That evening friends invited me to dinner, as Betsy was out of town and they felt sorry for me.
Excellent evening, good food (lamb kebabs, carrots, beets, more), good wine, and most of all good friends.
2006 Domaine d'Elise Chablis
New producer to me. Quite ripe, but an acidic backbone. Refreshing Chardonnay, lemon and green apple, clean finish. My only quibble is that I didn't get much Chablis chalk/minerality. But viewed as a Chardonnay, nice example. B
1979 Domaine de Chevalier (Graves)
I carried a bottle of Lagrange as backup, as I noticed the cork was slightly sunken. No worries, this showed even better than a better looking bottle from winter. Beautfully rich red currant and plum fruit, cigarbox, earth. Picks up steam with air. Framed with light tannins and good acidity keeps the fruit lively, long finish, delicious. A-/A
2003 Ch. Fortia Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Alex says "too sweet after the Graves", but I feel that "hey, it's dessert." Ripe grenache fruit, all kirsch and plum liquer. Some Rhonish herb notes. Big ripe CdP, bigger than typical Fortia, clearly a child of the vintage. Not, however, completely over the top. Possibly a bit short on finish, but I was shot by now. Tough to gauge following the beautiful Graves, but a pleasant wine. B
Luckily the rain held off as I happily walked home. Nice night.
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.