As promised, Lavanda closed its doors, on September 12. But they did go out in style. We came in for dinner before the party, and Bruce offered to treat us to some white wine to start. “Some white wine” turned out to be a full bottle (his last) of 2000 Joseph Drouhin “Clos des Mouches”, one of the most glorious white Burgundies you can imagine. We followed that with a red, a 2003 Cornas (northern Rhône Syrah) by Auguste Clape, a true master of the varietal, in a most traditional style. I won’t bore you with the details of the California Cabernet we had after that (pedestrian in comparison), or the food (yummy as usual), so let’s get to what they served at the party.

Bruce opened three big bottles that had been lying around:

1. -2001 Michael Martella “Hammer” Syrah (Santa Cruz Mountains), 3 liters
   

2. -1996 Bacio Divino Cabernet/Sangiovese (Napa), 5 liters
   

3. -1991 Mario Perelli-Minetti Cabernet (Napa), 6 liters
   

They were all pretty funky, but the Martella smoothed out pretty quickly. The Perelli-Minetti smelled funky but tasted fine; not a lot of fruit left but nice tannins. The Bacio Divino needed about three days of airing. We didn’t have three days so I just tried a few sips. What a treat it was to try these unusual bottles. None had gone sour, and with more air time would have been quite something, very much in the European style.

So what’s next? A pizzeria moves into that space. Bruce and crew have bought out Miyake (the owner had been wanting to retire anyway) and it’s now closed. Over the next few months it will be transformed into Palo Alto Grill, a moderately-priced steakhouse. Trust me; I will keep you fully informed.