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TN: Wine with friends- Piedmont, CdP, Bdx, Chablis, Kremstal

With my lack of kitchen and Betsy away, friends invited me for dinner. Marinated shrimp, artichokes Prosecco Extra Dry that I wrote down as Franco di Rao, but can’t fi nd any records of anything close to that on CT or Winesearcher.Doesn't matt er- It was forgettable wine.

Rigtatoni with meat sauce (fennel sausage and ground pork)

2001 Sella Lessona Really in a nice place, red cherry, tar, and flowers, resolved tannins, bal anced acid. B+/A-

2005 Valfieri Barolo Midbodied, fairly open, some tannin, black cherry. B/B-

1996 Talbot (375 ml) Pretty classic claret- cassis, cigarbox, leather. Fully mature from half. B +

Saturday I grilled some sausage & squash, reheated some quinoa, made salad.

1993 Salomon Undhof Kogl Library Release Riesling Released about a dozen years ago, hasn’t progressed much since then . Grapefruit, ginger, light honey note (though pretty dry). Modest finish, competent if unexciting. B-

Betsy came home from a concert in Pocantico Hills bearing lobster. Didn? ??t think the Riesling was best match, 2013 Fevre “les Clos? ?? Chablis Grand Cru. Really young, pit fruits, great mineral finish, t aut. A-/B+

Betsy, Ruby, and I walked over hill for a dinner party Sunday night. As folks gathered, some excellent crudite as well as other snacks, and the NV Evohe X Cava Brut Nature. Brut Nature? Seems pretty sweet to me. Appley, not too attractive. C+/B-

With chateaubriand, “Party potatoes” (sour cream and cream cheese), salad, and asparagus

1986 Meyney This caught me a little by surprise, delicious as always, but I think of th is as a cassis driven wine and this seemed more red fruited. Cherry and ric h raspberry, leather, tobacco. Balanced and with a nice finish. Tasty matur e claret. B+

2000 Lava Cap “Granite Hill Reserve” Petite Sirah This was tannic in youth and I put away, but didn’t really plan on this long. It actually has held up ok, just not improved. Less tannic, but a bit hot and jammy. Others liked much more than I did. B-/C+

2004 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf-du-Pape Kirsch and strawberry, quite herbal, midbodied, some forest floor and mushr oom. Nicely balanced, ready to go. B+/B

2010 La Rioja Alta “Alberdi” Rioja Reserva Popped and poured at end of night, think this would have benefited from air . Vanillin oak and red fruit, stern. Only had a quick sip, would like to ex plore another time

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.

Reply to
DaleW
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I love those Sella wines, but I haven't read much about recent vintages. Has there been a change in winemaking there?

Ruby? Is she a new dog around the house? I feel like I may have missed something. If so, apologies.

Sounds great. I think that I have a bottle of '86 Gruaud-Larose still in the cellar (it'll probably outlive me).

As always, thanks for the notes, Dale.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

No idea, I always bought at Chambers, but haven't noticed them offered in r ecent vintages

Yes, sadly Lucy had to be put down early last year. She was happy and chipp er even at 14, but then got pancreatitis. We were going to take a break fro m dog for a while, and maybe not do Bassets, plan lasted about 2 weeks till I came home to find Betsy watching Basset puppy videos. A bit of searching , 2 months after Lucy we rescued Ruby, she was 5 1/2 months (someone got pu ppy from breeder as Christms present for small kids, then discovered what t hat was like). She;s 1.5 years now, very happy dog. If you come to NY and v isit again, she'd like to meet you (we can open an ESJ Bassetti)

The whole Cordier stable (Meyney, Gruaud, Talbot) did so great that year. T he Gruaud especially, though all offered great value (Gruaud 86 is getting expensive now)

Reply to
DaleW

chipper even at 14, but then got pancreatitis. We were going to take a break from dog for a while, and maybe not do Bassets, plan lasted about

2 weeks till I came home to find Betsy watching Basset puppy videos. A bit of searching, 2 months after Lucy we rescued Ruby, she was 5 1/2 months (someone got puppy from breeder as Christms present for small kids, then discovered what that was like). She;s 1.5 years now, very happy dog. If you come to NY and visit again, she'd like to meet you (we can open an ESJ Bassetti)

I dimly recall your posting about Lucy, but I somehow missed the adoption. Congrats to you all, Dale. I'm sure that Ruby will have a great life with you and Betsy (and hopefully Betsy can lay off the bassett videos for another decade or two -- very touching story)

year. The Gruaud especially, though all offered great value (Gruaud 86 is getting expensive now)

This was a bottle I bought on release at North Berkeley Wines while a penurious postdoc at Berkeley. I believe the price paid was $35. Since we don't drink as much claret as we used to (less red meat in the diet) no problem hanging onto this and other bottles.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

Thanks to Mark for asking the question before I did. sorry to hear about Lucy but a Basset puppy is fun. Enjoy your new friend with great wine.

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

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