The Chicago Wine Mafia had the distinct pleasure of hosting a dinner for the erstwhile pyang last night at Bin 36. It was quite gratifying to turn the tables and fete the man who has organized a thousand off-lines in Napa!

Also in attendance were:
joe.wu
nsexton
jcubed
rob a
R2D2
Blue Oval
Scott McDonald

The food was excellent, with the flank steak receiving general acclaim for its incredible tenderness. Many thanks to Joe Wu, who is close friends with the resturant's wine director, for getting the $15/bottle corkage fee waived.

The theme was Global Syrahs. We sampled a broad cross-section of this varietal from France, California, Australia, Washington and Italy -many of which were outstanding.

We started with a delightful 2001 Cooper-Garrod Viognier, courtesy of tlily.

After tasting through five flights of syrahs, we voted for our top three. Here were the group results (first place/second place/third place votes in parantheses):
#1) 2000 Sine Qua Non In Flagrante (4/1/3)
#2) 1999 Michel Ogier Cote Rotie (4/1/1)
#3) 2001 Pride Syrah (1/2/1)
#4) 1999 Shafer Relentless (0/3/0)
#5) 1999 Fontodi Case Via Syrah (0/2/2)
#6) 1999 Arrowood Saralee's Vyd. Syrah (0/0/1)

Others:
2001 L'Ecole No. 41 Seven Hills Vyd. Syrah
2000 Guigal Hermitage Rouge
1998 Glaetzer Barossa Shiraz
2001 Barton Vale "The Challenger" Shiraz

And with dessert:
RL Buller Rutherford Tokay Calliope NV

Thanks to everyone for bringing such outstanding wine. Looking forward to seeing most of you tonight at grossie's, as the Dean Martin party train continues to chug around our toddlin' town.

Cheers, Otis