We lucked out again with weather for the park concert- sunny, low humidity, not hot, nice breeze. Unusual band (kind of ragtime meets swing), lovely s unset, good people. We had brought a steak salad (dry aged ribeye from loca l butcher, wow), grilled sweet potato & scallion salad, cheeses, and cherri es. Others shared lobster rolls and cheeses. And of course wines
2014 Red Newt Riesling Softer acids, a little toasty oxidative note, needs some zip. C+/B-2014 Drouhin LaForet Bourgogne blanc Citrus, green apple, clean and crisp. Good value. B
2015 Pacherhof Pinot Grigio Good acids, apple and pit fruits, a little nutty/almondy note to let you kn ow you’re in Italy. B/B+1994 Edmunds St John Cotes Sauvages I’d double-decanted for sediment. Nice match with the steak- just a bit of tannin, good acids, herby with some meat & leather notes on the war m dark fruit. Fruit is a bit less exuberant than the ‘95, I? ?ll drink other soon. Very fun. B+
2016 Cantalupo Il Mimo Red fruited, decent acids but a little ponderous. I used to like this a lot , but last several vintages have seemed heavy to me. Did wine change or me? Still, a perfectly acceptable fuller rose. B-Cleto Chiarli "Vecchia Modena Premium" Lambrusco Didn’t see a vintage on this, but probably came from Astor, where t hey list the 2016. Quite pale (listed as red Lambrusco, I’d call th is rose, and on the light side of rose). Minerally, crunchy white and red f ruits, light petillance, saline. Fun. B/B+
Some old friends came down for dinner and to meet Ruby. We had some fresh r icotta leftover from stuffing squash blossoms, mixed it with herbs and lemo n and then made smoked salmon rolls for appetizers, along with some lonza. Served with the NV Camille Saves Brut Rose Champagne. Lovely bottle of rose , strawberries and Rainier cherries accented with chalk and floral notes. F ull-bodied, lively, fine mousse. A-
We moved to patio for dinner- Bobby Flay’s chicken with mint sauce, with salad. Followed by some nice cheeses Joe and Rachel brought from Beac on.
1996 Vignaioli/Pertinace “Vigneto Casellizzano” Barbaresco. This is an early maturing Nebbiolo (most 96s I plan on not touching for a while) but hard to figure out treatment. I took a chance on a decant about 3 hours before serving. Smelled good on decant, then seemed to shut down ar omatically, but by dinner was back in business. Nice tannin/acid balance, d ried cherries, rose petals, tar. Medium bodied, ready to go. B+2011 Ch. Joanin Becot Blueberry milkshake with a shot of mocha, a parody of RB Bordeaux. C+/C
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.