For the first time in several days I felt I could really smell Saturday, and looked forward to dinner. While Betsy cooked I opened an apertif, the 2008 Gunther Steinmetz Riesling. Without any further descriptor, I expected a Mosel QbA to be off-dry, but this was pretty dry. Lemon, ginger, a little green pea. Pleasant, light-bodied, not especially long but pretty good value at $13/liter (CSW with discount). B-/B
Dinner was a braised chuck pot roast, with mashed potatoes and roasted kale. Wine was the 2001 Dujac Pere and Fils Gevrey-Chambertin. This negociant Gevrey had nice sweet sappy black fruit, accented with just a hint of sandalwood. Really lovely Pinot Noir. The one thing that seemed to be missing for me was any real soil tones. My mental image of Gevrey seems to center on earth, and I just wasn't finding that here. Still, good acidity, some easy tannins, fine fruit, quite a nice wine. B+/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.