We were disappointed the river jazz concert was moved inside, but the
rain broke long enough for me to grill Cornish hens with a lemon/spice
marinade. Wine was the 2007 Boulay Chavignol Sancerre, really a lovely
expression, medium to light bodied, bright grapefruit, chalky notes.
Just a hint of gooseberry, excellent length, very enjoyable. B+/A-

With pasta with a lobster tail/tarragon pink sauce 1999 Ellner
"Seduction" Brut Champagne. Bigger, fuller, yeastier style of
Champagne. Maybe atad coarse. B/B-

Friday we went to a potluck, a day early but we did our traditional
reading of the Declaration (I blew my first try of pronouncing
"usurpations"!) and enjoyed some great food -burgers, dogs, steak
sandwiches, wings, assorted salads, ham, and seafood salad with
grilled squid, shrimp and halibut (Betsy's offering). The hosts are
AA, but welcomed us to bring wine and beer. I tried:

white
2007 Sciarpa Pinot Grigio
I thought the prosecco from this producer wasn't bad, but found this
short, sweet, and uninteresting. C/C+

2007 Drouhin St Veran
Once again, clean, forward, brisk acids. Apples, citrus, soil. Great
value. B+

2008 Anakena Sauvignon Blanc (Central Valley, Chile)
Grapefruit and grass, slightly sweet, rather short. B-

2007 Hogue Riesling
off dry, pear, vanilla, and ginger, low acid, not great but maybe ok
for its (I assume) cheap price. C+

pink
2008 Houchart rose (Cotes de Provence)
clean, fresh, strawberries, not bad. B-

red
2005 Root 1 Cabernet Sauvignon
Cough syrup, weedy, herbal, others liked more than I. C

*2007 Giovanni*Rosso*"Le Quattro Vigne"*Dolcetto*d'Alba
Good berry fruit, ripe tannins, low to medium acids. pretty good. B

2002 Franciscan Oakville Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Black currants and red plums, some vanilla/oak issues, moderate
length, soft. A revisit shows mostly oak. I expected this to be a tad
better. B-

Happy 4th!

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.*