Jimmy's First Tasting Notes

(7/26/01)

Large Hairy One started in his usual way- he stuck a wet digit in my mouth. He always does that when he's holding that funny cuppy of his, with the red formula in it that he drinks. Wine, he calls it? Wow, this time it was one of the good-tasting ones, a '95 Gary Farrell Zinfandel (Russian River), so says Large Hairy One to Red Bumpy, the other Large One. I bite down hard on that oversized digit, reach out for Large Hairy One's cuppy for a real swig, this time right from the source. Big, fruity, and sweet, this is what Zinfandel does best. The tannins are resolved, the alcohol is low enough to avoid burning even my delicate pink throat, It's ready to drink and will probably last at least until all my teeth come in. It went great with my Beechnut Carrots and Peas. I noticed Red Bumpy was making some happy noises. She doesn't do that for many California wines.

The '85 Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa) is doing what Large Hairy One has found typical of '85 Napa cabernets- the fruit is slipping, it's getting vegetal, with a touch of my Birkenstuck Organic GranolaKidz' Creamy Asparagus Karmic Delight joining the dryish fruit. But it's still holding on to a balance and vinosity, fading more gracefully than many of its bigger, more expensive kin. And I still greedily take it off Large Hairy One's offered digit, though without quite the gusto I had for the Farrell zin.