With herb crusted rack of lamb, roasted potatoes, and kale salad, the 2003 Joguet “Clos de la Dioterie” Chinon. Hard to believe this i s a 2003 European wine, no roasted notes at all. Cassis and floral notes, b alanced acidity, barely noticeable tannin. Fresh, but with some mushroomy m ature notes. Drinking very nicely. B+/A-
2013 Brunet “Arpent” Vouvray Sec Bosc pear, a honied note (though fairly dry), just a hint of Chenin wooline ss. Tasty if unremarkable, B-/B2010 Yann Alexander Blanc de Blancs Champagne Betsy loved this. Crisp, lemon and oranges, good length. Not super complex, but pretty fun. B+/B
With pasta with sea scallops and broccoli, the 2015 Bettigna Vermentino (Co lli di Luni). Very floral, all honeysuckle and apple blossom, sweet peach fruit, good but needs a little more zip to counter than fruit, B/B-
Sunday had a few friends over, started with some charcuterie (lamb pate, br esaola), some white anchovy canapes, and some endive leaves with shrimp.
NV Andre Beaufort Grand Cru Rose Champagne I’m generally a Beaufort fan, and the others all loved this, but fo r me the dosage was too high, giving a Koolaid note to the cherry fruit. B- /C+
2007 Foreau (Clos Naudin)Vouvray Brut Reserve Now this was lovely and a pointe. Green apple and Anjou pear, lemon zest, a nd a nice stony finish. B+/A-Betsy had made a lovely carrot soup, heavy on the fresh ginger
2015 Caspari-Kappel “Ellegrub - Von Alte Reben" Riesling Spatlese T rocken Stony, big, substantial (enough that I wouldn’t have thought Mosel) , drinks like a good Smaragd. B+ . Main was duck legs with mustard and panko, sweet potato mash, and mixed mus hroom (mostly maitake and pioppini, with a few lobster and shiitake) 1997 Jadot Clos St Jacques Gevrey-Chambertin 1er I’m not a fan of 1997 Burgundy in general, but Jacques Lardiere wor ked some magic, I’ve had consistently good to great showings from J adot. And this is one of the better ones! Lovely black cherry fruit accente d with smoke and mocha, balanced acids, a firm tannic structure still but w ithout any abrasiveness. Develops through the night, with earth, chocolate, and mushroom notes. A-2014 Wind Gap Pinot Noir (Sonoma) Lighter styled, cedar, spice, bright cranberry fruit. 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.