A steep, high-altitude, hillside vineyard, 19 year old (at the time of this vintage) small-cluster vines, and limited yields result in wonderfully concentrated, intense, perfectly mature Pinot. Redolent of raspberries and bursting with red-cherry exuberance this is Oregon Pinot at its best.

At a lunch on Wednesday the charming owners, Ernesto and Anna Abbona, along with their two college-aged children, Valentina and Davide, showed off six vintages of their Barolo Riserva going back to 1970, and Wow! this is what great red wine is all about. It reminded me of old Bordeaux’s, before they got modern and international. An educational and sensory treat.

The stand-out: the 1970. Forty one years old, and still fresh and vibrant, not loosing a step, redolent of sous bois aromas and flavors, along with a granite-like minerality. A stunning wine.

Watch out for a Nick’s WineCast and Nick’s Wine Of The Week from the same tasting, a wine that you can actually buy.

Suave Burgundian elegance and polish with enough west coast oak to mark it as American. Superb New World Chardonnay.

Made from seven different grapes from various Northern California appellations, it has that fresh, uncomplicated liveliness I look for in a good, inexpensive red. More Europe than California thanks to a fine acidity balancing the lovely dark stone fruit flavors, it has enough umph! to stand up to a spicy Marinara sauce, a grilled steak, or the rubbed ribs I drank it with. At $14 it’s the perfect red for every-day drinking, especially come summer.

What I Drank Yesterday – at lunch at A Voce, three wines from Tenuta di Biserno, the brand new project of Lodovico Antinori, along with his brother Piero, just north of Bolgheri. Unusual in that they are a Cab Franc-based Bordeaux blend, expensive and delicious. Look for my pick in the next Nick’s Wine Of The Week and Nick’s WineCast.

Actually at lunch today, a Chablis Grand Cru Vaudesir 2006, Billaud-Simon. Regular Chablis can be pretty insipid stuff, and definitely doesn’t work as an aperitif, but this great version with its steely intensity was sublime with the moules marinieres at Matisse, NYC .

The Louis Martini Lot No 1 Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 has the usual inky opacity we expect from high-end California Cabs but wait….there’s something more going on here, something decidedly unusual and interesting. Ummm, yes, it shows the sort of dry, granular, mineral complexity one rarely finds outside Bordeaux. Intriguing. A beautifully structured wine – it lasted two days after opening – it shows Martini’s reputation for long-lived Cabs is not faltering since becoming part of the Gallo empire in 2002.

The San Francisco International Spirits Comp last weekend was a huge success. Brilliantly organized with hundreds of superb entries. My standout, even amongst all the wonderful Scotch, Bourbon and gin, was an obscure cucumber vodka, EFFEN, from Holland that just exploded with the aroma of freshly peeled cucumber. Can’t wait to try it in a cocktail.

Inspired by re-reading The Long Goodbye, last night I shook up some Gimlets, and wow, were they good. But Terry Lennox was wrong – the Gimlet is better with fresh lime juice, you just need a dash of simple syrup.

Photo: Nick Passmore

Recipe:

3 oz. any top notch gin, my favorite is Plymouth

3/4 oz. lime juice

3/4 tps simple syrup

Garnish with a lime

Shake with ice and pour into well-chilled martini glass.