Dunham Cellars at cafe Artemis

Kudos to cafe Artemis, Marc Jorgensen and Eric Dunham for a beautifully executed evening. Zoe and Martin were as engaging as ever seamlessly integrating the evenings progression. All five courses were beautifully matched to the Dunham wines.
The first pairing was a pear and watercress salad with the '06 "Shirley Mays" Chardonnay. The Chardonnay displayed serious mineral components with clean fruit and an old world Burgundian focus. The toasted baguette and candied walnuts of the salad brought the "New World" attributes back full circle.
The second course paired haricot verts with crisp pancetta along side the Dunham "Three Legged Red." The red blend is a broadly appealing strait forward table wine that would be extremely versatile with a wide range of cuisine and would be a crowd pleaser at any gathering. Nothing exceptional to mention but it has more character and depth of most wines in it's price point.
Our third duo was a Coq au Vin with the Trutina blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc). The Trutina is an extremely approachable Washington blend with a light dose of oak and very pleasant cherry, raspberry and black fruit notes. Once again, this would be a broadly appealing bottle to bring to a wine or dinner party.
The fourth course served was Rack of Lamb with Pomegranate and Sour Cherry Reduction accompanied by the Dunham 2004 Syrah. This was in my opinion the best pairing of the night with the reduction of dark fruit, tar, leather, vanilla and tobacco notes of the Syrah backing and elevating the lamb with pomegranate reduction. The syrah displayed a seamless, long finish of fine grained tannins and pepper spice components that was quite impressive. I also had the opportunity during the evening to taste the '02 Dunham Syrah which was truly spectacular, this wine goes deep with blackberry, currant, red licorice, tar, tobacco and pepper. The finish is over three minutes long, it reminds me of ridiculously priced Napa cult wines that are built to go it alone, swirling and sniffing in the presence of exceptional company capping a perfect evening. This bottle would stand up to any unctuous and opulent dish or stand perfectly well on it's own, find some if you can.
Finally, we were served an Apricot and Marscarpone Tart with the Dunham 2006 “Four-Legged White”. The tart was not at all cloyingly sweet and had a harmonious frame of almond custard with fresh apricot fruit. The Four-Legged white was 100% Riesling which was like a liquid peach tart....just like grandma used to make (grandma was a Belgian pastry chef). Georgia peaches....great finish.