With a salmon couscous salad, the 2009 Clos de la Roilette/Coudert Fleurie Tardive. Rich, lovely and long. Sappy black cherry, with spice and earth notes, wonderful plush mouthfeel, great finish. Pretty much all I could ask for in Gamay. A-
(dish was delicious, with yogurt and feta, but the Fleurie was not a good match)
With char kway teow (fresh rice noodles with chicken, shrimp, sausage, Chinese broccoli, etc), the 2015 Caspari Urschiefer Riesling trocken. Just a hint of sweetness, ripe peach fruit with a little grapefruit, good acids, but somewhat simple and short on finish.B-/C+
Oysters, veal with mushrooms, prosciutto, and fontina (a Pierre Franey recipe , kind of saltimbocca meets Oscar), spinach, rice
The oyster wine was the 2010 Boulay “La Comtesse” Sancerre. I’ve had some variation from these, and this is more advanced than most. Still a tasty wine, but not fresh as some other recent bottles, there’s a distinct nuttiness over the apple meets seashell base. Still I enjoy. B
The veal wine was the 1988 Felsina Rancia Chianti Classico Riserva. A little musty at first, I was worried (I seem to have had a lot of corked Felsina from last century) but it wasn’t TCA, and whatever it was blew off. And it turned out to be better than I ever hoped. Rich black plum and cherry, saddle leather, earth, a touch of incense. Sweet and lush, drinking great. Big surprise was the last glass was still pretty good next day (I don’t think Sangiovese fares well in general with long exposure). At peak (hour after opening). A-
Betsy was at a recording, I grilled some swordfish, had with beet greens, leftover noodles, and the 2014 Lamy-Pillot “Vergers” Chassagne-Montrachet 1er. So I cut capsule and remove to see….a plastic cork?!?! No, actually, it’s a white wax seal. Never really seen this before, cork a little sunk, layer of wax inserted, then normal capsule.In any case no premox here, but I was left wanting a bit more. My only experiences with Vergers (Neillon) have been very good, and 2014 is a great vintage. This was a perfectly adequate white Burg- pear, a touch of hazelnut, moderate length. But could have been a village wine or a Bourgogne- no sense of 1er depth. 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.
