Wednesday we headed to park to hear Gary Smulyan and his band, eat good food, and sip a little wine. I carried some leftover Lambrusco, as well as the 2005 Luneau-Papin "Excelsior-Clos des Noelles" Muscadet. Just kickass stuff, structured but giving, citrus (lemon and orange zest) combining with saline mineral notes. Young but not closed. Good length, balance, depth. Maybe even better tonight on night 2. Why buy white Burgundy? A-
There was also a Crios Malbec rose, ok in a bigger style, but I took no notes
Tonight Dave made ratatouille, we had with some leftover beef and
the 2001 Guigal Chateauneuf-du-Pape. '01 is a fave S. Rhone vintage for me, but this left me cold. Low acid, red fruit, a hint of herbiness. Seriously, if this was a $8 CdR I'd say fine, but this must retail for $25-35. No sense of depth or potential, dull wine for price that needs excitement. Thank god for leftover Muscadet. C+
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.