Been a couple of bizarrely warm days here, mid-January and feeling like April. Should have used the grill, but we cooked inside. On Tuesday Betsy made a roast chicken (the Bouchon recipe) with roasted veggies (potatoes, beets, and parsnips). I was thinking mature red or bigger white, when I found out she was making shrimp wontons with a chili dipping sauce as a starter. As I pondered that, I espied a bottle of the 2006 Edmunds St. John "Bone Jolly" Gamay rose'. Perfecto! Does anyone need more notes on this? Who cares, I'm doing one. Bigger, darker style of rosé, bone dry (went ok with the dumplings, but maybe a little sweeter ones would have been better for this), good acidity. Bright raspberry/cherry fruit, some mineral, a hint of herbs. Very good with the chicken, a delicious dinner rosé that is almost a light red. B++
Wednesday we had leftover lamb tagine, with the 2005 Ch. Picampeau (Lussac-St. Emilion). Not an estate I'm familiar with, a pretty good example of a satellite wine. Good ripe dark fruit (I actually am not sure I would have gone Right Bank if served blind), plenty of acidic liveliness, a noticable but not intrusive batch of tannins. There is some oak, maybe too much for some, but I found it well within my oak range of comfort. Decent length, concentration. A wine that I might buy again, but wouldn't go looking for. B
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.