So Betsy and I agreed that Sunday evening we'd have a quiet night, eat
some ac***ulated leftovers, etc. Then she got the idea to invite Joe
and Rachel for dinner. "We'll just keep it simple." Next thing I know,
she needed a bottle and a half of PN for marinading and brasing the
duck legs:
2006 Baron d'Avelin Bourgogne
Simple, sweet, straightforward, fine for cooking. B-/C+
2006 Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha
Jammy, thick, red fruit with a little tree bark. Saved half a bottle
for dinner, others liked it more. B-
They arrived, bearing homemade potato chips and guacamole. So we
opened
NV Pinon Vouvray Brut
Light, lithe, clean. Yeasty in a sourdough meets biscuit way, gala
apple fruit, some chalk/minerial. Nice fine mousse. Fun wine. B+/B
2000 La Magia Brunello di Montalcino
I opened this because Joe had loved a bottle before. Decent acids,
dried cherries and black cherries, a little leather and spice. Modest
length, not a big Brunello, seems pretty close to maturity. B/B-
2006 McManis Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (California)
This puts the goop in goopy. Sweet syrupy black and blue berry fruit,
some oaky vanillaness (no, make that vanillality). Definitely a wine
from fruit bomb lovers. Not a style I go for, but this is probably a
pretty good value for fans of the style. But for me, C
Good night with good friends. Dave stopped by with some friends to
make pie dough to carry to Brooklyn, nice his friends are now old
enough to legally offer wine. We'll try again for simple tonight. :)
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.
=A0


|