Saturday it was just me, the dog, some andouille, leftover veggies,
and the 2005 Pieropan "Calvarino" Soave. Crisp and clean white fruits,
a touch of citrus,good acidity. Lots of mineral especially on finish,
fairly big white, a hint of almonds on finish after a while. Lovely
wine. A- /B+

Sunday I made some jerk pork kebabs and then headed over to Roger's
for a Super Bowl party with some good friends. Lots of food, lots of
kids, lots of fun. An assortment of Europeans (English, Belgian,
French, and German), so my friend Dave and I spent some time
explaining various calls, but they were actually pretty into game.
There was beer and juice, and some wine as well:

2007 Sterling Chardonnay (Central Coast I think)*Chardonnay
Sweet canned pears and a touch of vanilla extract, rather round,
though not as flabby as some CA Chards. Not a lot going on here, but
not offensive. C+/B-

1999 Castello del Terriccio "Tassinaia" (Toscana IGT )
My wine. My original plan was to do some label doctoring on a pair of
Auslesen, turning a Kurt Darting into a Kurt Warner and a Gunderloch
Nackenheim Rothenberg into a Nackenheim Roethlisberger , but when I
went to retrieve bottles realized the Pfalz just said "Darting" on
front label. So instead decided on a SuperTuscan for the SuperBowl.
This was still showing fairly young, big currant and black plums,
still showing some
chocolatey oak, firm but not hard tannins, good length. Pretty tasty
but could be Cabernet Sauvignon in French oak from anywhere (I think
there is Sangiovese in there in about equal qualities, but you could
have fooled me). B/B+ to me, but someone to whom regional typicity
means nothing would probably go higher.

2005 Golden Kaan Pinotage
Light , red fruity, not a lot of burnt rubber though it's clearly
there in background. Not much of a finish, but I like better than
most Pinotages. B-

2006 Paul Autard Cotes du Rhone
Showing somewhat Grenachey, jammy red fruits, a little heat, but good
finish for the level. Some light earth and mushroom notes. Not
exciting, but ok for less expensive CdR.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.
*