Monday I went to no Memorial Day parties- Betsy was coming home! Only Lucy the Basset was more excited than I. She had asked me to pick up baby back ribs, red potatoes, and asparagus. After arriving and unpoacking the cello and tambouras, she made a nice rub and a wet sauce for the ribs, made a potato/egg salad, with a little grilling we were in business. I thought about a Zin for the ribs, but she said she felt like a white, and I thought some sweetness to counter the spice:
2001 Strub Niersteiner Paterberg Riesling Spatlese (Rheinhessen) I bought a lot of different 2001 Strubs, but almost all Kabinett (mostly around $10!) and all gone according to Cellartracker. This was a more recent purchase. Broad red apple fruit cut with lime/ grapefruit, a rather creamy texture despite the good acidity. There's a lot of sugar here, approaching Auslese level. The ribs are just too spicy (more than I expected), seltzer does better, but the wine itself is pleasant. On day 2 the lime is more evident, along with an nice green herbal note (just a hint). Nice wine. B/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