Thursday was wine-less as I had a board meeting and ate at office. Friday we went to Betsy’s sister’s for dinner with a nice group, with a Spanish theme. Tapas to start- mushrooms stuffed with cheese, torta, thyme-accented almonds, cheeses, and more. Then at table a nice seafood paella.
2013 La Cana Albarino
Tropical fruit with a hint of grass, good acids, fresh.; B
2012 Raventos i Nlanc “de Nit” Cava Rosado
Sweet strawberries, citrus zest, a slately note on finish. Not the most delicate mousse, but fun and about as good as your going to get in $20 pink fizz. B+
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2003 Lopez de Heredia “Gravonia” Rioja blanco
No 2003 heat here, citrus and pit fruit, hint of coconut. A little nutty, good acids. B+
2013 Morales Tempranillo
A bit grapey, cherry fruit, straightforward and simple but easy enough. B-/C+
Saturday was scallops with a chive/wine sauce, braised leeks, Israeli couscous, and salad
2014 Pepiere Muscadet
Ah, my laziness comes back to strike me. I always just list the “regular” Pepiere Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sevre-et-Maine as “Pepiere Muscadet.” And then I run across this, which actually IS just labelled Muscadet. My guess is this is an early release that doesn’t spend enough time on lees to qualify for the more prestigious appellation. That said, it’s actually pretty delicious- lemon & wet rocks. Not as long or as full as the “regular” but tasty and fresh, quite saline. B+/B
2011 Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet
First bottle corked. Second shows good citrus and apple fruit, but at moment is surprisingly dominated by oak. Sure this will intergrate, but for current drinking B-/C+
Sunday pasta with green puttanesca (olives, green garlic, spinach) and grilled asparagus. the 2014 Collestefano Verdicchio di Matelica shows quite well again. Flowers and nuts on nose, citrus fruits on palate. Lively, food-friendly, quite the bargain. B+/B
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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.