With panfried trout filets, mushroom risotto, and Brussels sprouts, the 201
6 Terre Nere Etna Bianco. Yellow pit fruits, light, easy. I’ve like d more in other vintages. B-With roast chicken with turnip and carrots, leftover risotto, & sauteed spi nach, the 2014 Jane and Sylvain Cotes de Nuits Villages. Tart, crunchy, a v egetal green note, not very long, I’ve liked other &&S wines much m ore. C+
Superbowl Sunday, we had a few friends over. We made Chili (beef with chocolate and pasilla peppers) in soft flour tortillas Double fried wings with a cholula/butter sauce and blue cheese dressing Crudites (3 kinds of radishes, carrots, celery) with “Greek Goddess (feta/herbs) dip Red/white cabbage slaw
Not the most wine friendly, but I served wine anyway- a VDP wine for the E agle emblem, a ‘59 as birthyear for 2 people, and an ESJ because it ’s ESJ.
1997 Edmunds St John Rocks and Gravel Fully mature but definitely alive. Resolved tannins, red fruits, a little b acon and earth. Not super long, but fun. B+/B2005 JJ Prum Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Spatlese feinherb No memory of buying this, don’t remember ever seeing this bottling before in any vintage, , not in my CT, but happy to have found. Just a touc h of sweetness, vibrant Granny Smith and lime fruit, tangy long finish. Gre at food friendly wine. A-
1959 CVNE Vina Real Rioja Reserva Especial (375 ml) Funky and dank on opening, but after short decant it shows quite well. Nose is perfumed and lightly lifted, palate has lots of leather and spice, frui t is still there- raspberry and cherry. With time there’s some nut skin and earth notes. Holds up well for 2 hours, the light VA doesn? ?t overwhelm. This was half-bottle with worse fill of an auction lot, so feeling good re purchase. 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.