Tuesday was vegetarian leftovers (pasta, broccoli, etc) with the 2011 Gonon “Les Iles Feray” VdP. Really good stuff for the price- classic peppery Rhone Syrah with bright black berry fruit, a little smokey edge, good leng th. B+/A-
Betsy grilled spare ribs, plus made sugar snap peas with mint and potato sa lad. Wine with the ribs was the 2012 Arnot-Roberts “Luchsinger Vineyard ” Touriga Nacional Rose. So fresh, so light, so bright and friendly! Get more. B+ With grilled squid on salad, grilled eggplant with a yogurt-mint sauce, & grilled trumpet mushrooms, the 2009 Deschamps "Les Porcheronnes" Pouilly-Fu me. Rounder, riper style of Loire SB, peachy fruit with a little citrus, pl easant but not distinctive. B- With clams and tomatoes over pasta 2010 Manbach "Frankstein" Riesling- I kn ow it’s Frankstein not Frankenstein, but I still ended up with Edgar Wint er tunes and Marty Feldman jokes in my head. This wasn’t a great match- I thought we were doing clams with ginger. Wine was a bit blah- pudgy Alsace , fairly dry but could use more zip, and a bit clipped. B-/C+
Saturday started with some oysters on the half shell with leftover SB. Main course was an excellent lamb/lentil combo, served with the 2012 Lapierre “Raisins Gaulois” - hey, this actually says 2012 not MMXII - did they change rules re vin de table? I think 2012 is supposed to be a problematic vintage in Beaujolais, but neither Betsy nor I had any problem with this. Primary, fruity, straightforward honest wine. B+/B
Sunday we went to Betsy’s sister’s home for dinner. The piano trio with Betsy’s brother-in-law’s sister and brother-in-law (is that confusing? ) were playing in area, and we came to dinner, as Betsy’s BiL’s BiL we nt to Juilliard with her. Cal had made a trip to Arthur Avenue, and we had calamari, bruschetta, broccoli rabe, chopped salad, caprese, cheese ravioli with sage butter, chittara spaghetti with vongole, and more. There was fun and wine:
2012 Lancyre Rose Nice Provencal style pink, full bodied and ripe, herby and redfruited. B+/B2012 Lenotti Bardolino rose Soft, flabby, not a lot to incite interest here. C+/C
2011 Box o Birds Sauvignon Blanc Grass, gooseberry, ok length, not too exciting but drinkable B-2008 Kistler “Hyde” Chardonnay Not my usual style, lots of power and oak, but to its credit there is notic able acidity and even a hint of minerality, I like more than the Kistler PN s. B-
1995 Montevertine Il Sodaccio Mature and classic, dried cherry fruit with leather and smoke. Tannins reso lved, acids still lively, fruit still fruitful. Some forest floor/mushroom with time, but holds up well over couple hours. A-Monday turkey “tenderloin” in a cumin/lime/coriander rub with yogurt sa uce and salad, but focus of the meal was a ramp risotto. Wine was the 2010 Cowan Cellars “Isa” Sauvignon Blanc, quite nice, very full, good crispn ess, tropical fruit with citrus peel and mineral. Nice length. Pretty sure I wouldn’t guess SB blind. 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 pa rty where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.