Tuesday night we were supposed to go to some friends’ home to watch the election. Unfortunately, about 4 PM their phone/net/TV service provider had a blackout, and neither manse nor church had service. A flurry of phone calls, and Hubert and Linda agreed to host. I made a white bean/anchovy/caper dip, others brought mulligatawny soup, vegetarian lasagna, sage shortbread with chevre, salad, and more.
There was some wine, my couple of bottles had label surgery with tape and a Sharpie
2009 Obamahauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett Fleshy but fresh and bright, lime and apple over a mineral base. B++
2004 Ghisolfi Barack Some gritty Barolo tannin, but solid fruit, tar, a bit of leather. Young, but would be good with a steak, a bit much for the lasagna. B with potential
I didn’t note details of other wines- there was a Bogle Chardonnay that while not my style was maybe a bit better than I expected, a Cavit PG that was even worse than I expected, and a J. Lohr CS that was decent enough for inexpensive Cab.
Wednesday was a bit scary. Betsy had taken my old Corolla rather than her AWD RAV4 (due to lack of gas) to a rehearsal, by time she headed home the nor’easter was dumping a bunch of wet snow and roads got bad. But she made it back, and I had dinner ready. Chicken breast in a morel cream sauce, rice, acorn squash, and broccoli, Wine was the 2004 Alesia “Chileno Valley” Pinot Noir. A little gassy, raspberry fruit, tart acids but the fruit matches up, a touch of barnyard but within my tolerance level. Pleasant but not profound. 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.