Wednesday leftovers with the 1994 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz/Cabernet . Still plenty of fruit here. Sweet blackberry meets cassis, the sweet charac ter is a little distracting , but it's not hot (13.5, pretty restrained). T annins resolved, a soft and easy wine. B-/B
Thursday an old neighbor was in town, we invited her and the neighbor famil y hosting her to dinner. We started with olives, mushrooms, and a Ottoleng hi baba ganoush recipe with pomegranate. Wine was the 2013 Perelada "Stars" Cava Brut Nature. Dry going towards austere, green apples and ginger. Hey, it's inexpensive. B-
Dinner was a shrimp casserole, grilled asparagus with feta, and couscous wi th herbs (lots, kind of like a couscous tabbouleh). Wine was the 2013 Donna chiara Fiano di Avellino. Very full bodied white, but with good acidity. Pe ar, almond, and a minty herb note. Good length, fine value at $14. 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.