With oysters 2021 Pepiere "Gras Moutons" Muscadet. Pear and white flowers, bright acids, more fruit driven than a Briords but still a good mineral/oystershell finish. Could age but tasty right now. B+
Chicken thighs with zucchini and cherry tomatoes, with the 1996 Dehlinger “Octagon Vineyard” Pinot Noir. Listed as 14.5% but tastes hotter, decaying black plum with a cola accent. C+
Teriyaki salmon, collards in a coconut milk sauce (told Betsy “do again”), haiga rice with furikake and nori
2021 Chanrion Cote de Brouilly Another tasty bright 2021 Beaujolais, Black and red cherries, smoke, a little cocoa. B+Up to Croton for a tasting. Theme was N. Rhone, John had a nice spread of cheese and charcuterie and some bubbles waiting
NV Vix-Bara Blanc de Blancs Champagne New producer to me, but John says it is made by Grongnet, whose wines I enjoy. Snappy green apple fruit, almond/hazelnit, a little oak. I like more than some others. B+/B
NV (2005) Charles Heidsieck Special Edition Brut Rose. Bottled 2006, disgorged 2019. Complex, red fruit with rye bread and citrus zest, excellent value, Dan says he loves it because it’s “winey.” B+
1999 Allemand Chaillot Cornas Sweet blackberry, hint of feral/animal, black olives. Lovely and complex. B+/A-1999 Texier Hermitage Red fruits, bacon/smoked meats, violets. Balanced, long, lovely, classy. A-
1999 Delas “Les Bessards” Hermitage Some people liked more than I did, a little funky and oxidative, there’s a soy note under the black fruits. Unsure if representative bottle. B-Dan’s blind bottles. I whiffed, said Cornas, once we knew Hermitage my vintage guesses were 1990 and 1996 (wrong wine for the 1990). We made it to Chapoutier by oak notes, but I think this is restrained compared to recent Chapoutier (and “bigger” bottlings)
Dan’s Left Bottle- tight, opens in glass, a dark fruit with some nice smoke notes, but a little soft and tired. 1989 Chapoutier “Sizeranne”Hermitage B/B-
Dan’s Right Bottle- black fruits and black pepper, an almost Bordeaux-like pencil shaving note, drinking well. 1990 Chapoutier “Sizeranne”Hermitage B+
About here John served a great beef stew.
1998 Ogier Cote-Rotie Black and blue berries, some olive and meat, lovely nose and nice flavors but on palate a bit caught up in its structure, hopefully will blossom a bit. B/B+1991 Ogier Cote-Rotie Lovely complex nose, bacon fat and pepper, balanced mouthfeel, long. A-
1985 Guigal Hermitage Porty, roasted notes, clipped finish, not fun. C+1970 Chapoutier “Sizeranne”Hermitage Snappy berries, green leaves, white pepper. Holding well, delicious. B+/A-
John had a backup for the ‘70, not needed, but he poured blind as replacement for the 85 Guigal. He said Rhone, we were puzzled till we realized he didn’t say Northern. Once we were in CdP still took while to get vintage, and he had to tell us producer. Raspberry, garrigue, coffee, bacon, Divided group, I liked. 1981 Vieux Telegraph Chateauneuf-du-Pape B+/B
John was blinding group with a Bdx when I left, sorry to miss 70 Chasse Spleen.
About 5 inches of rain Fri, stressful but sump pump prevailed (others were not so lucky, lots of flooding) Dinner was black cod in miso, umeboshi rice balls, and ohitashi spinach.
1993 Michel Gaunoux Beaune ‘93 acids, cranberry and raspberry, earth, tasty but rather straightforward with complexity I’d hope with age. B/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 party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.