No wine Thursday, dinner was ropa vieja. Friday we went over to watch HS ba seball game for a while, Betsy's sister joined us for dinner afterwards - g rilled salmon, shisitos, and king oyster mushrooms, along with yu choy (lik e Chinese broccoli), green tea soba, and the 2014 Tete (Clos du Fief) "trad ition" Julienas. Cranberry and raspberry, deep sappy fruit, but maybe a tad one note. Nice note though! B/B+
After dinner I started walking to Rob's, Fred picked me up halfway. Rob had a nice spread out (prosciutto, salami, cheeses, crostini, and nuts- mixed nuts included roasted fava beans, new on me- loved). Theme for our little l ocal group was (gulp) Sparkling Reds.
We always do blind, I had questioned need (since I doubt anyone could name
3 sparking red producers) but host had already wrapped, so we did likewise.Wine #1 - Pretty unusual. Fred allows that it's a Pet Nat, asks us to guess variety and location. My guesses were shot down (CA, and Mouvedre followed by Petite Sirah) Dense, a bit tannic, dry with a black fruit note. Once Fr ed said LI and Bdx varietal I got grape. 2014 Southold Farm Counting Stars (North Fork, LI). Quite different. B
Wine #2 - More what I expected, dry with black cherry framed by aromatic bi tters. Soft without the tannins of previous. Pretty popular all around. NV? Cleto Chiarli Pruno Nero Lambrusco B+/B
Wine #3 - my wine, I liked more than some other guys. No SO2, shows on colo r and nose. Intensely fruit, grapey in a good way. 2015 Casalpriore Lambrus co dell'Emilia. B+/B
Wine #4 -Extra bubbly, needs to calm down a bit before really tasting. Off- dry, lots of berry fruit, light but noticable tannin. NV Barbolini Grasparo ssa di Castelvetro Lambrusco B
Wine #5- Much lighter in color, sweetest of night, I thought this looked li ke a darker rose and actually guessed Cerdon de Bugey. Pleasant and easy, b ut a bit short. Cantina di Sorbara Lambrusco di Sorbara , B/B-
Wine #6- this is only sparkling red I really didn't like. Dry, with black b erries, but lots of brett even for a funk lover like me. The bubbles seemed to accentuate the funk. NV Quaresimo Lambrusco C+
Wine #7 - most divisive wine of the night. Some had as least favorite. Good acids, lighter than some, good length, berries and plums. Fontana dei Bosc hi Lambrusco B/B+
Bonus blind wine - Rob had been supposed to host a Zin tasting in Jan but m issed it due a family issue. Still wrapped, he poured it blind and I blurte d "Turley?" Sweet with raisiny notes, lots of alcohol (I was surprised to s ee "only" 15.8) just totally not my style. 2008 Turley Old Vines Zinfandel. C/C-
There was also the 2013 Thirty Bench (Niagara). Think Rob said Cab Franc. M idbodied, a bit of charred oak, surprisingly ripe for a northern red. B/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