Betsy was in CA and I picked up a rotisserie chicken Tuesday last week. Win e was the 1998 Nigl Senftenberger Piri Privat Riesling. I was a little conc erned re color on first pour, but it was fresh on palate. Peach, grapefruit , petrol, wetrock minerals, this could be longer on finish but still a very nice bottle of mature dry Riesling. B+
Wednesday was spent in a daze, I felt like vodka shots but just had leftove r Riesling (Nigl held up well). No wines Thursday (early flight Fri), or Fr i, Sat, and Sun (visiting my mom in GA, wasn’t worth trip to wine s tore and terrible selection in grocery). So Monday I was thrilled to have w ine with dinner. With matsutake gohan and kale topped with a 5’10 ” egg, the 2014 Cazin Cour-Cheverny to scratch that Romorantin itch . Lemon, apple, and pear, moderate acids, pleasant wine. B,
I did a Vietnamese-influenced pork sautee Tuesday, with leftover mushroom r ice and broccoli.
2014 Tete Julienas. Red fruits, a hint of green pepper, but mostly this is rather quiet. Maybe a little shutdown. I feel like there’s a good w ine underneath here, but for now B-Last night Betsy made some green puttanesca (kale, capers, anchovies, green olives, pepper flakes) and pasta, while I grilled a couple of lamb rib cho ps. Wine was the 2011 Occhipinti “Siccagno” Nero d’ Avola. Full, meaty, smoke and flint over deep red fruit, some tannin, good length. A little barnyardy with air, but brett as a spice not a sauce. B+/A
-Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a p arty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.