A casual wine dinner

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A group of my wine friends were getting together for the last time in 2009.  It was meant to be a large gathering as is usually the case, but a flurry of last-minute cancellations meant that attendance for dinner halved, with the rest of the gang showing up for after dinner drinks.

The venue for this casual gathering was Cafe Joli.  I had never been to this small restaurant, but it was right next to one of the wine shops I occasionally visit, so it's easy enough to find.

Seafood ravioli - this wasn't bad at all...the seafood sauce was probably adapted to local tastes, as it wasn't very creamy.

Duck breast and fruit salad - pretty refreshing, with slices of smoked duck breast and plenty of light and yummy olive oil.

Spaghetti with Parma ham - pretty decent with lots of mushrooms.

Grilled half Boston lobster - absolutely nothing to complain about here...

For dessert I picked serradura (木糠布甸) as I didn't like soft cheesecakes.  This turned out to be an excellent choice, as the serradura was absolutely yummy.

Fortunately there were only three bottles of wine opened during dinner, which meant that I was still sober at the end.

1997 Kistler Chardonnay Kistler Vineyard - I bought this from Winebid.com and it was obviously stored poorly.  Nose was heavily oxidized, sweet with nose of poached pear, marmalade, minerals, a hint of chalk and marshmallows.  Color was a little deep and cloudy.  The finish was a little tart at first.

1999 Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru - minty with sweet fruit, orange and forest notes.  Very nice.

1999 Delamotte blanc de blanc - reasonably sweet on the palate, with a short finish.

The group adjourned to my friend's (relatively) new apartment for housewarming drinks, but I decided to go home since I'd been out drinking for the last 4 nights in a row...