In Wednesday's NYT the tasting panel tasted a variety of under $10 wines (top finishers included '05 Berger GruVe, Mondavi Pr Sel. Pinot, '04 Delaye St Veran, Cusumano Angimbe, Perrin CdR, Allegrini Valpo). There's always a matching recipe, obviously nothing will work with all of those. But Florence Fabricant used a recipe for lobster and tomatoes over pasta, saying the dish would be the star and the reasonable wines the backdrop. Betsy decided to try last night, and we had this with an asparagus salad and the 2004 Jean Manciat "Franclieu" Macon-Charnay (I owned none of the featured wines). Pure apple fruit framed by a chalky minerality and clean clear acidity. This is not aiming to be anything but what it is, a pretty, straightforward, and refreshing Macon. Tasty, typical, and thrifty, the 3 Ts add up to a B+ with an A for value ($13).
I needed to address my Bdx jones, so after dinner opened the 2000 Les Trois Croix (Fronsac). A couple of years has been very good to this. The oak and tannins have both integrated nicely, and the red plum Merlot fruit is still vibrant. A kind of ferric minerality to the finish. This ain't Cheval Blanc, but for the price ($15ish) a nice example of Right Bank Bordeaux. My plan is to start back working on my B2K satellites and Medoc AC wines. This one gets a B+, too
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.