Wednesday midday the clouds looked threatening, but by evening they'd blown away and we had a warm but pleasant evening. A cool breeze off the river during a jazz concert helped. As did the 2001 Karl Erbes Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett (Mosel Saar Ruwer). Great balance of sweetness and acidity. Citrus and cherry pie flavors, fairly long finish with a slatey edge. Versatile with food, it went well with some freshly baked ham, as well as smoked salmon, tomato/tapenade spread, and a cold sesame eggplant dish. B+ A friend had also brought the 1999 Optima Chardonnay (Carneros). New winery to me. Didn't need the label to tell us this one was unfiltered, there was actually a little pulp floating around. Tropical fruit, fairly heavy dose of oak, no discernable sugar, fair acidity. Not really what floats my boat, but better than the candy-Chardonnays. B/B-
Betsy was heading west towards Mendocino early this AM, had lots of packing, so I volunteered to cook dinner last night. When I'm cooking, simpler is better, so I grilled garlic sirloin and corn. Served the 2000 Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel. Pretty good dose of sweet oak flavors, a little spice, and big blackberry fruit. Pretty good acidity keeps it from falling into the overripe/lush category. Big for a $15 zin, without being overblown.B/B+ My usual disclaimer: I'm a pretty easy grader, basically A is a very good wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Dale
Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply