WTN: Burg, Bdx, Beaujolais, Loire

Dinner at St Georges in Hastings with friends, I enjoyed my onion soup and steak frites (and shared a bit of Betsy’s salad and coq au vin)

2015 Les Allees De Cantermerle (Haut Medoc)
Some tannic structure, black plum, a touch of vanilla, easy. B/B-

1989 La Fleur de Gay(Pomerol)
Makeup bottle for corked one last week. In a great place, blackberry and cassis, mint, tobacco, and cigarbox. Suave, lush but structured, no hurry but drinking so well. A-

Thursday a speech at a hunger banquet on Long Island, I skipped the meal and had stewed tofu and leftover seafood stew when I got home. 2020 Paquet Bourgogne Blanc
Apple, citrus, moderate cut, not a great match but adequate wine. B-

Friday teriyaki salmon, Shanghai tips and king oyster mushrooms, rice, and another satisfying bottle of 2021 Baudry Chinon rose. B+

With oysters
2020 Pelle “La Croix au Garde” Sancerre
I’ve always liked the Pelle Menetou Salon, but this is not so fun, citrus and grass, but overshadowed by a odd preserved lemon meets zinc tablet finish. C+?

Duck legs in mustard panko, spinach with sesame, warm potato salad, green salad
2013 Chevillon Nuits St George VV
Lovely Chevillon that is already drinking well, black cherry with earth, fennel seed, and coffee. Tangy, fresh, and balanced.B++

Blackfish in curry lemon butter, broccolini, rice,and Castelfranco salad
1989 Domaine de la Tour (Joblot) Montagny
I’m not going to complain about $30 30+ year old white Burgundy that is quite alive, but I can’t find anything else really praiseworthy here. Appleskin, pear, light nutty/caramel notes but not really oxidative, but somewhat short on the finish.B-/C+.

Lamb miniroast with berbere vegetables and salad
2005 Greysac (medoc)
Still a touch of tannic, plum and cassis, sweet fruited, a hint of scorched earth. Rising tide all boats, etc. B/B+

Lobster, cappellini with asparagus and lemon,salad
2005 Louis Michel Grenouilles Chablis GC
White Burgundy from this era is a gamble, but this time I drew a natural. Grapefruit, tangerine, and apple, long chalky finish, ready and I wouldn’t hold longer if I had another. A-/B+

Pork chops with miso and green apple, polenta, and yu choy. As Betsy cooked I worried I should have gone with Riesling, which would have been fine but so was the Gamay. 2009 Brun (Terres Dorees) Moulin-a-Vent is at its apparent peak, warm black cherry fruit, good acidic backbone, sandalwood and spice. Nice length, delicious wine. 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.

[Jenise]

Interesting that you have these old white Burgs--I don't have the cojones (or the surplus) to hold them that long. Are you picking them up 2nd hand?

And that Greysac. When I moved up here in 2003 you could buy that wine (and almost no other Bordeaux) in every supermarket in the county. Probably affected my regard for them--I wouldn't have considered holding them.

The Montagny was at Zachys, for $30, and I needed to spend $25 to reach an Amex offer. A place like Zachys wouldn't put out dead wine, thought it was worth a try. The Michel was a cellar offer from another trusted source, offered at enough discount to cover premox risk.

Greysac is a big cru Bourgeois that has been churning out respectable but unexciting Bordeaux for decades. Stolid, fairly tradtional. I bought a mixed case of some cheap (Greysac was $11) 05s to drink earlier than classed growths, the Greysac was pretty tannic when I tried first one and so tucked away.I have passive storage available, I wouldn't put something like this is my offsite,but fun to experiment for free.