Betsy was in Philly, but the hound and I were invited to some friends' home for dinner, so we climbed over the hill and had a nice dinner. Ron had a n ew smoker, and we had a nice appetizer of smoked sausage with the 2013 Trie nnes rose. I like this more than last vintage I tasted, pretty classic Prov encal style- red fruit and melon, a bit of herb. B
Main course was frutti di mare over pasta, I had carried over the 2004 Lope z de Heredia Gravonia Rioja. Waxy, sweet citrus, pineapple, earth, nuts. Ni ce cut. (Good) Rioja meets (good) Vouvray sec. Very good, and I'm surprised my more ripeness oriented friends like a lot as well. B++
Ron's mostly a red guy, so he also had the 2010 Burlotto Freisa. Full, dry, some moderate tannins, ample acids, solid fruit. B+
Wait, as I was getting ready to gather the dog and walk home, there's anoth er bottle open. It's the 2010 Ch. Hyot (Castillon Cotes de Bordeaux, first time I've seen the successor appellation for CdCast. ). Maybe I was just in a hurry, but this left me totally cold- medium bodied yet overextracted, p lummy fruit with gritty tannin, short. What I don't want in satellite Bdx. C+
Betsy made it back on a beautiful Mother's Day, a friend came over and we a ll enjoyed a glass of the NV Castellroig Cava on the front porch. Light, cr isp, minerally, zippy. A good value in $13 bubbly. B/B+
Dinner was turkey chili, with the 2011 Dashe Dry Creek Zinfandel. Medium bo died (for Zin), good acids, some rather smooth tannin. Black raspberries, a little tobacco. Nice wine.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 objectivit y, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.