Tuesday Betsy made babyback ribs with a wine/garlic marinade , served with poat dot (Cambodian street food, grilled corn with a fish sauce & sugar glaze). I served a QPR favorite, the 2003 Andre Iché "Les Hérétiques" (VdP de l'Hérault) . Hmm. I can't say as I found this quite as appealing as previous bottles- seemed to lack a bit of character. Not a bad wine- would show respectably in a lineup of say assorted Côtes du Rhônes. Decent ripe red fruit, a bit of Provencal herbs. A little rounder than previous vintages, but I'd noted that before. Just couldn't get excited over this. Unsure the difference - my mood, serving temp, bottle variation (fake cork, so can't blame this one on TCA)? Still hard to complain for $7.xx. B- Wednesday was chicken yakitori, from a recipe in last week's NYT. Some baby zucchini were also grilled, and a salad. I burned a couple of skewers, but rest was delicious. Wine was the 1995 Jean & Gilles Lafouge "La Chapelle" Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru. Very disappointing at first- thin, sharp. I debated going to cellar for something else -who wants to drink dilute unripe Burgundy? But as I was busy at grill, left it sitting. 30 minutes made all the difference. Raspberry and strawberry fruit, some earth and iron. The fruit seemed more cherry-ish after a while, with a Volnay-like freshness. Not a big wine, but lots of elegance and style. 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 party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency