MNSC dinner - Napa cult wines

Dinner at Brasserie on the Eighth. The first gathering for MNSC where we named ourselves Monday Night Supper Club after a group of regulars at the restaurant who call themselves Friday Night Club. The Ox, Gayliao, Pineapple, Dr. Poon and me present along with Pineapple's friend TJW.

1994 Shafer Hillside Select - from the start this wine was drinking beautifully, after opening up for 2 hours. Fruity, well-balanced despite the high alcohol level. Very smooth despite being young. Concentrated. This was really nice. Everyone liked this wine.

1993 Harlan Estate - this took a long time to open up. It was the most "French", "Bordeaux" of all the wines, so everyone guessed it was Harlan. It started out with more earth, mineral nose, then opened up really well, with gobs of sweet black fruits and very good concentration. I really liked the wine, but it could use more cellaring.

Bought from Vinum for SGD 600.

1995 Araujo Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard - we all got it wrong and thought this was the Maya at first. The nose was so distinctly different from the rest, more perfumed, floral, and evident of caramel. This was soft and we thought it was the cab franc. This was also a well-balanced wine. Very good. My second favorite of the night.

1993 Dalla Valle Maya - this was the disappointment of the night. By the time we got to it, it had started to close down, then for a long time the nose was too faint. Towards the end it opened up a little, but still not that good.