WTN: Burgs, Loires, Champagne, Kamptal, Marche

Saddest bottle of the week was a horribly corked 2005 Boulay Comtesse

Pork chops, barley/wild rice, bok choy
2001 Hiedler Maximum Riesling (Kamptal)
I have found recent vintages of this a bit hotter and rounder than my preference, but this (13% abv) was pretty well cut, peach and ginger with a little petrol overtone. Ready and long. B+

Pasta with clams, peas, and bacon
2018 Collestefano Verdicchio di Matelica
Clean, saline, citrus, very versatile food wine. B/B+

With some oysters on half shell
NV Marie Courtin “Efflorescence”
Green apple, pastry dough, crisp yet rich. B+

Veal chops with sage, mushroom (oyster, maitake, yellowfoot, velvet piopinni) risotto, Brussels sprouts
1999 D’Angerville Volnay 1er
Pretty and ready. Red berries, soil, a touch of Barolo-like tar. Perfumed and tasty, not weighty but with grip. Great showing for a blended 1er. B+/A-

Quail braised in Vouvray, leftover risotto and Brussels sprouts
This was our Zoom call. I think everyone liked both, I think most preferred the CdB. But happy to have both and think they’ll easily age decades.

2019 Huet “Le Haut Lieu” Vouvray Sec
Snappy, bright, lively with melon and honey. B+
2019 Huet “Clos du Bourg” Vouvray Sec
Deeper, rocks and flowers, long A-

Last night I did a variation on risotto al salto (mushroom risotto won’t really make a cake) with lamb kidneys with sage and sauteed spinach
1999 Robert Arnoux “Les Proces” Nuits St.-Georges 1er
Servicable but I kept thinking about the Volnay. Red and black cherry, some dirt, ok but a little plodding. 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

[David M. Bueker]

Interesting that you mentioned Hiedler. I just unearthed a bottle of 2008 Hiedler Weissburgunder Maximum. It’s now in the queue.

Quail braised in Vouvray, leftover risotto and Brussels sprouts
This was our Zoom call. I think everyone liked both, I think most preferred the CdB. But happy to have both and think they’ll easily age decades.

2019 Huet “Le Haut Lieu” Vouvray Sec
Snappy, bright, lively with melon and honey. B+
2019 Huet “Clos du Bourg” Vouvray Sec
Deeper, rocks and flowers, long A-

Did you braise it in Huet, or an alternate cheaper 'cooking' Vouvray?

Will be interested to hear about the Weissburgunder. I had some Hiedler Maximums (GV and Riesling) from 2009 era and kind of wished they were Minimums. But never had a Weissburgunder from them.

Rahsaan, normally I would have gone for an inexpensive Chenin, but I was opening 2 bottles of Huet (by myself, on a Monday) for the Zoom so used a little of each . It was certainly less than a cup total- I stuffed 3 quail with a panko/shallot/piopinni mix, browned, added wine, covered, and put in oven.

Rahsaan, normally I would have gone for an inexpensive Chenin, but I was opening 2 bottles of Huet (by myself, on a Monday) for the Zoom so used a little of each . It was certainly less than a cup total- I stuffed 3 quail with a panko/shallot/piopinni mix, browned, added wine, covered, and put in oven.

Hey, I don't think it's sacrilege. I was just curious how you approached these things. But 1 cup out of those two young bottles sounds good! I probably cooked with some of my 2019 Huet secs a few weeks ago, can't remember.

Tomorrow I will probably be deglazing with 2017 Alzinger GV Smaragd, unless the remainders are so compelling that I absolutely have to finish every sip (which is doubtful).