Grey sole, spinach, and rice. The 2020 Pieropan Calvarino was full and citrusy, with lime blossom and almond. Nice, but not really the value the Classico is (see below).B
No wines Monday with hot dogs with beet/cabbage/carrot kraut, served with potato salad
Curried chicken and mango, barley, and broccolini
2010 Knoll Durnsteiner Kellerberg Riesling Smaragd
Nectarine, ginger, citrus, with good acids, light petrol notes, good length. B+
Wednesday we ate at Harper’s on back patio, a nice meal despite a bottle of San Pellegrino going overboard. Octopus aquachile, cucumber salad, pork blade with apricot, duck breast with almonds and strawberries. A glass of Tilleuls Sauvignon Blanc (I assume Touraine) was pleasant with a grassy edge, I’m pretty sure a glass of Pecina Rioja (which I usually like) was just open too long- left most of it.
Thursday lamb kebabs, leftover potato salad,. Wine was the 2000 Ch. Gloria. Ripe and velvety, cassis and black plum in a low acid casing, ready to go. B
Friday we went to a dinner party. I had carried over some Torres black truffle chips
Lombard 1er Cru Champagne Extra Brut (2015 base, Sept 2021 disg)
Doesn’tactually seem Extra Brut. Apple, peach, hint of brioche. Others really liked, I was mildly disappointed. B-
I’d also made an assortment of cichetti from Polpo cookbook - grissini with pickled radicchio and salami, mortadella with olives and cheese, white anchovies with grilled fennel. Nancy had made tomato/radish gazpacho, Stacy brought salad, and Ron made a lemony shrimp and bean dish
2020 Pieropan Soave Classico
Bright, lemon with orange zest, saline finish. Good value (I like as much as the 50% more expensive Calvarino)B
2020 CVNE Monopole Rioja blanco
Moderate acids, melon and pit fruits, floral. Decent value. B-
Saturday oysters, roast striped bass, rice, and collards. I’ve heard good things from those I respect about Duplessis, so when I was sale-shopping and saw a ‘17 1er cru it seemed like a good time to experiment. The 2017 Duplessis Mont de Milieu Chablis 1er had good acids, flinty Chablis ness,a perfectly good Chablis. But my expectations must have set me up, as I kept thinking this tastes like a lovely Chablis AC. It kind of got me down, so I’m going to give it an unfair B-/C+
Sunday we went over to sister-in laws for a family Father’s Day meal. We started outside, with Torres sea salt chips, and the exact lineup of cichetti I had carried to dinner party Fri (hey, I had all the stuff).
Plus Cal had made a trip to Arthur Ave to Casa Della Mozzarella, he grilled bread which we topped with mozzarella, burrata, or bocconcini, plus there was a delicious garlic scape pesto.
NV Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Bright, fresh, light, a lovely crisp wine with elegant mousse and a lifting fresh finish. A Muscadet of a Champagne (in a good way).B+
Inside to table for Bolognese on fresh tagliatelle. Gabe was there, so opened a birthyear wine for him (and his dad), the 1997 Felsina Fontalloro. I explained to everyone how overrated ‘97 was when it came out, but actually this is a lovely wine. Dried cherry, black cherry, cigarbox, violets. Tannins resolved, acid integrated, fully mature but not tired. A-/B+
On Memorial Day we had grilled a ton of food, a guest had brought thin sliced strip steaks that never got used, I froze and thawed Monday. Grilled quickly and brushed with gochujang butter, served with beet greens and grilled sweet potato/scallion/kohlrabi salad. Opened the 2013 Tempier “La Tourtine” Bandol. Very very young, quite ripe (label says 11-14 abv, certainly at top end), tannic, but there’s a really lovely herbs and underbrush plus a smoked meat note. I need to hide these away. B for drinking now, A potential.
Tuesday bluefish dijonaise, soba in a sweet sour sauce, broccoli rabe greens with colatura. I had a St Veran on tap, but decided Riesling was way to go, opened the 2020 Emrich-Schönleber Mineral Trocken Riesling. Sizzling acidity, grapefruit and lemon zest, feisty, no hurry here. 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.