If you've read this blog before, you know we firmly believe that shared bottles are the best bottles. Over the past week, we enjoyed two excellent bottles that were shared in a roundabout sort of way.

2008 Rusack Anacapa

A rainy day at RusackWe took my parents to the Santa Ynez wine region last April for a weekend of wine tasting. One of the wineries we visited was Rusack, which was recommended by our friends Karin and Jeff. That turned out to be a great stop and we all bought some of their flagship wine, Anacapa.

My parents were kind enough to share their two bottles of 2008 Anacapa with us for Christmas dinner. The 2008 version is 82% Cabernet Franc, 16% Petite Verdot, and 2% Merlot and was a perfect pairing with prime rib roast. It had an herbaceous nose, with cherry on the front palate that gives way to darker fruit tastes like blackberry. The mellow tannins start early and went very well with the meal. This was a very nice Christmas treat!

2009 Storybook Mountain Vineyards Zinfandel

Enjoying a nice Zinfandel at Row 14 in DenverSally and I were in Denver last weekend to watch the Boston University men’s hockey team play Denver University and catch the Broncos – Chiefs game on Sunday. On Sunday night we ventured out for dinner and found a cool restaurant called Row 14.

We were out to dinner on a day that ended with the letter “y”, so naturally we wanted wine. Choosing wine from a restaurant wine list can be a challenge, but fortunately we found a bottle that our friends Gaby and Steve recommended we try. These folks know great wine, so we went for it.

Right they were! The Storybook Mountain Vineyards Zinfandel was pure Zin. A raspberry nose gave way to darker fruit on the palate with a light pepper finish. It was very smooth and went down far too quickly. This winery is definitely a contender for our next trip to Napa!

What wine did you share over the holidays?