Two cellar selections that we had on Christmas eve: Clos Fortet, Saint-Emilion 2000 and Castelgiocondo, Brunello di Montalcino 1999. 2000 was the vintage of the decade in Bordeaux (at least until 2003 (ha!) or 2005) and the Clos Fortet was pretty and elegant. The Castelgiocondo however was the star of the show. Still big and powerful after a decade in the bottle, the wine was a perfect match with the grilled prime rib that Norm made on the Weber. Grilled to medium-rare on the ends and rare in the center with smokey accents from the wood, it was delicious. Vegans, please avert your eyes.

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA is now back in stock! Get it while it lasts!

We had our annual Hoboken/Hudson Vine Holiday Party on Sunday, December 4 at Cafe Michelina.  As usual, the food was delicious and a great time was had by all.  The wines were very good across the board but the Brocard Chablis, the L'Oca Ciuca Brunello and the BonAnno Cabernet were stand-outs in my book.  The N'Ice Chouffe was also an excellent way to end the meal.

After dinner, we headed to Cork City Pub to try some of their seasonal beers on tap.  Founder's Breakfast (alas, now gone) and Sierra Nevada Celebration were terrific.  If memory serves me correctly, we wrapped it up sometime around 1 am.  Some of us who shall remain unnamed then raided Hoboken Vine for some after-party libations.  I believe new artwork was created sometime thereafter in one of the Neumann Leathers studios.  Bravo, Tom!