Thursday I was taking a group from Germany around the city, as I would be driving later in evening I limited my dinner intake to a half-glass frrom a 375 of the 2004 Patricia Green Pinot Noir (Oregon). Seemed a bit thin and hard, with more oak than character. However, on Fri we went to my sister-in-law's for dinner (my MIL was in town to see Betsy perform). I carried the remaining 10 ounces along. Much nicer- ripe dark berry/cherry fruit, a bit of spiciness, good acidity to help it cut through the broiled salmon. Nice wine for the "base model", B/B+
Cal also served the 2004 Luzon (Jumilla). Pretty modern, with very ripe fruit and a bit of oak. But shows more complexity than a lot of the inexpensive modern Spanish wines, with notes of tar and smoked meat mingling with the black plum and vanilla notes. A bit much for the salmon, but good QPR. B
With the cheese course, we tried a 2004 Brocard "Montmains" Chablis 1er I had carried along. Pretty forward, with good bright apple and lemon fruit, a core of minerality, and a nice balance between the fruit and acids. There's a chalk-meets-oystershell mineral note that becomes more prominent with time. This can probably age, but seems very tasty now. B+/A-
There was also an open bottle of 2002 Ch. de Camarsac (Bordeaux Superieur) out, but too oxidized to really say anything but "yuck" (unsure how long it had been open, but I would guess several days)
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 party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.