Saturday, with Andrea's golden beet farrotto, we had our last bottle (from a case) of Bernard Baudry 2002 Chinon "Les Granges". Our previous bottle of this was distressingly thin and a little sour, so I rushed to bring this one home and opened it with low expectations, but it was -- bittersweetly -- gorgeous: intense, still fresh, a soft pencil sketch of a raspberry patch overgrown with wild herbs. There was a touch of Brun-like funk up front but only a touch. Sorry not to have more, and astonished to see that I bought this at $11/bottle back in the day.
On Valentine's Day, I whipped up a pot of Italian sausage, white bean, fennel, and swiss chard soup, along with some Red Flint polenta. We cracked a Ridge 2002 Lytton Springs (Dry Creek Valley). This is in a really nice place; the savory, tarry Petite Sirah is really showing through, lifted by intense, brambly red and black fruit that, as the bottle opens, becomes almost lush but never loses focus. Shows no signs of decline.
Tonight, we had leftovers with a bottle of Edmunds St. John 2013 Rocks and Gravel (Dry Creek Valley). This is half Grenache and a quarter each Syrah and Mourvedre; I gather the fruit's all from the Unti Vineyard now, though it's not designated as such on the bottle. Our first new vintage of Rocks & Gravel in a few years. The nose is mostly Syrah, a layer of intense violets that makes you think the wine will be bigger than it is: but then the grenache is like a surprisingly delicate pillow of strawberry that somehow supports all that intensity with grace (and a little prickly acidity). This isn't a big wine, even by R & G standards; it's almost like a Côtes-du-Beaujolais, as if Steve's experience working with Gamay was lightening his touch with Rhône grapes even more. I don't know what to think about ageworthiness, but it's irresistible now and for the near term.
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