Dinner with Friends in Old Town

Originally posted on the WLDG forum.
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Kurt works for Bobby Kacher, so his meals are usually accompanied by wines that he gets through work. Our evening went as follows:

2005 Furque 3 Cepas: From Mendoza, this was Kacher Selections producer of the month in September '08. A blend of 40% malbec, 30% tempranillo and 30% syrah, it was actually the syrah that stood out for me and I found the nose to be somewhat Rhone-ish. Dark brooding fruit, hearty tannins, some sediment as the producer doesn't filtrate. Very nice wine for the price, it retails for around $12.

2004 Domaine Chevalier Ladoix 1er Cru An absolutely beautiful, classic burg that went fabulously with the snails in butter, garlic and pesto. Gorgeous medium gold color, apples and earth on the nose, perfectly balanced acidity and oak. Lovely.

2003 Andre Brunel Chateauneuf de Pape Les Cailloux This is what I expected from an '03 Rhone. I haven't tasted a whole lot of CdP in my life, but I know enough to know that this was atypical. Much more fruit and fewer tertiary aromas and flavors, it was also somewhat lacking in structure. After a while in the glass it did improve a bit, letting some leathery notes emerge. Not a bad wine overall, but I found myself wishing that I had chosen the Cote Rotie instead when Kurt asked me to pick from about 8 wines what would accompany the main course of hanger steak marinated in chianti, olive oil, garlic, sea salt, pepper and thyme.

2005 Quinta do Alqueve Colheita Tardia, We chose this to accompany the plate of cheese (tallegio, brillat saverin, gouda), fig spread, honey and candied walnuts. It was surprisingly not very sweet, either on the nose or on the palate. It didn't make much of an impression on me one way or the other, but I must admit that by this time all the preceding wine of the evening had begun to have a pretty strong effect on me, and I was in not in the best mind-frame to evaluate. I'm chalking it up to the high alcohol content in the first and third wines, because although there were only three of us drinking, a bottle consumed over the course of 5 hours with food doesn't normally have such a strong impact on me.

A very nice evening overall.