It was a warm/hot day in the Bay Area. So, we were all happy to pour (and receive) glasses of the 2007 Château du Rouet Côtes de Provence Rosé Cuvee Reservée, which managed to cram plenty of earthy character into a refreshing bottle of rosé. Bravo.
We were then ready for more wine.
Trying to convince me of the merits of their off-beat regions, my friends cracked a bottle of 2007 Ken Forrester "Petite" Chenin Blanc Stellenbosch, which did not taste anything like what I expected from chenin. It was extremely straight-forward, linear, and full of neutral acid-squirt. Not a lot of personality, although easily drinkable, and I guess it is the basic cuvee for this guy. Not a bad wine, and went well with the salads, but I was not convinced.
Needing a palate cleanser, we popped a bottle of NV Taittinger La Française Brut Champagne, which was partly festive to toast several Celebratory Occasions. And, the round sparkling bubbles performed that task amiably. But, it was a little too sweet and soft for me to really get interested.
So, diving head-first into sugar, I looked to the 2006 Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Drachenstein "Dragonstone" Riesling which had lovely juicy slatey riesling flavors, and was not as rich or clumsy as I feared. Of course there was no great complexity, so I quickly began thinking of other things. But, it was fun to drink while watching the colors of the sunset.
Finishing off the evening was the 2005 Château Bélingard Monbazillac which was refreshing citrusy and ripe and sticky all at the same time. Nothing to occupy too many brain cells, but went down easy with plenty of conversation.