Cali evening

Dinner at Fu Tung.

2002 Kongsgaard Chardonnay - ripe and sweet on the nose, with a little honey, lemon citrus.  Very lovely and buttery notes, with a little flint.  Much more ripe and mature nose.  Ripeness on the palate, too... if a touch too much on the mid-palate and finish.

2006 Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard - lighter and more elegant and delicate on the nose.  Nice and sweet, with caramelized candy which developed into a full-on, incredibly sweet cotton candy nose.  A little toasty but not as powerful and in-your-face as expected.  Later on the buttery notes came out.  Palate was initially more delicate, but later developed into something incredible.  Amazing length.

1985 Dominus - drinking surprisingly well and was much younger than expected.  A little pencil lead in the nose, slightly smoky, with some dried herbs, a hint of earthiness but in a nice way.  So smooth and silky on the palate.  Wow!

1983 Grace Family Vineyard - apparently needed a little time to throw off the funk in the nose.  Not bad at all.  A little medicinal nose, a little smoky with a bit of soy sauce.  Definitely a mature wine, but not yet over the hill.  Pretty smooth on the palate, too.

1997 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23 - double-decanted for about 2 hours, then put into a decanter.  Absolutely not ready... as nose was very closed and would barely start to open after about an hour in the decanter.  Very tannic on the palate.  A little animal notes, a little minty, with some black fruits, and a hint of burnt rubber around the edges.

Full post on dinner is here.