Sunday afternoon we put in an appearance at a birthday birthday. Burgers and dogs, lots of dips and salads. But we had dinner plans for later so I didn't eat much. I did however manage to sample a couple of wines:
2003 Gaujal de St. Bon Picpoul de Pinet One I brought. A bit riper/richer than one would expect from Picpoul, but I'd chalk that up to 2003 heat. Still some decent acidity, a very light-bodied wine with melon and citrus fruit. A tiny bit of grassiness. I have preferred previous Picpouls that were more zippily acidic, but this was a decent light wine for a hot day. B
2003 Barons de Rothschild Reserve Speciale Bordeaux blanc This seemed a tiny bit off-dry, with some rather flat tropical fruit and a grassy herbaceousness. Rather low in acidity, too flabby in the mouth for hot weather. C+
Back to our house, where we grilled some shrimp, scallops, and squid. There were tossed with lemon and EVOO with some tomatoes. Our friends Joe & Rachel arrived, and Joe helped me get our larger AC unit up from cellar to window. Then we sat in back and enjoyed the evening, the food (the seafood mixed with tomatoes and served over an arugula/watercress salad, and rice with furikake), and the wines:
2004 Pepiere (Marc Olivier) Muscadet Sevre et Maine sur Lie Damn, is there better wine out there for $10? Chalk and seashell, clean citrus and green apple fruit. The lemony notes match well with the seafood salad. Clean and fresh with a long finish for such a budget wine. Even better than the 2002? A-
2004 Clos Roche Blanche Pineau d'Aunis Palest rosé on the market, if I didn't know better I'd think it was a white and I'd left 2 drops of red in my glass. Not especially "pale" on the palate though- fresh watermelon and strawberry fruit, with a rather basil/herby nose. Not as mineral-driven as I remember the 2002. OK, but following the Muscadet it doesn't wow me. I'll probably get another 1 or 2 however. B/B+
1999 Alain Voge Côtes du Rhônes Sorry this is the last of these. Joe is pretty strictly a red guy, so I had opened this one for him. By cheese and dessert time weather had cooled enough that I tried some red with the aged Gruyere, and enjoyed while watching fireflies. A nice "baby Cornas." Warm dark berry fruit, nose of pepper, spice and meat. Long rather tarry finish. Very nice. B+/A-
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