(Brief tangent - Omaha Steaks are decent offerings but are not worth the money at regular price; however, about once a year or so they offer a package -- via snail-mail -- that's about 50-60% off for a variety of steaks with lots of other things (pork chops, burgers, franks, stuffed baked potatoes, etc.) thrown in and then you get a pretty good deal. It won't make anyone forget Lobel's or Flannery, but a good steak for not so much money. They do send a TON of emails, but I just route them directly to my spam folder...)
We cooked up a few steaks and I decided to open a few 1979's to recall our recent 30th anniversary...the kids had not been in attendance on our actual anniversary date, since Gail and I were traveling in Italy at the time.
I had limited expectations for the first wine, but it performed above and beyond its pedigree. A pleasant if elusive bouquet of forest floor and prune, followed by an aged Cabernet flavor profile, tannins resolved, a bit over the hill but still showing black fruits, wild mushrooms and cigar box/cedar. Quite a fine showing for the Jordan 1979 Cabernet Alexander Valley! This is a producer whose wines aren't expected to age well, so I'd guess that this is more a tribute to the ageworthy vintage in California.
The next bottle was a corked La Mission Haut Brion 1979. This would have been the tragedy of the night had I not returned to the cellar for another bottle. Scanning the racks, what to choose, what to chose? Alors? What is this? Leakage on the rack... Pull the offending bottle to discover the cork has fallen in and the wine is being kept in the bottle by the slightly corroded capsule. Even slightly corroded, it's a distinctive capsule, one I know on sight...Quelle horreur!!! It's our lone bottle of Petrus 1961... Smelled, tasted, I tried to keep a stiff upper, but Elvis had left the building on this one... ... ... ...
Opened an Etude 1994 Cabernet, but hardly noticed what that tasted like in my shell-shocked state. Gail thought it was pretty good, but my inventory suggests this was our last bottle...
Good times!
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