Domaine Jean Louis Chave, Hermitage, Vin de Paille

40th Birthday Lunch (San Francisco) : Super interesting nose with dried herbs, dried fruit, nuts, apricot, and lots of intensity. Well balanced on the palate with the 16% abv barely noticeable. It actually has good acidity and lots going on with distinct apricot and other dried fruit flavors. Very long finish. Fascinating wine and a true privilege to taste such a unicorn.

A good day (Chicago, IL) : From half-bottle. Honeysuckle, roasted pineapple, and bitter almond on the nose. A really intriguing profile that I would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else (read: I wouldn't be able to figure out what this was if I had it blind). Not too sweet, with a burnt citrus note on the palate that is also really interesting. A bitter quality on the palate to make up for the relative lack of acidity here; I somehow …

Chave & Steak (RPM Steak - Chicago, IL) : Small pour after many bottles of Chave Rouge. This showed reasonably youthful in terms of the brightness of fruit, which helped to frame the sweetness. Honey and brûlée notes throughout.

20+ CDP Dinner (Bristol) : Unicorn...didn't know this even existed. Lovely balance of sweetness and acid. Paired perfectly with basque cake. Just bummed it wasn't a 750...