With all the Pratts wines, one might have thought I'd skip wine Sunday evening. But we had a very late dinner, pasta with smoked salmon, broccoli , and lemon, and I figured a glass of white wouldn't hurt. A bottle of 2006 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio had been hanging around since holidays, a generous gift from a non-geeky friend (he had also brought 2 Bordeaux). Lemon and apple fruit, moderate acidity, a tad dilute. It's not that this wine is bad, it's that it carries a premium to other PGs, for no apparent reason. If this was $8 instead of $18 might be an ok buy. Most into vinegar crock. B-/C+
Last night Betsy and Dave made wonton soup with greens, and Betsy made red-poached chicken. I opened the 2002 Digioia-Royer Bourgogne, and was assaulted with TCA. I set aside in case I was mistaken, but it got worse and worse. Too bad, because there seemed to be good red fruit on palate. I opened the nearest bottle, the 2006 Havens Syrah (Napa). This is the regular Napa, and I expected it to be lighter bodied than the Carneros single vineyard. However, it's a fairly hefty Syrah, dense blackberry and black cherry fruit, a strong vanilla extract edge. Not very long, but at the $13 closeout price ok. B/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.