Tuesday we had a couple of very ripe mangoes, Betsy was planning on
doing a Ming Tsai recipe of spicy shrimp with mango and snow peas. But
a package arrived with 2 live lobsters (a thank you for babysitting
last week). So she just converted the recipe. With the sambal olek in
the dish I felt some residual sugar was needed, and opened the 2001
Meulenhof Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese. Pretty open and ready,
fairly sweet but with that '01 acidic spine. Lots of primary peach
flavors, a little petrol and slate. Perfect wine for the dish,
handles the heat but rich enough for lobster. Not the most complex
Riesling, but satisfying for what it is. B

Yesterday's NYT has an article by Eric Asimov on Burgundy, with a
couple of Ma Cuisine recipes as accompaniment. Betsy decided to do the
spiced game hens. A very nice dish, though Betsy questioned the timing
from beginning, and it clearly isn't enough at 400°F to cook the birds
through. After the adjustments, we sat down to the birds with barley
and a garlicky spinach salad. I had found the 2005 Domaine Bart "Les
Champs Salomon" Marsannay tight and tart at opening a bit before. It
fleshed out a bit, and offering a nice accompaniment to the dinner.
Rather big cherry fruit, strong acids,light but persistent tannins. A
hint of damp earth and mushrooms with time. This never truly grabbed
me, but it went well with the dish and certainly was a solid bottle of
Marsannay. My guess is a few years would do it good. For today, B.

So 2 good but not great wines provided a lot of pleasure, as they
really went well with the dishes. Wine need not be great.


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.