Fall Meeting 2008

We would like to invite everyone to our home for the Four Seasons Wine Club on Saturday, November 8th at 7:00 pm. Please check your calendars and let us know if that day and time work for you.

Once we have a feel for attendance, we’ll send out some additional information including our address.

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Laura and Frank
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Thanks to Laura & Frank, a wondrful time was had by all who attended. We celebrated the birthdays of Dave & Lynda, had excellent food & wine, and a good laugh over the DVD of the Bush impersonator.



Frank/Laura: Chili Hillinger Austrian Sparkling Wine
Falset 2004 Grenache/Cabernet
Ann: Risotto with
mushrooms & pancetta Far Niente 1997 Napa Cabernet
Jim: Flank Steak & Antinori Tignanello 1999
Autumn salad
Dave/Lynda: Risotto with Fontanafredda 1996 Barolo
funghi & white truffle
Kathy/Dan: Chicken satay Pichon Baron 1989 Bordeaux
Francois Cream Cake

From 4 Seasons Fall 2008

REVIEWS:

International Wine Cellar (1) Drink: 2006 - 2025 94(+?)
Wine Spectator (1) Drink: 2005 98
Wine Advocate (1) Drink: 2002 - 2027 95

Bordeaux Blend - Second Growth
1989 Pichon Baron
France - Bordeaux - Pauillac

Château Pichon Baron is a Second Growth classified Bordeaux estate located in the
Pauillac appellation. Impressive saturated ruby color. Pure, classic Pauillac aromas of black cherry, bitter chocolate, menthol and flowers. Very intensely flavored,
precise and penetrating, with an extremely primary flavor of cassis. Almost
magically light on its feet owing to its rather strong acidity. A very young,
extremely long wine with great tensile strength. May yet merit a higher score
with another six to eight years of bottle aging.
- Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar Issue 103 , July/August 2002

Gorgeous aromas of currants, berries and minerals. Full-bodied, with juicy
tannins and a long, long fininsh. Same as ever. This will age for decades to
come. Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year in 1992. Super quality. '89/'90
Bordeaux non-blind horizontal.
- James Suckling, Wine Spectator

Both the 1989 and 1990 vintages exhibit opaque, dense purple colors that
suggest massive wines of considerable extraction and richness. The dense,
full-bodied 1989 is brilliantly made with huge, smoky, chocolatey, cassis aromas
intermingled with scents of toasty oak. Well-layered, with a sweet inner-core of
fruit, this awesomely endowed, backward, tannic, prodigious 1989 needs
another 5-6 years of cellaring; it should last for three decades
-Robert Parker, Wine Advocate
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Dear Gang,

We had a great time last night and are honored to be included in such a wonderful group. Indeed, we are grateful for our good friends. Thanks to all of you for exceptional wine and food and, most important, the special sharing of life’s bounty.

Regards,

Frank and Laura
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Dear All:

Thanks for a swell time last evening! The fellowship was delightful! The foods were luscious and abundant! The wines were truly spectacular …

Dave & Lynda - Enjoyed celebrating your BDays with you!

Frank & Laura –

Special thanks to you guys for hosting. And Frank, thanks for sharing the humorous Bush video.
Since the roads to our farm are unpredictable in the Winter (we both use 4WD), we’d like to offer to host in the SPRING … so please count on us then (that leaves the Winter gathering if somebody else would like to volunteer …).

Love you all! K

Spring Meeting 2008

Four Seasons Wine Club
Wines and Food for Spring


Hi All – It looks like Saturday, May 31st is a go for the second gathering of the Four Seasons Wine Group. Everyone is available this night, with Rodger as our only person with a potential conflict. The invitation and directions are attached. Here’s hoping for good weather so we can spend some time outside. See you next month.

Ciao.

Lynda & Dave

Saturday, May 31st
7:00 PM

Dave Revell and Lynda Holup’s place

Surprise us with your wine and its food pairing! We plan to stage the food and wine pairings so we can taste them together.

See you then.
Directions are attached separately.




Everyone enjoyed the wine and food pairings – an abundance of both! Nine wines were sampled. In order of tasting they were: [notes by Lynda Holup]

Zardetto Prosecco – light, refreshing aperitif to start the evening, paired with various antipasti on the patio. (Revlup)
Kistler Chardonnay Carneros 2005 – rich, smoky, multi-layered, long finish, great mouth feel, paired perfectly with smoked salmon. (Gilliam)
Lageder Pinot Bianco 2006 – clear, crisp, high acid, white from Northern Italy, paired successfully with farfalle pasta with spring asparagus and kale. (Revlup)
Taurino Salice Salentino Riserva 2001 – full-bodied, fruit-forward southern Italian red, paired beautifully with a rich bruschetta. (Conjura)
Sandrone Barbera d’Alba 2004 – fruity, complex, good example of old-world style Piedmont Italian red, which improved in the glass and was excellent with zucchini stuffed with wild mushrooms and goat cheese. (Revlup)
Prieuré-Lichine 1996 – delicious, fragrant, complex bordeaux from Margaux, seemingly at its peak, paired with homemade gnocchi with chard in a tomato sauce. (Clark/Leach) See attachment for more details on this vineyard.
Orin Swift The Prisoner 2006 – full throttle zinfandel blend that stands on its own with lots of berry fruit, smooth, powerful, and satisfying. (Becker)
Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne over ripe, homegrown strawberries a la française, so sweet, so bubbly. (O’Hanlon)
Scrapona Moscato d’Asti 2007 – fruity, low alcohol dessert wine from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy poured over peach pound cake with nectarines and blueberries.(Revlup)

Summer Wine Group will be held at Herk and Gabrielle’s in South Point.

First meeting -- Winter 2008

February 2, 2008 hosted by the Beckers [notes by Kim Becker]

First meeting of the Four Seasons Wine Group. Food and drink were in abundance.



Seven wines were sampled. In order of tasting they were:

Albert Le Brun 1993 Brut Champagne BJ-50 bottling (Becker’s cellar)
Drappier Rose’ Brut (100% pinot noir from Blake/Conjura cellar, very unique!)
Quincy 2005 from the Loire Valley (special sauvignon blanc with distinctive nose of grass, citrus and “cat piss”, supplied by Revell and Hollup)
Talenti Brunello di Montalcino Reserva 1997 (Becker’s cellar)
Pine Ridge Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Napa Valley (delightful concentrated cab from the Gilliams, great now but with lots of promise for aging)
Cuvaison Millennium Reserve 1997, Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley (complex and rich with herb and leather overtones, from Herk and Gabrielle Clark)
Leonetti Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon 1993, from the Columbia Valley of Washington State, (rare and almost unobtainable, it was worth-the-wait. It was silky smooth and filled with flavors of cedar, leather and cassis, from the O’Hanlon cellar)


Superb wine. Delicious food. A great time was had by all.