Wednesday Betsy was making a new chicken biriyani (briyani, biriani, however
you want to spell it) recipe, from Mark Bittman in the NYT. Unsure of the
spice levels, I didn't want to try anything too dear and settled on the 2002
Hugel "Gentil" . As always, a dependable $8 Alsace. This is a field
blend/edleswicker, probably mostly Sylvaner, but also possibly some
Gewurztraminer, P. Blanc, P. Gris, Riesling, and Muscat. My initial impression
is that the nose is initally quite aromatic, almost a combination of a floral
Muscat and a lychee-driven Gewurz. But nose settles down into a more generic
flowers and white fruit mode. Dry, but with a ripe fruit palate. Not much on
the finish, but can't complain at this price. B

Thursday Betsy made another recipe from the Times, this one a variation of
blanquette de veau. The author offered this as an accompaniment to pinot noir
(as a sidebar to a tasting panel look at NZ PNs). Personally, with a cream
sauce I would have looked to white Burgundy, but the mushrooms made it a decent
match with the 2001 St. Innocent Winery Willamette Pinot Noir. Not a
single-vineyard like most St. I. pinot, this was a nice medium-bodied wine with
(slightly bitter, in a pleasant way) black cherry fruit, a little earth, a
little cedar. B/B+

Friday was not an easy day. Got up at a snowy 4:30 to drive Betsy to Newark to
fly to NC for concerts. Drove back through a bunch of careening idiots to await
a truckload of blankets, which never arrived (excuse my rant, but why should I
have to call company at 11 to find out where our 8-10 appt was, to be told the
shipment would be there Monday- ggggrrrrrrr). Spent the rest of the day
sloshing around loading vans, finally headed home. I wasn't totally happy with
the red burg and veal stew match. Since David was at friends, I decided to just
reheat the veal stew, and try a white Burgundy. Yee-ha! The 2001 Françoise and
Denis Clair "Les Murgers des Dents de Chien" St.-Aubin 1er Cru. Ripe pear
fruit with a splash of citrus and a light hint of toasty/nutty oak. Good
acidity, minerally finish and great structure. Better than the very good 2000?
This is $22 St. Aubin that is better than many (most?) $50 Chassagne/Puligny
1ers. A-

While I preferred the St. Aubin overall, and thought the crisp acidity dealt
with the cream well, it's true the PN did better at matching the mushrooms.
Neither match was an epiphany nor a disaster.

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.
Dale

Dale Williams
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