Wednesday concert by river - a sunshower right before, but the concert had good weather, with enough clouds to keep reasonably cool (the sun hitting t he clouds at sunset made for an amazing show). I made a scallop, monkfish a nd plum ceviche, and apple/kohlrabi slaw, and carried 2 wines to share with friends
2009 F. Cotat “La Grande Cote” Sancerre This is very big, somewhat tropical fruit with a bit of heat and a definite touch of sugar, honeysuckle and almond, I’d have preferred more crispnes s for a picnic with ceviche! Interesting wine, but not what I needed this e vening. B-2012 Muri-Gries Lagrein Rosato (alto Adige) Fuller style of rose, cherries and flowers, not bad at all B
I spent the bulk of the day on July 4th helping friends who got horribly fl ooded Monday. My main task was moving 300+ bottles off racks into boxes (an d cleaning the bottles from bottom rows) and then upstairs. You really lear n to hate fat and tall bottles. Then got the racks outside so the drywall c an be replaced. When I was done I went to a friend’s for a lowkey pool pa rty, I carried along the 2012 Edmunds St John Bone Jolly rose - lovely show ing, red fruits with earth and a ferric note, full without being heavy, mad e a couple of ESJ converts. B++
Home to hang with the dog awhile, then to a friend’s overlooking the rive r for a party and fireworks. Lots of nice grilled food (sausages, tandoori style chicken, burgers, meatballs) , salads, and quite a few wines out:
2010 Montebuena Rioja Somewhat modern, but good red fruits, a little dill and vanilla, ok. B-/B2012 Jaboulet P45 Cotes du Rhone rose a bit dilute and short, but frankly the fact is was cold made it fairly att ractive. B-
2011 Donkey and Goat Grenache I carried this as it was first US white I came upon, what a nice surprise f or a person who normally doesn’t gravitate towards white Rhone grapes. Go od acids for Grenache, saline/oyster shells with green apple and plum, good length, very good wine. B++2011 Vissoux/Chermette “Les Garants” Fleurie - I carried this in honor of Lafayette as most of my US reds weren’t appropriate for a sticky hot night, but it was corked
I regret I couldn’t read the name of a Chianti - started with a T or a J , hard to read script as light faded, but what a crappy characterless wine- wish I could warn people. .
2011 Calcari White wine (I think Spanish), clunky, funky, and unattractive. Heavy and sl ightly oxidized. Bad storage or bad wine? C/C-2011 Umathum Zweigelt Medium body, red fruits, fun juicy wine. B
Fireworks were great.
Friday with sockeye, caprese, and celeriac puree, the 2012 Navarre "d'Oeill ades" Rose. Full, cranberries and cherries, good acids, a bit simple, but I think this was a $10 casefiller and I’m happy with that! B
Saturday after working at office I spent some time cleaning my basement- w hile I didn’t get the severe flooding of some friends (and my office) Mon day, I did get water ingress till sump pump caught up. Just took some time cleaning some silt and making sure everything try, a bit was in cellar so I had to move some stuff out. The thing with overcrowded cellars is sometime s you miss things because they are hard to access. The removal of some boxe s revealed a few wines I would have drunk already if I had know, including a couple of 2002 white Burgs from producers with less than stellar premOx r eps.
So with grilled monkfish, arugula, and okra, the 2002 Colin-Deleger “La M altroie” Chassagne Montrachet 1er. With Colin-Deleger’s rep, I expecte d immediate darkening, but it poured clean and with a good healthy golden c olor. Not premOxed, or especially tired. However, that doesn’t mean it wa s a real success- actually a rather boring/dull bottle of white Burg. Sweet pear juice and tropical fruit, a little honey and vanilla, not very long t hough it is full and fat - I wouldn’t have guessed 11 years old, but that doesn’t mean I liked it. C+/B-
Didn’t I deserve a better wine after a Saturday of work? So I decided to open a half bottle, the 2008 La Pousse d’Or “Les Gravieres” Santenay 1er. Corked! Argghh, I’ll stick with the Chassagne (well, with leftover rose).
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.