At a recent dinner party, a couple of friends had brought wine as hostess gift. Neither is into wine, and I didn't have particularly high hopes for either bottle . But it's always good to try something new. Or is it? With a few pricey exceptions, California Merlot is not one of my favorite types of wine. But one must keep the counter clear, so Monday with a dinner of roast chicken, broccolli, and rice w/chicken livers, I opened the 2001 Castle Rock Napa Merlot. Uh-oh, a nose of sweet cherry fruit and sweet oak. It's with great trepidation I take a sip. Well, ok, it does have a good dose of vanilla mixed in with the red plum fruit. But there is a bit (though just a bit) of a backbone of tannin and acidity, and there's a pleasant edge of spice to the fruit. It has some character. Not a wine I'm planning to look for, but I'm assuming it's $8-10, and passable QPR. B/B- The other gift wine is a Sicilian red that I've never heard of, will report soon.
Yesterday Betsy tells me she picked up some nice red snapper for dinner, and my thoughts turned to white wine. Then she says she also got some bluefeet mushrooms for the sauce, and my mind balked. Um, Dale need red with good mushrooms. Trying to imagine a good light red that wouldn't trample all over the fish, I thought of the Lafarge Passetoutgrains I had recently. Had more, but maybe this would be a good opportunity to try the 1999 Robert Chevillon Bourgogne Passetoutgrains. Much darker color than the Lafarge, and a weightier wine. Ripe berry fruit, a hint of flowers and a some mineral. The snapper was delicious, as was the sauce- lemon, cream, sage, nam pla, and the mushrooms. I felt that the wine, while good, overwhelmed the fish a little- I would have been better off with the sprightlier Lafarge. But I did think the Chevillon was quite a good wine, more in the basic Bourgogne style than identifiable (to me, at least) as Passetoutgrains. B/B+
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre at best. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Dale
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