Tuesday no wine as I was picking up Betsy from a late flight, so Wednesday happy to open the 2011 Heidi Schrock Weissburgunder. Dinner was clams and s hrimp cooked in a tomato broth, with brown rice and salad. Clean pear fruit , slightly waxy, quite floral. I like this, but something just a little cr isper and less rich might have been a better match. B/B-
Thursday a turkey ragu with 2013 Grange Cochard Morgon VV. New producer to me, more on the rich dark fruited side. Black cherry, mocha, some slightly coarse tannin, good acids. Good but I think a few years would do some good. B
Friday was crab with sorta gazpacho followed by grilled chicken, eggplant, and corn, with the 2013 Nikolaihof "Im Weingebirge " Gruner Veltliner Feder spiel. White peach, pepper, a little pineapple, rich for a Federspiel yet a steely on finish., very good length. B+/A-
Saturday was duck with sauteed grapes and purslane, pasta with radish pesto , and caprese
2014 Clos de la Roilette (Coudert) Fleurie. This is surprisingly stern for the regular Fleurie, some grippy tannins over somewhat subdued fruit. Not q uite what I expected, but think it will be fine in time. But for this night B-Sunday we had some friends over. Greeted with tomatillo guacamole with semi
-homemade chips, olives, and the NV Pierre Gerbais "l'Audace" Brut Nature Champagne. At first the austerity of the low dosage pushed me back, but as I re-sipped this grew on me. Big, full,structured but with a sense of grace . B+
One friend doesn't like bubbles, so we also opened the 2013 Weszeli Gruner Veltliner. Nice pea and pepper GV notes, moderate acids, I found disappoin ting mentally comparing it to the Nikolaihof but that is unfair comparison, a bit simple but fine for $14 GV. B-
Moved to table for honeydew soup with crab and avocado, plus ricotta-stuffe d zucchini flowers The 2013 Pinon Vouvray is really a nice match, sec-tendre with bright acids , snappy Granny Smith fruit, enough wooliness to announce it's Chenin-ness. B+
Main was skirt steak in an Asian marinade, herb-stuffed tomatoes, and corn
1993 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz/Cabernet Blinded Alex on this, he had no clue, don't think I would have gone Aussie at all. 13.0%, sweet black cherry fruit with a hint of vanilla, a little sm oke and meat, ripe but not at all overbearing. Not especially complex, but tasty. B2013 Mosse Anjou Rouge I've been a fan of Mosse whites, but I should pay more attention to the red s. Fruit-driven without being "fruity", some soil notes, tangy acids. clean finish. B+
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a p arty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.