My friend Alex used to have a restaurant in Paris, he's no longer in
the business but likes to cook for 100 now and again. So every year he
does a dinner at a local church to raise money for the church's social
outreach programs (including mine).The dinner is paired with a
concert, this year the theme was Russian. Alex made a dinner centered
on a beef stroganoff, with a salmon appetizer and "strawberries
Romanoff." My brother-in-law arranged the music, his Manhattan String
Quartet did Shostakovich's #4 in D Major, Betsy did the Rachmaninoff
"Vocalize", plus some combinations of the musicians did parts of a
Borodin quartet, a Tchaikovsky sextet, etc. Music was great, food very
good, and wine pretty tasty.

There were 2 wines included in menu:
2006 Pepiere Muscadet
Not much more to say about this that my mulitple notes before- fresh
fruit, salinity/minerality, great length for a $10 wine. B+

2006 Domaine Saint Vincent Les Trezellieres Saumur Champigny
Bright and easy, cherry fruit and a little green herb, unassuming but
a good basic food red. B

As I was sitting with some friend who like wine, I brought another
Loi
1990 Olga Raffault "Les Picasses" Chinon
Black raspberry and cherry, ripe but no 1990 surmaturite. Sufficient
acids, tannins mostly resolved, a pointe for my tastes. There espresso
beans and woodstove notes, plus a bit of barnyard. Not overwhelming
brett for my tastes, I like this, gets an A- from me, but if you went
to UC-Davis you'd probably score lower.

And, knowing that Chris (the other cellist) was a Bordeaux guy, I also
brought a wine for when I joined the musicians as they had a late
dinner:
1998 Le Bon Pasteur (Pomerol)
Lots of oak, lots of tannins. Lush black plum fruit. Cocoa and
tobacco. Some graphite on the nose. Needs time. A little bit more
polish and oak than my preference, but still a very nice wine. If you
don't like wines made by UC Davis grads you'd probably score lower. B+/
A-

Sunday I had to do a little presentation at a local synagogue, then
spent afternoon using an alcohol-based primer on David's old room (he
was 14 when we bought house, painted room black and dark red). Tired
when I finished, but had promised Betsy I'd do dinner. A quick trip to
store netted a lively lobster and some shrimp. Soon the lobster was no
longer lively, his meat and the shrimp joined some udon noodles in a
dashi based stock, with broccoli and green beans on side. Wine was the
2004 Willi Schaefer Estate Riesling #1. Light and lively, apple and
citrus. Clean slatey finish. Classic MSR. Beautiful balance of acid
and sweetness. Yum, yum. Great for QbA. B+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. 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