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Last night I dropped by my local watering hole, that just happens to be one, if not the best restaurants in San Diego's North County area.
Chef pal Jeffrey Strauss for many years has set the high water mark in the Del Mar, Solana Beach area and is widely regarded as the Chef's chef. Given Pamplemousse Grille is all of 200 yards from my house it's become my regular go to place for formal dinners as well as happy hours and often for less complicated drop in dinners at the bar with friends as I can walk there.
Last night longtime winepal Ray McKewon and I eached pulled one bottle. The first was the 2007 Domaine La Mordoree Lirac La Reine du Bois. A few nights earlier I had opened the 2001 vintage of this wine and wanted to see just how different the two wines were. The 2001 was elegant and had a very nice silky palate, with deep blueberry and raspberry flavors. The 2007, while still precosious was more velvety, and showed that same rich berry flavor. Given the apogee of the 2007 I'm sensing it will be a shorter lived but more opulent wine, and perfect for drinking over the next ten years.
Ray brought along the 1994 Dalle Valle Maya, a proprietary red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, with grapes that come from the vineyard of the same name. The ripe red cherry fruit was obvious, with notes of black cherry, bing cherry and even marichino cherry. To say it was a cherry bomb would be an understatement. It was a nuclear bomb, with all kinds of tasty explosions of fruit, backed by a lovely rich tongue coating of decadent pie filling like flavor. The wine at age 17 was amazingly youthful, and much in keeping with what one expects. There's no rush with this wine either as I can see it aging for another 10-15 years easily.
