Thursday we ate at a Korean place, I stuck to water with my seafood in a spicy broth. By Friday I was back to wine. Betsy was out of town, I grilled some sausage (Betsy's not a sausage fan, so I get my fix in when alone, like with liver) and squash, with salad. The sausage was a mild feta/spinach one, so I felt a PN would be ok. Opened a birthday gift, the 2004 J. Christopher Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley). Seemed a bit heavy on the vanilla-y oak at first, a little ripe/cherry-cokish at first for my tastes. But that's just first impression, it doesn't take long for it to seem to balance out. Ripe but not overripe black cherry fruit, some oak yet not enough to be overwhelming. Pretty decent structure for a moderately priced wine (I looked, my local store has it for $25). Save half a bottle for tonight-we'll see, but this is a B/B+ for night one.
2005 Pinon "Cuvée Tradition" Vouvray. Based on 2004 of this I thought this would be slightly on the sweet side of sec-tendre, but this is more full-blown demi-sec. Sweet but with a tremendous backbone of acidity. that waxy Chenin thing over a tight peach and apple butter fruit core. Chalk and a hint of flint (in Vouvray? go figure). B+ , and great QPR at $15ish.
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.