Went out to dinner with Hattie tonight to......

[brappy]

a little restaurant in Little Italy here in Baltimore. The restaurant, Della Notte, is a tourist trap with an Italian menu from the 80s. The food is good, not great. Of course, I didn't choose this place for the food. They have an unbelievable wine list(http://littleitalybaltimoreitalianrestaurant.com/baltimore_wine_list.htm).

Didn't write any notes so will just give overall impressions. The first bottle of wine was Spring Mountain Cab '94. This wine is in its peak drinking window. Absolutely stunning fruit; perfect balance with a long finish. Great wine.

The second bottle was a Conn Creek Cab '80. This bottle has hit its peak and is on the decline. Took awhile to blow off the initial funk. Also took about an hour for the palate to even begin to show its fruit. We didn't finish the bottle at the restaurant so I'm finishing it right now. The fruit is really strutting its stuff. Great mid-palate. Seemingly low acidity. One hell of a finish. The tannins are finishing sweetly. If anyone has any of these (WW), go ahead and finish them. If you hold any longer, I'm afraid you'll get no pleasure from them. But right now.... Great pleasure!

One other side note on the Conn Creek. The alc is 14% per the Label. I believe it is higher than stated. The glycerin flavor sweetness is the hint along with a touch of heat in the finish.


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