Some good friends came over last night. Weather had changed drastically, and it was a gorgeous cool night on patio. Betsy made a wheatberry and spinach salad, as well as a lovely canteloupe and cucumber salad. I simply grilled some porterhouses. We ended with fruit, Epoisses, and aged Gouda. Many (too many!) wines were opened
2009 Ch. de Pampelonne rose (Cotes de Provence)
New producer to me, but one I will look for. This is a really lovely example of Southern French rose, plenty of body, but with fresh acidity buoying the red fruit, herby, nice length, classy. B+
2009 Baudry Chinon rose
Another nice showing from this, sweet strawberries, lighter bodied than the Provencal, minerally. Equally good, quite different. B+
2005 Ch. Lagrange (St Julien)
I know this isn't optimum time for opening 05 classified growths, but I recently got a case on sale for $40/bottle and hate cellaring a lot of something I haven't tried. I decanted 2+ hours in advance of the meal. Tight and tannic. When served, it was still a bit in its shell, but beginning to poke out. Substantial tannins, cassis and black cherries, the usual young Lagrange blast of cedar meets cocoa oak. Tannins are quite present, but fairly smooth/ripe and with the meat this does well. Looooooonngg. The thing I like about Lagrange is that even in a big ripe year there's a solid acid backbone. Curiosity assuaged, now I can put these away for 10 year. B/B+ for current drinking, I'm expecting to get into A territory in future.
2002 Maume "En Pallud" Gevrey-Chambertin
Maume is supposed to be backwards, so another case of infanticide. Yet this was actually drinking quite well- bright cherry fruit, five-spice, grilled meat. Medium bodied, elegant, tasty. B+/A-
2006 Kendall-Jackson "Vintner's Selection" Merlot (label not in front of me but about 60% Sonoma, then equal parts Napa and Mendocino)
OK, some not winegeek dinner guests brought this last week. End of night seemed to be a good time to try. Ripe black plums and black cherries, a little vanilla oak edge, but not overpowering. But this is sweet- really sweet. I looked it up and saw WE's Heimoff called it totally dry, but not to me. Combined with low acidity, this was cloying to me. It is clean, and first impression was "not as bad as I feared" but I really couldn't drink a second glass. C/C+
Fun night, with poodle and hound trading bones, and people trading stories.
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.