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DaleW DaleW is offline
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Default TN: Mosel Kab and St Julien

Betsy visited a friend's new home on the way home from matinee, by
time she arrived at our house I had the appetizer ready, some shrimp
cocktail. With was the 2002 Carl Loewen "Leiwener Klostergarten"
Riesling Kabinett I had opened previous night. Light and ready Mosel,
flavors of lime and quince jam, with a little gingery edge. On the
sweeter side of Kabinett, but not at all heavy. Not a producer who
seems to get much buzz, but I've been pleased with the ones I've
tried. B+

I then grilled some thick porterhouses (one would have been plenty,
but I like my meat "bleu" while Bets is medium-rare, and as she said
"there's nothing wrong with steak sandwiches for lunch"), with baked
potatoes, asparagus, and green salad. Served a 375 of the 2003 Ch.
Gruaud-Larose (St. Julien). Started off a bit dumb, opened up, but
never excited me. More tannins than fruit, fairly big dose of vanillin
oak. Sweet cassis fruit eventually emerges, but this strikes me as
rather one-dimensional. Nothing flawed, though finish seems a tad
short for a 2nd from a big vintage. Maybe this is just closed, but I'm
not sensing a lot underneath, and will pass on buying more. 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.