With chicken with fennel and sweet potatoes
2018 Contra Soarda Vespaiolo (Breganze) Good acids, long finish, but there is something about the taste profile here that turns me off. Apricot meets musk meets blue cheese. No that?s not it. I really can?t drink this. C-02018 Hirsch Hirschvergnugen Grüner Veltliner This I can drink. Light, hint of spritz, green apple with floral/appleblossom accents. Easy, fun. B/B-
Scallops with corn and chorizo in a buttermilk sauce, and the 2012 Francois Carillon ?Les Referts? Puligny-Montrachet 1er Young but delicious. Apple, pear, citrus blossoms, some integrated oak, damp earth, long finish. A-
2018 Domaine de Reuilly Reuilly Tangy, mineral, just a hint of grass, bright. B/B+Ribeyes, squash, and trumpet mushrooms on the grill, Betsy did salad and a great potato/sorrel gratin, we gathered with relatives in NY and CA on a family zoom call.
1988 Ch. Gruaud-Larose Black fruit, still a bit of tannin, a little barnyard and a lot of leather. Good acids, nose develops some cigarbox and fruit fills out, pretty satisfyingly classic if not a showstopper. B+Fun night, but then got call in middle of dinner that Bill, probably my #1 volunteer for the last 25 years, passed from COVID that AM. Not unexpected, but still. This thing sucks.
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 party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.