Final park concert of the season, sitting with a wine friend and surrounded by good people. Cool band, breeze from river made up for heat, great views. I carried proscuitto/perar/gorgonzola rolls, terrible caprese (beautiful expensive heirlooms with poor flavor), shrimp/avocado, salad.
2017 Suertes del Marques Valle de la Orotava Vidonia
Crisp, saline, bright. Citrus and seashell, with an unusual and distinctive pine needle meets herb touch, Love good Canary wines, A-/B+
2010 Franck Balthazar Chaillot Cornas
Young but with personality, vibrant black fruits, smoke, and a touch of black olive, Nice texture, While this will age and improve pretty tasty now, B+./A
2005 Hospices de Beaune (Henri Boillot) Cuvee Madeleine Collignon Mazis-Chambertin
Looks like Don Stott actually bought this. Young and mostly showing oak, there’s lovely structure underneath. Don't' drink now, but this should be very good.,
2004 Marc Colin “ La Chateniere” St. Aubin 1er Cru
An auction buy, these have been variable and this is probably most advanced, but not dead. Ripe white fruits, some nuttiness as it teeters on the edge, a slight lactic note. Still interesting, B-
2017 Pepiere Clisson Muscadet
Big but balanced, citrus and oystershell, great job for vintage., B+’
There was also s Domaine Deux Anes Carignan (is it Corbieres?) that I never saw vintage of, recent thought, nice in a glou glou kind of way.
Thursday I flew to Minneapolis, after a 1+ hour wait in rental car line I got my car and made short drive to house where we are staying (Betsy’s niece’s wedding, we sharing a house with bride’s parents). . BIL had made Beyond Burgers with toppings, sweet potato fries, & salad.
2015 Reyane and Pascal Bouley Volnay
Black and red cherries, some tannin, fairly light and rather unexpressive. Shutdown or just dull? B- for now
Friday night some takeout Malaysian food (walleye in Belacan sauce, red snapper with ginger and scallion, roti carnei, shrimp puffs, char kway teow, yam pot, Queens tofu, etc. Saturday was supposed to be dinner at Hai Hai, but rain cancelled our outdoor reservation and we got takeout (shrimp toast, banana leaf salad, pork/sticky rice bowl, ribs, Brussels sprouts, Balinese cauliflower, corn). Couple of whites shared over 2 nights.
2018 Vattan “Argile” Sancerre (mag)
Full and fleshy, light gooseberry and ripe pear, not the zippiest Sancerre. B
2015 Dr. Wagner Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett
Peach, green apple, and spice, fairly sweet, but balanced acids. Fun wine. B+/B
Wedding was at a beautiful farm in Northfield. Delightful event with beautiful ceremony, thoughtful and funny toasts, and a great feeling. Dinner was pork cutlets in cream sauce, butternut ravioli squash, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and salad with ground cherries. I had a glass of Coastal Vines Chardonnay, movie popcorn “butter”, canned pear, not my thing. C.Didn’t have the guts to try the Cabernet or white Zinfandel. It's ok, I didn't come for the wine!
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.