Dear Viader

Being of modest means, I collect wine not by the case but by the bottle or two or three. About ten years ago I encountered a bottle of Viader 1995 in London, knew nothing about it but, being partial to Joseph Phelps and Stags Leap, I bought it all the same. Last night, an old family friend who was visiting the UK from the Cape in South Africa came over for supper. I asked him to choose from my small collection. I had cooked pasta with a rich mushroom, porcini and mascarpone source. He chose your wine (which went well with the food). It was an extraordinary bottle of wine and we both marveled at it long after the meal was finished. It kept changing with each refill, beginning with lovely red berries and mint on opening and ending with a range of darker mineral tones by the end. It was vigorous on the palate, with ample structure and had a long, full finish. We both placed it in our top twenty bottles drunk. Thank you for a memorable occasion.

Yours sincerely
Douglas Skinner
St Margarets Middlesex
United Kingdom