Wednesday Betsy made rabbit roasted on a bed of guanciale, watercress, rad icchio, and dandelions. Wine was the 1987 Drouhin Beaune-Greves 1er. Pretty . ,mature wine- good black cherry fruit accented with spice and mushroom. R esolved tannin, good acids, good length. A-
Thanksgiving was at Betsy’s sister’s, but we did the turkey , 3 dressings (oyster, giblet, and a quinoa/duck sausage for the GF crowd), gravies, etc. Others did sweet potatoes, salmon, beans, Brussels sprouts, pies, and more.
When I dropped off a table and a couple chairs, I dropped some wine as well . The Raventos “Nit” Cava rosado was apparently gone by time we a rrived. Plenty of other wines:
2009 Reinhold Haart Piesporter Grafenberg Riesling Kabinett #7 Nice showing, peach and tropical fruit, orange zest, balanced sugars and ac ids, nice length. B+2016 Pastou Sancerre Vieilles Vignes Softer style, round with apple and grapefruit touch of grass. B/B-
2011 Rhys Bearwallow Pinot Noir Bigger than my previous Rhys experiences, ripe black plum and cherry, coffe e. Some tannin, moderate acids, good finish. Good but not outstanding. B/B+2014 La Petite Fontaine Cotes du Rhone Plums and kirsch, a bit short. B-
2015 Carnivor Cabernet Sauvignon Sweet, fleshy, roasted, and clipped. C/C+2015 Pavillon de Chavannes “Cuvee des Ambassades” Cote de Brouilly Nice showing, red cherry and pomegranate, espresso, spice. Good length, nic ely balanced. B++
Next day opened a few oysters, followed that with lemon sole with panko, br occoli rabe, and leftover stuffing. 2015 Forja de Salnes “Leirana Finca Genoveva” ( Rías Baixas) . Wow, full bodied (but only 12 .7% abv) but bright acids, pear and white peach, lots of citrus zest and so me almond. Long and pure. A-/B+
Saturday up to see friends in Scarborough, they had out local cheeses hummu s, baba ganoush
2015 Vattan Calcaire. Straightforward SB, citrus with a little grass, good acids, moderate length. BDinner was salmon, salad, and roasted broccoli. The 2011 Drouhin Morgon is showing nicely- black cherry, smoke, and a little herb. Nicely balanced. B+
Sunday was a lovely dry-aged ribeye, butternut squash risotto, spinach/pars ley salad with a lemon/caper/mustard vinaigrette. Wine was the 2002 Ch.de C horey (Germain) “Vignes Franches VV ” Beaune 1er. Black ch erry, sandalwood spice, a little meaty note, a touch of mocha. Medium to fu ll bodied, good length, fresh but drinking well. B+/A-
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 p arty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.