Sunday menu went Italian-ish- lamb shanks (cross sliced like osso bucco), p olenta, Tuscan slow cooked green beans (based on Frank Deis post a couple m onths ago), caprese salad. Wine was the 2002 Montevetrano. Plummy, some cig arbox, some tannins, but fruit seems mature. B
Shanks were braised in white wine and veggies, cooking wine was 2011 Domain e des Cantegrils Picpoul de Pinet. Odd reductive nose, a bit of petillance, settled down but was never that charming. C+
Pasta with bay scallops and broccoli, a variation on caprese to keep from b oredom, some pepperoni pinwheels, and a mesclun salad. Wine was the 2012 C olle Stefano Verdicchio di Matelica, as delicious as the previous vintage. Minerally, citrusy, fairly big but not ungainly. B+/A-
Still lots of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, so a margherita pizza was Tu esday dinner.
2012 Burlotto “Elatis” rose. Full, sour cherries and strawberries, oran ge peel. Good acids, substantial body, hint of tannins. 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 pa rty where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.