular. I liked it more than anyone but I didn't drink much of it either. 79.

The quest continues.




One more bottle to finish up (and basically replace the one above), we went to an old favorite, 2010 Louis M. Martini Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. I've reviewed it a couple of times, here.

Great dinner and a lot of fun.....always fun with great wine!