1997 Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cépages

[RAD]

Was out in Napa and Sonoma for both business and pleasure this past weekend, and stopped by to see the good folks at CSJ.

Turns out that they released the 97 Cinq Cépages a couple of weeks ago (not to insult anyone's intelligence, but the 1996 was Wine Spectator's #1 wine of the year). I believe that the release price of the 96 was around $28; this year the 97 is $50. Limit of 2 per person at the winery. Tasted it, and man, is it DEE-licious. Guy behind the counter told me that WS gave it a 96 just 2 days ago, though this isn't on their website. (In fairness, WS typically releases the ratings in print before they go up on the site, but I don't know if the 96 is true or not).

Anyway, I was with my wife, so we picked up our 4-bottle limit and headed out the door. Had some lunch, went across the street to St. Francis, drove a piece to Matanzas Creek, then donned the dark glasses and fake mustaches and headed back to CSJ incognito to pick up another 4 on the sly.

RAD

[This message has been edited by RAD (edited 10-24-2000).]