We've got a serious California wine buff staying with us at the moment. It's been a pleasure to be around him. Not only were we finally able to open a bottle of ZD Abacus in the Dining Room, but we're learning tons from being exposed to him. The ZD Abacus is a solera style Cabernet Sauvignon made in Napa Valley. The first bottling was a blend of the 1992-1998 vintages and released in 1999. Theory is that each bottling has a bit of every vintage since they began aging the blend in a barrel. I've been fascinated by the wine since I first discovered it on our honeymoon in Napa but we've never had a chance to try it. The wine we poured last night was the fifth bottling and contained whispers from eleven different vintages. Alex decanted it for our guests and said it smelled amazing. Somehow it's almost as satisfying to sell it to someone who can appreciate it as it would be to drink it ourselves.
We were actually given the end (really almost half a bottle) of the 1994 Penfolds Grange to try last night. It's what they drank for the cocktail hour before the Abacus. It was a beautiful wine, balanced and polished. There were hints of roses, coffee, cedar, maple and toffee. It was smooth and slightly syrupy with a great structure that will last for several more years, softening and smoothing out in the bottle. It was a great pleasure to relax at the evening's end, sipping a glass of special wine and letting the stresses of the day fade into memory.
**Dinner's starting so we'll continue this thread tomorrow...
