Wednesday Korean marinated chicken, gochujang fennel, chinese broccoli, rice
2011 Knoll: Pfaffenberg Steiner Riesling (Wachau)
Maybe a bit too dry for the food, but delicious. Wet rocks, citrus, and peach, crisp acids, tangy and tasty. B+
Friday Betsy’s sister’s family joined us for dinner (3 of us had 2nd dose, other 3 1, but we still used masks when serving and separated the outdoor tables)
ikura/smoked salmon canapes, Jamon Iberica bellota
NV Bremont “Prestige” Brut Champagne
I’ve done dozens of notes on this- full, rich, crisp. B++
Dana had made scallops with a yuzu/avocado puree and fried kale garnish
2013 Matrot Bourgogne (375 ml)
$7.50 off closeout rack, Matrot (once a favorite value producer) has had real pox problems, but this was screwcapped, and drinking beautifully. Good acids, hint of oak, solid Chard fruit. B/B+
Main was fresh rice noodles with chicken,shrimp, sausage, and Chinese broccoli
2007 R. Haart Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Kabinett.
Wow, what a great showing. Ripe but vibrant, snappy acid for 2007, tropical and pit fruits, slate, just a hint of petrol, taut and tasty finish. A-
2019 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken
Really lovely and crisp. Sweetness on approach, but feels almost dry on finish. Bright, nervy, bouncy. Great fun. B++
2006 de Sales (Pomerol)
You gotta have a red. But why? This is a rather round, dull Merlot that could be from anywhere. I’ve enjoyed de Sales as a value in past, but this is quite pedestrian. C+/B-
Saturday we did a Zoom seder, after we signed off we had pot roast with dried fruit, salad, and the 1989 Ch. Clerc Milon (I had no kosher wine, but at least I knew owners were Jewish). Still some tannin, still some wood. Big rather plush black plum fruit. B/B-
Late dinner Sunday -oysters, roast John Dory, spinach, rice, salad
2019 Pierre Martin “Monts Damnes” Sancerre
Oystershell, tangerine, chalk. Full but with snappy acids, long and full. New producer to me, I’m a fan. B++
Dinner Monday was orzo with shrimp, and the 2019 Domaine Yves Martin Sancerre Chavignol (375). Wanted to compare this to the Pierre Martin. Apparently Pierre is the son, and from what I can determine he is the winemaker at both. Certainly stylistically similar, this has the same vibrancy, with a .tad less weight., B/B+
(same family, same winemaker, yet different importers- Pierre is Skurnik, Yves Bowler)
Our Zoom that night had a special guest, Prof. Charles Ludington, author of The Politics of Wine in Britain: A New Cultural History. Great presentation and fascinating history of wine (especially Bordeaux and Port) and how tastes were influenced by politics, tariffs, and cultural social climbing. Plus he had discovered a reference in Charles II Cellar Book to “ HoBrionna” several years before the famous Pepys entry. Really fun evening. Accompanied by a really fun wine , the 1983 Graham’s Vintage Port (I coravinned a glass, no way I was opening a 750 on a Monday). Redder fruit, spice, fruitcake and toffee, fresh and young yet with complex mature aromas. 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.