Monday, with spinach linguine with ground beef, and salad and a side of oyster mushrooms, we opened the
1999 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Nose of smoke, leather, and light oak. Deep, intense raspberry and blackberry fruit. Good finish. I probably should give this an A- on my easy scale, and put away remaining 2 bottles...but......by following night it had totally fallen apart. I mean totally. Sure, this was not private-reserved, vac-u-vined, or anything. But I'm not used to wines being undrinakble on day 2. I'll drink others soon, and give a B+ as a drink now.Tuesday, Betsy made Chilean Seabass (aka Patagonian Toothfish) with mushrooms and fresh fava beans, with yellow beets and green beans. I opened the 2002 Girard "La Garenne" Sancerre. Ripe full-bodied Sancerre, citrus with a long chalk/mineral finish. Good wine. B+
Over the last several nights, as an apertif, the 2002 Goldwater "Dog Point" Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Grapefruit and gooseberry, big and full-bodied for a SB. But there's an odd flavor here- a little animal/meat thing. Not truly off-putting, but unusual. Lots of $10-12 NZ SBs I like better than this $15 one. 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. Dale
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