Betsy spent much of Monday helping with flooding at neighbors (we had
8.21 inches of rain in 24 hours), but still managed to put together a nice dinner of pasta Bolognese and spinach with garlic and anchovies. Wine was the 1999 Triacca "Sassella" Valtellina Superiore. Let's just start off and say if you are acid-averse, this is not for you. Bright black cherry and raspberry fruit, a little floral/violet note. Tannins are mostly resolved, but there is a slight rasping edge. Could pass for a lighter Barbaresco from a not-hot vintage. Fills out a bit by next night. Nice. B+/BTuesday Betsy made a bouillabaisse, and used almost all of a bottle of the 2005 La Vieille Ferme (now Cotes du Rhone). I had a small taste of the remainder. A bit light, in fact dilute, but clean and fresh. B-
But with the meal itself, what to drink? I sadly had no pinks in the cellar (except one 95 Rioja that is not really what I was looking for). I ended up going with a Riesling, which probably wouldn't have made my first 10 choices for bouillabaisse, but which was already upstairs in fridge. The 2005 Jakob Schneider Riesling Kabinett (Nahe) actually did ok as a match, with the sweetness playing off the Pernod and spices, and the citrus aspects melding with the orange zest used in this recipe. Rather intense floral nose, palate of maraschino cherries and apple, moderate sweetness, modest length. Revisited tonight with leftovers (fish stew, lamb stew, dirty rice, capon wing) it proved itself versatile and food friendly. Nothing complicated, but a good deal at $12 a liter. 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