Saturday with a NE boiled dinner (corned beef, turnips, potatoes,
cabbage and carrots) the 2006 Glatzer "Dornenvogel" Gruner Veltliner
(Carnuntum). Citrus and apple, a little white pepper and herb. Maybe
a touch rounder than my preference, but a decent inexpensive GV.
However, Betsy is thumbs down, so not buying more. My B/B-

We have a good friend from NC as a house guest for a couple of days,
invited a couple of other friends over for a nice dinner. Sarah is
vegetarian, so Betsy delved into the Greens cookbook and came up with
a very tasty enchiladas rojos dish, along with lobio (Georgian black
beans, from a recipe from a Russian violinist friend) and a salad.
Nancy brought a sweet potato with jalapeno soup.

Not exactly wine friendly. My default in these situations is usually
off-dry Riesling, so went with the 2006 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch
Kabinett. Excellent acidity, limeade accented with a light tropical
note. Some mineral, hint of petrol. Great length for a kab. Nice
texture in mouth. I like this a lot. A-/B+

Food match be damned, I knew that all of our guests are primarily red
drinkers. So had a couple on table:

1990 Ch. Bourgneuf (Pomerol)
I thought for a second this was corked as I decanted, but whatever
funk there was blew off. Red currant and plum fruit, just a hint of
the '90 roasted thing. Some cedar, earth. With time a darker note
emerges, some licorice on top of darker fruit. Good for level. B+

2002 Tablas Creek "Cotes de Tablas" (Paso Robles)
This is really showing the Grenache, all ripe red fruit and grenadine.
Some tannins, very sweet fruit, could use a little more acidity. I've
liked other vintages of this a bit more. B

2005 Nobles Roches Chateauneuf-du-Pape
New producer to me. More ripe red fruit, a bit more acidic, and a bit
less depth than the Tablas Creek. Some herb, short finish. This would
be a decent CdR, a bit lacking as a CdP. B/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.