With bucatini amatriciana Friday, the 1980 Col d?Orcia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Red fruits, cigarbox/leather, good acids, nice length. Much fresher than recent ?85 B+
We had a small dinner for my birthday one day late, 3 couples joined us for Pate campagne Oysters with regular and ramp mignonette lobster/avocado salad Japanese style beef stew with butternut squash Coconut rice with green beans Green salad A bunch of runny/stinky cheeses (Epoisses, Delice de Bourgogne, Bobolink, etc) Flourless chocolate cake
2006 Pierre Peters Chetillons Blanc de Blancs Champagne Good, but not really what I expected. Fairly mature, some toasty slightly oxidative notes, sweet fruit, broad. If blind I wouldn?t have guessed Peters (or BdB). B/B+
2010 Boulay Comtesse Sancerre Fresher than last bottle, grapefruit and lemon, chalk and a little lemongrass, delicious. A-/B+
1990 Laville Haut Brion This needed time in decanter and tasted younger as it opened over a couple hours.. Nectarine, lemon, beeswax, complex with a long finish. Great acids for a warm vintage. A-
1998 Aldo Conterno Barolo At least I think that?s what this was. Label had disintegrated (crate in floor, oops), clearly Aldo Conterno, pretty sure not a Riserva, with Premier Cru sticker records make me pretty sure ?98. Tight, but several hours in decanter opened, red cherries, bitter lemon, herbs, tar. Moderate length, some loved. B+/B
1996 Ch. Lagrange (St Julien) Still some tannin but approachable, black cherry, plum, with some vanilla oak notes. Sweet fruit but balanced, not the most complex claret, but satisfying in a straightforward manner. B+
2002 Caterine & Claude Marechal Savigny--Les-Beaune Vieilles Vignes A producer I never see anymore, but always enjoyed. In a lovely place- elegant and ethereal, this is simultaneously weightless and powerful. Black cherry, sandalwood, smoke, bright and long. Stunning for a village wine. A pointe. A-
2007 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve WTF? Ripe/kirschy, chocolate shake meets sweet liqueur. Sangiovese? More like AnyGrapeFromAnywhere. I usually like Fontodi. Was 2007 some freak vintage? Sorry to say I have another of these. C/C+
With mackerel grilled with ponzu, Japanese eggplant with peanut sauce, discard pajeon, & corn, the 2014 Artner Riesling (Carnuntum). Peaches, ginger, not quite as dry as the Austrian wines (from Wachau, Kamptal, etc) that I am used to, but a decent table wine. 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 party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.