Lately, when Bob requested wine, he asked for "chardonnay, pinot or light reds". So that was the theme last weekend. Here are some of the wines tasted that night in reverse order of appearance:
2017 Stoller Pinot Noir Ruth's Dundee Hills
Both my husband and I adored our grandmothers, both named Ruth. I therefore opened this recently to celebrate his life. As I described it in December, dark cherry and old leather books on the nose with more cherry, plum and loamy mushroom notes on the palate glide along effortlessly on silky tannins. Good on its own but shines with food. Great weight and balance.
2014 Jean-Claude Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Boudriotte Rouge Pinot Noir
Also mine, a wine we brought home from our last trip to Burgundy in 2018ish. Fantastic nose, transluscent med red in the glass. Delicate but lovely aromatic red fruit. Didn't sense much of a future, but it's enjoyable now.
2021 Constant Crush Wine Limited Addition Gamay Trousseau Pinot Noir Eola Springs Vineyard Eola - Amity Hills Pinot Blend, Pinot Noir
Belonged to Tim, who said "I love the nose on this, it smells like blood." I found it dense and bright with dark plum, raspberry, green earth and mushrooms. Very enjoyable.
2020 Château de Chamirey Mercurey Pinot Noir
Ashton's. Another CT reviewer called it 'cloyingly sweet' but that was years ago, and it doesn't show that way now. Bright red and blue fruits, nice acidity. Very good.
2016 Savage Grace Wines Pinot Noir Underwood Mountain Vineyard Columbia Gorge
Tim's. Sweet fruit, easy to love.
2014 J. K. Carriere Chardonnay Willamette Valley
Tim's. Hard to place in origins and time. Great balance, apple, good stuffing and salinity, gets better and better in the glass. Youthful but with more depth. Very impressive.
1985 Coche-Bizouard Meursault 1er Cru Gouttes d'Or Chardonnay
Warren's bottle, and some of us thought it very lightly corked which showed more on the nose than the palate. Still interesting though with light caramel color and notes of grilled pineapple and hazelnuts. Enjoyed this a LOT.
2022 Santos Brujos Chardonnay Valle de Guadalupe
This was a fun one. I liked this Baja Cal chard briefly at an in-store some time back, and appreciated the chance to taste it with more intention again. Hannah's bottle, with soft notes of cucumber, sea spray and marshmallow. Did not immediately peg it as chardonnay, but I liked it.
2019 St. Reginald Parish Chenin Blanc Laser Tag Ribbon Ridge, Oregon
Vic's. Flinty, rich, elegant, layered, drinks like grand cru Chablis. Astonishing. And only 11.2%. Don't know what this costs but it's worth every dime.
2020 Henri et Gilles Buisson Saint-Romain Sous La Velle Blanc Chardonnay
What I said 8 months ago still applies: Very Chablis-like in the best ways possible: flinty with green apples and hay, highly aromatic nose and a long, satisfying finish. But we didn't finish the bottle first night this time, in fact left the last two inches 8 days casually covered with a cap. VERY impressive freshness, very little evolution, it's all still there. Outstanding.
2012 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Chardonnay
Warren's. He is the expert on all things Comtes and believes this needs more time, and being a fan of '06 and '07 I can see where he's coming from, but this young'un nonetheless offers plenty of character and joy right now. Definitely a vintage to look forward to.
2016 Bride Valley Rosé Bella Dorset Champagne Blend
Also my wine, chosen as a playful homage to some of Bob's hallucinations in the past few months. He actually created a second version of me. She didn't have a name but he called her "my bride". My take is that he created her to separate the good-Jenise I had mostly always been from the bad-Jenise who, scared and sleep-deprived, sometimes reacted to recent bad days without the patience and understanding he deserved. He was going to marry the other one--and I was supposed to buy the plane tickets for their elopement! Very dry, good detail, passes for French.