With lobster, corn with SE Asia compound butter, & salad
1985 Laville Haut Brion
Great light color, crisp, plenty of ripe peach fruit and nice acidity. Not quite the length or richness of a recent '90, but nice mineral finish, and doing quite well at 35. B+/A-
Some friends who are leaving for a month and a half joined us Sat (at opposite ends of patio).
Canapes (beef saucisson, radish leaf pesto, hummus)
scallop/daikon/shiso crudo
Jonah crab claws with mustard sauce
Grilled porterhouse, potato salad, green salad
Peaches and sorbet
NV Seleque “La Quintette” Champagne (doesn’t say Blanc de Blancs, but instead Chardonnay 5 Terroirs)
Crisp, lively, pear and apple with nut/brioche richness. New producer to me but seriously impressed. Great length and presence, A-
2011 Ch. Montelena Chardonnay (Napa)
Good acids (I think still non-malo), green apple, a little citrus, some vanillin oak notes. Still pretty young, if not compelling. B
2005 Ch. Greysac (Medoc)
I had started to open a classified Bordeaux, but then the idea of drinking outside on a very warm night didn’t seem like a good way to get best out of wine. So I opened this $11 wine, had stumbled across a couple of forgotten bottles. Red plum and black currant, surprisingly a pretty dominant tannic structure still, just a hint of cedar. A rising tide means this one can last, but never will be exciting. But fine with steak on patio. B-/B
2017 Filliatreau “La Grande Vignolle” Saumur-Champigny
This showed well cool, a riper style of Cab Franc, black plum and a little herb and tobacco. Could use a little more oomph on finish. B
Grey sole, bok choy with maitake and trumpets, rice, first caprese of season
2018 Pernot Bourgogne Cote d’Or (blanc).
Good acids, but little fruit and slightly clipped finish. I just had this recently and it showed much better. I don’t get discernible TCA here, but something is not right, either with me or the wine. C+
Green puttanesca Monday, then weekly Zoom tasting, this time with the 2018 Jamet Cotes du Rhone blanc. I wasn’t really looking forward to this,I like Jamet, but am not usually a white Rhone fan. This is actually pretty good- floral nose, rich tropical and citrus on palate, but with surprising acidity for a white Rhone with ripe fruit. Good length. Mostly Marsanne but with a lot of Viognier, and smaller amounts of Roussanne and Grenache Blanc. 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.