Saturday with a NE boiled dinner (corned beef, turnips, potatoes, cabbage and carrots) the 2006 Glatzer "Dornenvogel" Gruner Veltliner (Carnuntum). Citrus and apple, a little white pepper and herb. Maybe a touch rounder than my preference, but a decent inexpensive GV. However, Betsy is thumbs down, so not buying more. My B/B-
We have a good friend from NC as a house guest for a couple of days, invited a couple of other friends over for a nice dinner. Sarah is vegetarian, so Betsy delved into the Greens cookbook and came up with a very tasty enchiladas rojos dish, along with lobio (Georgian black beans, from a recipe from a Russian violinist friend) and a salad. Nancy brought a sweet potato with jalapeno soup.
Not exactly wine friendly. My default in these situations is usually off-dry Riesling, so went with the 2006 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Kabinett. Excellent acidity, limeade accented with a light tropical note. Some mineral, hint of petrol. Great length for a kab. Nice texture in mouth. I like this a lot. A-/B+
Food match be damned, I knew that all of our guests are primarily red drinkers. So had a couple on table:
1990 Ch. Bourgneuf (Pomerol) I thought for a second this was corked as I decanted, but whatever funk there was blew off. Red currant and plum fruit, just a hint of the '90 roasted thing. Some cedar, earth. With time a darker note emerges, some licorice on top of darker fruit. Good for level. B+2002 Tablas Creek "Cotes de Tablas" (Paso Robles) This is really showing the Grenache, all ripe red fruit and grenadine. Some tannins, very sweet fruit, could use a little more acidity. I've liked other vintages of this a bit more. B
2005 Nobles Roches Chateauneuf-du-Pape New producer to me. More ripe red fruit, a bit more acidic, and a bit less depth than the Tablas Creek. Some herb, short finish. This would be a decent CdR, a bit lacking as a CdP. 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.