Monday we took a break from family duties to have a lovely dinner on the back porch of some friends. Rachel had made a Mexican-themed dinner- cold avocado soup, ceviche, and shredded pork tacos. One couple are AA, Rachel was abstaining, Betsy merely sipping, and so Joe and I drank:
2005 Borsao (Campo De Borja) Joe's house wine, and this old dependable is just fine. Red cherry fruit, almost too fruity for me at first. Quickly settles in, sweet fruit, good acidity, light tannin. There's some leathery/earthy notes, a little pepper. There's nothing remarkable here, other than the fact that a wine can offer even a little complexity and depth at $6. B, but A- for value.1993 Roagna Barbaresco I brought this along because Joe is mostly a red drinker (no clue re what menu was). At first I worried this was a little past it, or maybe cooked. Not a lot of fruit showing, just acidity and alcohol. But just a short sojourn in the glass helped a lot, cherry and raspberry emerging, a bit of earth. Glasses towards the end of bottle were the best, the acidity seemed a bit more rounded, the leather notes fully integrated with the fruit, a bit of tar. A little short. OK mature Nebbiolo, but without the depth or concentration of a great one. I preferred the Roagna '93 "Rocca & Pira" Barolo I had a year or two ago. B
Tuesday I had a board meeting, dined before with some of our homeless members. Crystal Light was the beverage of choice with our Chinese takeout. When I got home after a long day, Betsy had saved me little samples of the meal she had prepared for her family- I liked a shotglass of cucumber soup, and a small plate of crab/mango salad. We opened a 375 of the 2002 Billaud-Simon Chablis. Lemon, apple, and a little grapefruit; good acids yet not sharp, easy and slurpable if not especially deep. 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