WTN: al fresco wines- Bdx, Loire, NZ, Baden, Nahe, Sonoma

Before Betsy left for a festival in Maine, we had a nice dinner on patio with San Antonio steak, purple peppers stuffed with chevre, salad, and the 2018 Withers Rose . This was a replacement for a corked bottle. Nice acids, strawberry fruit with orange zest and a little ginger, fun. B/B+

Friday I grilled swordfish, wth leftover peppers and salad. 2015 Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay. Decent acids, moderate oak, pit fruit with flowers. Good, but leftover rose was better match with swordfish. B

Saturday I had a group of friends over for dinner, we started with oysters on half shell and smoked bluefish
NV Castellroig Cava
Bone dry, crisp, snappy apple fruit, good value B

2016 Gadais Muscadet
Green apple, lemon zest, saline finish. Good if not super complex. B

Then we went to patio for sous vide porterhouses, lentil salad, beets with chevre, squash with zaatar, caprese, salad, followed by peaches, blueberries, & ice cream

1990 Ch. Meyney
Ripe black plum fruit, leather, a little smoke. Mature but not tired Bordeaux, though there is just a hint of a roasted note, and to me a step behind its ‘86 and ‘89 brethren, B/B+

2000 Ch. Coufran
Ripe, forward, ready to go. B

2012 Ziereisen “Schulen” Blauer Spatburgunder
Served a little chilled. Tart, light, not so long but tasty. B-

One friend couldn’t make Saturday, so he joined me for Sunday dinner. Smoked bluefish, bluefish Dijonais, stuffed poblanos, yellow wax beans vinaigrette, and salad

2014 Kruger-Rumpf “Munsterer Dautenpflanzer” Riesling Grosses Gewachs
Ding ding ding we have a winner. This was fun. Nervy acids, pit fruit and plum, citrus zest, rocky finish. Bright, complex, and long. I don’t have a lot of Kruger-Rumpf experience but this is special. A-

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.

Never come across Gadais Muscadet, second mention here this summer.

[David M. Bueker]

Kruger-Rumpf is making great wines across the range these days. Still plenty of value to be found as well.

Agree but limited selection up here in AB,

[Jenise]

Love reading your notes, as much for the food descriptions as the wines. And your chevre stuffed purple peppers rang a bell from long ago, that I used to char/peel pablano peppers and fill them with chevre topped with finely shredded cabbage and chives tossed with oil and vinegar and serve those as a cold 'salad' first course for Mexican food dinners. I completely forgot about those! Time to bring that back.

Interesting note on the '14 GG: I have some Donhoffs, same vintage, that might be showing better now. I'll pull one soon.

Gadais>.. my lucky day saw one downtown but high end $35 Cdn.