Berbere roast chicken, roasted leeks and radishes, salad, and the 2018 Domaine Collotte Marsannay Rose. Cherry and strawberry, lemon zest, on the plump side for Burgundy rose but tasty. B
Swordfish, squash, braised cabbage and carrots, and the 2017 G. Boulay “Clos de Beaujeu”Sancerre. Zippy acids, full and flinty, bright citrus and apple. B+
Saturday I carried dinner over to some friends’ home. We started with the 2015 Thomas Morey “Dent de Chien” Chassagne-Montrachet 1er. Full and rich but with mineral overtones. Pear, peach, light vanilla notes. Quite long. It was a bit much for a scallop and radish crudo but great on its own. A-/B+
Then we went to the main of sous vide duck breast, with radish pesto, lentils, asparagus, salad
1985 Frei Joao Bairrada Tinto
I’d never had an aged Bairrada before, quite interesting. A little volatile at first, but seemed to calm down. Smoke, funk and pepper in a medium bodied wine with black plum. Still some acid and tannin. Reminds me in turns of older Rhone and Taurasi. B/B+
2002 Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny
Red cherries, smoke, and earth. Delicate, mature, tasty. A fine village wine well worth what I paid for it, but not the $125+ wine it is today. B+/B
With fried squid, lemon and maitake salad, 2015 Caspari-Kappel "Enkircher Ellergrub Alte Reben" Riesling Spatlese trocken . Just a hint of sweetness, lemon and ripe peach, lots of body, but not so long snd I don’t love this for some reason. B-
Oh yeah the 2016 Bogle Essential Red. It’s essential for me not to try this again. Candied sweetness, blueberry jam and cherry jam on the same piece of toast. I’ve generally thought the Bogle wines while not my style were good value for others, but this is not. C
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.
