More wine from Perimeter Institute's bistro:  at today's wine and cheese, a Slowine Syrah from South Africa (didn't catch the vintage, maybe 2008?) was quite nice, smooth and tasty.  The 2007 Closson Chase South Clos Chardonnay was remarkable...obviously unfiltered, deeply colored for a chardonnay, and tasting unfiltered as well.  Their chardonnays are some of bistro manager Dan Lynch's favorite wines, and this was a chance to taste a little of something quite special.  The winery, and I believe also the vineyard for this wine, is in Prince Edward County, a large peninsula that's nearly an island, in a relatively sparsely populated part of the North shore of Lake Ontario, about two-thirds of the way from Toronto to Kingston.  The wine is barrel fermented (in 25% new oak, 75% old, in a typical  year, according to their website), and as a result noticeably oaky.  It's also not so high in acid or racy as one might expect from a high-end chardonnay (then again 2007 yielded exceptionally ripe grapes most places in Ontario, I think) but very "natural-tasting"--grapey, slightly sweet but not in a cloying way, with deep flavor underlying the oak.  I don't really feel like doing the tutti frutti thing with the flavors---it tasted mostly like ripe chardonnay grapes.  I guess someone might say it had hints of fruitcake.  The wine, that is, the wine.  This will be interesting to watch over the years as the flavors integrate with the oak in the bottle.  Really made the case for unfiltered chardonnay, for me---even the appearance in the glass is so much more interesting than just a clear liquid.  Slight question marks perhaps, on whether there is a tad too much oak, and whether it has enough acid to age gracefully, but I think the strong fruit and relaxed, natural style render these questions moot.  Bottom line: I want more, and will take steps to secure some if possible.

Incidentally, yesterday at PI's pub night  I had the Pillitteri standard (i.e. non-reserve) 2007 Merlot again, and liked it better this time.  It was served in one of the tall, big-bowled Riedel restaurant glasses, and seemed more elegant and velvety.  Perhaps a case of the glass influencing perception, or maybe it was the extra room in the glass for the aromas to develop  (and the schnozz to dip into them), or maybe it was just a different bottle or an extra month's age.  Still not earthshaking, but a solid, enjoyable drink.

What with pub night and wine 'n cheese, I realize I'm making PI sound like a boozefest, but pub night mostly means inexpensive food (and beer, to be sure), and is very family-oriented---a welcome chance to socialize with non-physicists.  And, hey, after my two glasses at wine and cheese, I went back to my office and LaTeX'd up five pages or so on tensor products of JC algebras.  So we're not slacking off here, or anything.  The bistro and the science are synergetic...