5th Place:  QUERCIABELLA 1999 CHIANTI CLASSICO
The "pirate" or mystery wine did not show well.  Norbert had opened one bottle which was corked, so he opened a second.  The second did not display the wet cardboard notes of the first one, but was equally poor, showing lots of earthy, garden soil, dirt aromas.  The flavors were not awful, but this was clearly a poor bottle of wine.

4th Place:  LANARI 1999 ROSSO CONERO "Fibbio"
Lanari's wine started out poorly, showing some sulfide aromas and taking a good while for this to blow off.  The wine is, at best, a bit rustic and coarse.

3rd Place:  FALESCO 1998 "Montiano"
Showing lots of fruity notes, there's ample oak and vanillin in this cedary, sweetly-spiced red.  The wine is a demonstration of modern winemaking and has the "international style" of many of today's bottlings.  It has a touch of tannin on the finish.  One star (on my three star scale, no stars being standard or ordinary).

2nd Place:  UMANI RONCHI 1998 "Pelago"
Showing some black fruit aromas, this wine features a nice cedary, woodsy character on the nose.  It's fairly astringent, but I felt there is sufficient "stuffing" here to carry this.  It's rather lengthy.  One and a half stars.

1st Place:  UMBERTO CESARI 1998 "Tauleto"
Having intense aromas of berry, plum and a mild prune note, this wine also has some pleasantly oaky fragrances.  It's got lovely fruit on the palate, too, with some spice notes being reminiscent of clove and nutmeg.  The tannins are still a bit coarse, but this is a good wine.
One-and-a-half stars+.


The wines are unveiled and now it's time for dinner!


We got the barbecue going.



Ferrari's Brut is a lovely wine to pair with sushi!


Gaby prepared a wonderful soup featuring ginger and garlic!  It was perfect partnered with a dry Muscat wine from Austria's Alois Gross.


Next we had a superb sorbet as a palate cleanser.



Meanwhile, the Allen Brothers' steaks were outside on the grill.


Norbert shows off the plate of Gaby's Ratatouille, Potatoes and Steaks topped with mushrooms.



We drank many good bottles of wine, including a Leonetti Cabernet Sauvignon from Walla Walla.


Eddie offers his assessment to the amusement of Josef.

As dinner progressed, things got out of hand.

Click here to see.