Houston's is a great lunch place in San Francisco -- right on the Embarcadero at Montomery St. I had never heard of Patassy Vineyard; this was being sold for $10 per glass (I enjoyed 2 of them!).
The wine has a medium color, a spicy nose (it is still very young and probably saw a fair amount of new oak), and light red fruit on the mid-palate. Red cherry, strawberry, raspberry -- but delicate, nothing "fruity" or fat about the presentation. Will likely cellar another 5-8 years, easily. Enjoyed drinking this with Arthur Ceria and John Durham.
$20 (retail); 89 points
Bottom Line: A very smart wine to serve on a restaurant wine list (especially in big cities) -- high quality for educated palates, and a nice mark-up for the restaurant, without a ridiculous price-tag to the diner... Frank Patassy is a producer to pay attention to -- this quality/price ratio reminds me Walter Schug (one of my favorites).
I didn't know they had a Houstons in SF. This is part of the same group that owns Rutherford Grill. One of my lunch favorite lunch places from my days in Napa.
Posted by: Jeff | June 01, 2007 at 11:25 AM