It's an amazing thing really. One week I'm sipping 1982 Chateau Montrose, 1978 Haut-Brion and a 1994 Stag's Leap and the next I'm guzzling Inglenook Chardonnay. The funny thing  is that I enjoyed them all- for different reasons and in different circumstances.

The first 3 wonderful wines were a treat I had at I Trulli restaurant during the Wine Media Guild's  Hall of Fame Annual Dinner honoring Kevin Zraly and Ed McCarthy. These wines were just a small sampling of what was available that evening since everyone was asked to bring a special bottle from their cellars. The only thing was, there were about 6 different tables seating 8-10 people and one was supposed to get their name tag and place it at an open seat. By the time I arrived (with my husband) many of the tables were already full.  But, we managed to get a wonderful table with some excellent wines that included the Chateau Montrose (one of my favorites of the night.) In fact, at our table we also had a 1958 Gaja Barolo,  a Chinese Cabernet Sauvignon, and a 1999 Piedmontese wine  simply labeled for someone's wedding (Pietro & Elene ). Truthfuly, the Barolo was definitely past its prime but some of my fellow wine experts seemed to think it was still  drinkable. We'll leave it at that. Some of the other wines that we did manage to get a sip of were a -1988 Barbi Brunello di Montalcino, a 1974  Latour (magnum,) a 1997 Antinori Solaia, a 1981 Cheval Blanc, a 1995 Lafite- Rotschild and a wonderful 2000 Riesling Eiswein from Nahe, Germany that was pure nectar- (don't know the producer sorry!) Sitting among some of the industry's top wine writers and professionals in a fabulous restaurant with these special wines was an incredible experience.

So, how did I get to the Inglenook? Simple.. I went for some R&R down in Florida where my parents live in a beautiful condo on the ocean. After a day of lying on the beach and swimming laps in the pool it was time to heat up the grill for the burgers and hotdogs at sunset while sipping a glass of wine. The wine that happened to be available .. a 1.5 liter of Inglenook Chardonnay. It's simplicity and freshness was a perfect ending to a restful day.

Cheers,

The Wining Woman