Our new North Bay group had its first offline tonight at Rosso in Santa Rosa. I think we’ve got something going here.
Nice mix of people, good food, great wines. What else can one ask for? Sorry, no notes, many winners.
Sparklers…
Whites
Reds
There was also a ‘13 Goodfellow Whistling Ridge
The Swans, Tempier and Castelli were 
, all the sparklers and the and the remainder of the wines were all very good as well. No duds, no flaws, no DOAs. What a fun night.
Great place for a bunch of bottles!
Would love to see a note or two on the old Zins.
And Agrapart @Ben_M_a_n_d_l_e_r cant believe I left that out… how was it?
No notes here. I’ve found when I spend the evening writing notes I miss out on the conversation with the others at the table.
All I can add is right now is:
, mellowed to almost a dessert wine stage. What a treat.Thanks Brian for both coordinating and documenting this lovely dinner. I likewise didn’t take notes, but a few things that stuck with me
All three of the Champagnes hit the spot but the real treat and my WOTN was the 2002 Noble Cuvee de Lanson. Incredible verve, structure, persistence, very fine, gorgeously textured. @Dan_Sch I think the Agrapart was very fine while also being slightly less to my taste. It had a softness that felt luxurious but I think I wanted something more penetrating alongside the richness of the food.
Why have I not been hunting down old Swan wines? The 1989 Chardonnay was murky and dark but had a brilliance to its acid and a freshness on the nose that defied its age. And the 1996 Zinfandel had purity and balance that I have never seen in a Zin of that age - I haven’t tried very many for that reason but now I wonder if I should.
2013 Goodfellow Whistling Ridge Pinot still felt like it needed more time to show its full potential. Plenty of stuffing for such a pretty and elegant wine but not yet showing it all.
That 2014 Castelli Nebbiolo was completely insane. Absolutely blew my socks off. I had never heard the name Castelli but now I won’t be able to forget it.
2022 Ridge Grenache Blanc showed much better than the last bottle I tasted a couple months ago. If you like em mellower you might want to sit on it but I loved it for its exuberance.
The Tempier was a big hit around the table. I thought it was a little closed compared to what I was expecting and felt another 5-10 years wouldn’t hurt. Good juice though.
Amazingly, all of these wines were clean and showing well.
The current Castelli release:
Estate Nebbiolo 2018 $34
Nebbiolo Fosco Young vines 2018 $26
Can’t get more insane than that
Also worth mentioning, for biodynamic folks, that yesterday was a leaf day. A terrible time to taste wine, yet everything showed wonderfully 
There is a good, albiet not recent, article on Castelli by Ken Zinns at Grape Nutz: Visit to Castelli Vineyards - August 2017
After reading this post and Ken’s article Castelli is definitely on my radar for a visit.
Thanks for the report.
There are very few leaves in Winter, coincidence? I think not!
Looks like a darn good time! Cheers.
