Sunday I spent morning at office, then afternoon alternating between
raking and painting- ah, the joys of home ownership! When I escaped
from the alcohol-based primer fumes, I felt like some wine. While
dinner was cooking, I opened a 375 of the 2004 Pierre Matrot
Meursault. Crisp and citrusy, a little oak in background. Good length,
concentration. I thought this was pretty decent Chardonnay, but not
very Meursault-esque. All about lemon and slightly underripe pear
fruit, not the fatness I associate with Meursault. Ok -nay, good-
Burg, but I like the good to excellent 2004 Meursault Bourgogne AC at
least as much as this Meursault. B
Dinner was a pork and bean stew with orange zest , served with brown
rice and broccoli. The recipe was from NYT :
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/di...tml?ref=dining
as a pairing for Portugese wine. If I had known, I would have told
Betsy to use the Quinta de Cabriz, but she had grabbed a bottle of the
2005 Borsao (Campo De Borja, this is the one with dark label with
beige/yellow accents) as cooking wine. We served the remaining couple
of glasses with dinner. A winner again, at $7. Medium-bodied, cherry
and red plum fruit, a hint of tobacco and earth. Not a lot of length,
but tasty for price. B
Monday Betsy made another recent NYT recipe, a broccoli rabe strata :
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...C1A9619C8B 63
I was conflicted over pairings, the eggs and cream tilted me toward
white. I opened the 2006 JP Brun (Terres Dorees) Beaujolais Blanc.
Seemed a bit thinner than I expected given the producer and rep of the
vintage. Clean appley Chardonnay fruit, no oak, but not the depth or
finish I have found in earlier vintages. I think 2006 is a fairly ripe
big vintage, so maybe I misjudged this, but unlike most vintages of
Brun white Beaujolais I don't order more after tasting. B-
Today Betsy made a rack of lamb with a mustard/herb crust, accompanied
by green beans and manakish (flatbread with za'atar, Betsy had gone
with a friend to a Syrian market Monday). I concentrated on the lamb,
and went with Bordeaux. The wine was the 1997 Ch. Lagrange (St.
Julien). I recently split a case of this with a friend for $195. I'm
very happy with the deal. Is this great Bordeaux? No, not by a long
stretch. But at $16 a bottle this is a steal, lovely midweight claret.
Red plum and blackcurrant fruit, resolved tannins, hints of vanilla,
cigarbox, and damp earth. Doesn't have the length or concentration of
a great Bordeaux, but this is more than a mere "luncheon claret. " I'd
call it a solid journeyman of a Bordeaux, a nice wine at a nice
price. This would probably sink into oblivion in a lineup with more
"serious" Bordeaux, but I'm happy to have 5 more for Tuesday dinners
with my wife (actually, maybe I should contemplate telling Marc it
never came in- he hasn't paid me for his six yet- nah, no deal is
worth being an #$%hole). 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