No wines Wed or Th, but Friday opened the 2014 L’Ecu “Orthogneiss” Muscadet. Rich, full, with peach, citrus, and chalk notes. Bigger style than I’m used to, but quite tasty. B+/B
Dinner wine was the 2015 “Bio-Vitis” Morgon, Ripe and rich but balanced, sappy red and black cherry fruit, cocoa, and damp earth. Some tannins, this could age, but pretty tempting now, B+
Saturday I made a kind of riff on chicken baeckeoffe- mustard marinated chicken with cabbage, onions, and carrots, braised in wine and broth. Cooking and drinking wine was the 2015 Donnhoff Estate Riesling. Lime, orange zest, moderate sweetness, good acids. Good effort for QbA (as usual). B/B+
As I had taken a college group out on our anniversary Th, Sunday I took Betsy to dinner at L’Inizio in Ardsley. We started with grilled octopus and a half order of fettucine with kale and mushrooms, then had duck breast (with duck meatballs and beans) and grilled pork chop with Brussels sprouts and turnips.
With the octopus we shared a glass of 2014 Arnaldo-Caprai Grechetto. Modest acids, soft white plum fruits, mostly innocuous. B-
I had carried along a bottle of the 2001 Marcarini “Brunate” Barolo. Really tight when I double-decanted at home, by dinner it was a bit more open. Black cherry, some leather and tar, some tannins but ok with the duck and pork. A bit stern on the finish, maybe a bit in a grumpy stage. Still, not bad at all. B/B+
No wine Monday. Tuesday I got back from a speech,Betsy was making red snapper, tatsoi, and spaghetti squash. I opened the 2014 L’Ecu “Granite” Muscadet. Racier than the Orthogneiss from weekend, snappy acids and crisp minerality, this is more my style of Muscadet. Citrus, flint, oystershell. A-/B+
But it turned out the snapper was done in a chili/soy sauce and I didn’t think the Muscadet was way to go. So opened the 2015 Huet “Le Haut Lieu “ Vouvray sec. I actually meant to open the DS, but this had quite ripe fruit (though vivid acids) and it matched ok (and no way I was opening 3 wines). Apple, quince, with a honied beeswax note. Dry but fruity. B+
No wine Wednesday, but Thursday Betsy made a Greek-ish meatball in tomato sauce dish with orzo, and it needed a half cup of red wine. I opened the 2013 Poggio Scalette Chianti Classico. Tight at first with a bitter edge, but totally different by dinner (air or something I ate?). Round red fruit, verging on flabby, short, not what I want in Chiant, even at a “bargain” price. . C+ (after dinner I switched to the leftover Muscadet and Vouvray, both showing nicely on 3rd day)/
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.