Betsy visited a friend's new home on the way home from matinee, by time she arrived at our house I had the appetizer ready, some shrimp cocktail. Wine was the 2002 Carl Loewen "Leiwener Klostergarten" Riesling Kabinett I had opened previous night. Light and ready Mosel, flavors of lime and quince jam, with a little gingery edge. On the sweeter side of Kabinett, but not at all heavy. Not a producer who seems to get much buzz, but I've been pleased with the ones I've tried. B+
I then grilled some thick porterhouses (one would have been plenty, but I like my meat "bleu" while Bets is medium-rare, and as she said "there's nothing wrong with steak sandwiches for lunch"), with baked potatoes, asparagus, and green salad. Served a 375 of the 2003 Ch. Gruaud-Larose (St. Julien). Started off a bit dumb, opened up, but never excited me. More tannins than fruit, fairly big dose of vanillin oak. Sweet cassis fruit eventually emerges, but this strikes me as rather one-dimensional. Nothing flawed, though finish seems a tad short for a 2nd from a big vintage. Maybe this is just closed, but I'm not sensing a lot underneath, and will pass on buying more. 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.