Betsy knows I love pheasant, and picked up a nice one at Fairway. She
used a recipe from the recent Gourmet magazine cookbook, with the
pheasant braised and served with brown rice and red cabbage. I think
of pheasant as a good foil for aged red Bordeaux or Burgundy, but
cabbage worried me. I quizzed some folks, decided on aged Riesling.
Pondered some Austrians, but decided to go with a little sweetness, so
chose the 1994 Zilliken "Saarburger Rausch" Riesling Kabinett
( Mosel Saar Ruwer). It did quite well with the dish (through it
turned out the cabbage is mixed with bacon and brown rice, a red would
have been fine, the cabbage is an accent, not dominant). Good acidity,
pleasant peach and lime fruit is in the background, more notable are
the slatey mineral notes. There's also some light petrol. Lighter
styled, "true" Kabinett, nice wine, should have bought more. B+

The recipe included some white wine, Betsy had opened a very
inexpensive one, the NV (though seal indicates 2007 bottling) Gazela
Vinho Verde. A little petillance, light, saline, citrus fruit. Not a
wine I'd seek out, but at $6 an okay choice for a sipper on a hot
day, or to add some acidity to a dish. 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.

On Apr 14, 10:34�am, DaleW wrote:
Betsy knows I love pheasant, and picked up a nice one at Fairway. She
used a recipe from the recent Gourmet magazine cookbook, with the
pheasant braised and served with brown rice and red cabbage. I think
of pheasant as a good foil for aged red Bordeaux or Burgundy, but
cabbage worried me. I quizzed some folks, decided on aged Riesling.
Pondered some Austrians, but decided to go with a little sweetness, so
chose the 1994 Zilliken �"Saarburger Rausch" �Riesling Kabinett
( Mosel Saar Ruwer). It did quite well with the dish (through it
turned out the cabbage is mixed with bacon and brown rice, a red would
have been fine, the cabbage is an accent, not dominant). Good acidity,
pleasant peach and lime fruit is in the background, more notable are
the slatey mineral notes. There's also some light petrol. Lighter
styled, "true" Kabinett, nice wine, should have bought more. B+

The recipe included some white wine, Betsy had opened a very
inexpensive one, the NV (though seal indicates 2007 bottling) Gazela
Vinho Verde. A little petillance, light, saline, citrus fruit. Not a
wine I'd seek out, but at $6 an okay choice for a sipper on �a hot
day, or to add some acidity to a dish. 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.

Dale-I picked up a few bottles of the Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Wehlener
Sonnenuhr Kabinett this weekend and opened a bottle with a batch of
smoked boudin that a friend sent from Louisiana. Loved the wine! A
nice foil to the rich, spicy, smokey, boudin and the more I drank the
better I liked it. Just enough fruitiness and acidity to be
delightful. Thanks for the tip!