Tuesday Betsy called me looking for 2 cups of Chardonnay, I steered her to a bottle of the 2000 Petit Chapeau Bourgogne Blanc. We split the rest of the bottle (I was going into city that night, small glass was plenty) with the shrimp in Chardonnay sauce, salad, and pasta with anchovy sauce. Nicely balanced light wine, good apple fruit with a little citric bite. Crisp, easy, and pleasant, well-worth it's $9 price tag. B
Following night we had lemon sole with caper sauce, and a 2001 R & V Dauvissat Chablis. Very rich fruit for a basic Chablis AC (with sweet peach notes), good mouthfeel and good acidity. I'm a little surprised (based on my very limited Dauvissat experience) that there's not a particular sense of minerality or flintiness. Nice wine, but for $20 think there are 1ers from less-esteemed producers I like better. B
Thursday Betsy was making lamb shanks for a Friday dinner party, and needed most of 2 bottles of wine for cooking. Time to call out the under$5 2002 Borsao. We split a small glass- medium-bodied, sweet Grenache berry fruit, good finish. Very good for the price. B (hey, these Bs are getting monotonous).
For Thursday's dinner she made beef stroganoff, and (more because I wanted to try it than any sense it was a particularly good match) the 2000 Ch. Tayac (Cotes de Bourg). This is the regular bottling, not the Cuvee Prestige. I took a sip on decanting, thought it pleasant in a light-bodied kind of way. With dinner it opened up a bit, somewhat floral nose, nice plum and raspberry fruit, but short finish. A little disappointing for a 2K Bdx, I'd say B-
When our friends arrived Friday, Betsy had out olives, an eggplant dip, and some flatbread covered in herbs and spices she had picked up at our local Armenian store. The NV Cavalleri Brut (Franciacorta) was a pleasant starter, the light sweetness a good contrast to the herbs. Nice balanced acidity, somewhat coarse mousse, white fruit. OK no more, B-
With the veal shanks (and carrots and a potato-turnip gratin), a Rhone and a Bordeaux. While I usually like the Jaboulet Thalabert, with the exception of the '94 Jalets their other Crozes have left me cold. But when I tried the 1999 Jaboulet "Les Jalets" Crozes-Hermitage a couple years back, I really liked, and picked up quite a few for less than $10. Since then it has been a roller coaster ride - without any sign of actual damage, the bottle variation (or my tasting limitations) have been astonishing. After that first bottle, the rest have ranged from nice medium-bodied Crozes to light insipid wines to make one wonder if it's really Syrah. Friday night's bottle was by far the best I'd had since the very first one. Fairly tannic, good blackberry fruit with a peppery edge and a strong acidic backbone, some time brought out some earth and grilled meat aromas. A bewildering A-
The Bordeaux was the 1998 Grand Ormeau Lalande-de-Pomerol. On decanting I thought it a little closed. When actually serving I finally came to the conclusion it was mildly corked, there was a mustiness just on the edge of my perception threshold. Others declared it their favorite of the night, but I thought the fruit quite muted compared to other '98 Right Bankers. What I tasted seemed to have red fruit and a lot of oak, but can't give a grade (if I'm wrong and it wasn't corked, then C+) .
With some aged Gouda we also finished the last of the Tayac. One day of a 1/3 of a bottle sitting at room temp re-corked brought out a prettier wine, ripe red fruit backed by a little earth and flowers. I upped to a B/B+, and picked up couple more today. 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. Dale
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