Friday was sous vide tandoori-ish chicken thighs, arugula salad, & brown ba smati
2014 Ziereisen Steingruble Chasselas from Baden. Moderate acids, apple and white peach, a little dilut e to me. B-/C+2013 Ziereisen Schulen Spatburgunder Tart, bright red fruit, herby. Interesting and fresh. B/B+
While Friday was quiet, we decided to have a couple of lunar new year dinne r parties on Sat and Sunday. Saturday Cal brought sesame noodles, Betsy did the rest of the banquet- scallop/shrimp dumplings, bok choy/shitakes, whol e sea bass with black bean sauce, and cumin lamb.
NV Andre Beaufort Grand Cru Rose Champagne A touch sweeter than my ideal, cherries and raspberries, nice mousse. B
2016 Keller “Von Der Fels” Riesling Trocken Nice vintage of this- bright acids, rocky minerality, pear and peach. Livel y and food friendly. Good value at $24. B++2004 Donnhoff Riesling QbA. Moderately sweet, ripe mango and nectarine. Quite alive though a touch simp le B/B-
1988 Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape OK, I usually find this a fine vintage of Beau, but not this bottle. Not su re where I sourced- not in my CT listings, and no auction sticker. But I th ink this saw some warmth at some point, though fill and cork look good. Loo ks ok, only a little bricking, and nose isn’t bad, but palate is di sappointing. It shows some VA and some horse on nose, but the fruit is weak and the finish clipped. C+for this bottle.2001 Doisy-Vedrines (from half) Apricot, orange marmalade,and vanilla. Nice balance of sweetness and acids. B+/A-
Sunday was shishitos stuffed with turkey and shiso, rice noodles in a shrim p/dashi broth with scallop and shrimp, char siu pork, rice, bok choy with m ushrooms., the Mission Chinese red cabbage/beet slaw with a tahini/miso dre ssing, citrus salad, and a triple creme cheese/
2001 Remi Jobard “ Le Poruzot-Dessus” Meursault 1er Cru Pear and hazelnut with a little citrus note, modest acids, no too long. B-1997 Edmunds St. John “Parmalee Hill” Syrah A winebid bottle. You know, I’ve drunk a lot of ESJ, but I think on ly one bottle of Parmalee, an ‘05. I should up that, this is a very nice wine. Some tannic structure still, full black fruits, coffee, smoke. This could be a good ringer in a Cornas tasting. A-/B+
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.