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DaleW DaleW is offline
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Default Christmas Eve and Day wines

Christmas Eve we went to Betsy's sister's home, lugging gravalx (Betsy) and baccala soup (me). Bro-in-law Cal had prepared a Feast of the Seven Fishes for 11 people:
Calamari and shrimp, with cocktail sauce and a chipotle aioli.
Betsy's gravlax
my cod soup
crab and avocado salad
linguine with clams with garlic and butter
pasta fruitti de mare (scallops, shrimp)
salmon with pesto
All delicious, though Cal made each dish in quantity of a regular main dish- way too much food! I ate a lot, but only had 3 tasting pours of wine, as I was driver for a Christmas Eve party on streets for the poor.

2010 Ca Rugate Soave
Clean, soft, a tad dilute,apples and nuts. B-
2007 Bruna "Le Russeghine" Pigato (Riviera Ligure di Ponente)
White pit fruits, flowers, almond, mineral, good acids. B+
2008 Finnegan's Lake "Fin "Pinot Noir
Light, sweet candied note, not really my style. C+

Sunday I was dragging after being out till 3 AM, but went to office to unload vans and give supplies to a group going out Christmas Day, then back home to help Betsy prepare for Christmas dinner -us, David, and 5 friends.We sarted with more of Betsy's gravlax, plus Ron's endive filled with chicken liver/dried cherries/ blue cheese

1999 Charles Ellner "Cuvee Seduction" Brut Champagne
Toasty, big, full, apples and yeast. B

NV Lallier Rose Champagne
Fresh, smooth, cherries and lemon zest, good zip to it. B+

So Betsy had made both a garlicky tenderloin with a orange/horseradish sauce AND a Ming Tsai recipe for goose with a sweet potato/chestnut stuffing and a red wine/plum wine sauce. I had Burg for the beef, Bdx for the goose (including a Pichon Lalande as that was Ming's specific rec), and a Cal Cab because I felt like it.

1989 Faiveley "Clos des Cortons Faiveley" Corton
Slow-oxed about 3-4 hours (a bit bottlefunky on opening) Big, muscular, but tannins mostly resolved. Dense black plum and cherry fruit, leather, smoke.. I'd like a bit more acidity here, it comes across a little heavy, but nice wine. B+/B

1988 Ch. Talbot
Double-decanted before dinner. This is what I expect from Talbot - no excitement, but a solid workmanlike St Julien, cassis fruit, some tannin,
cigarbox. B

1978 Ch. Pichon Lalande
Double-decanted before dinner. My WOTN by a hair, lovely elegant midweight claret, cassis and black raspberry fruit, pleasantly herbaceous, leather, cedar. Nice acids, almost resolved tannins, full and long. A-

1974 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon
Pretty much popped and poured. Still youthful black fruit, plenty of mint and green tobacco leaf. I recently described this as acceptable but not exciting mature CalCab, but this bottle had some excitement in it. Unfortunately, it was very popular at other end of table so I only got a tiny second pour.
A-/B+

then a great salad brought by Al, and then small cheese plate (a very ripe Camembert hand carried from France, Tomme de Savoie, Comte)

1997 Othegraven "Kanzemer Altenberg" Riesling Auslese
Good cheese wine, this is drier than most current Spatlesen (and some Kabinett), good acids, petrol and apple, decent length. B

there were 3 desserts- cherry rhubard and mincemeat pies, plus

2010 Annapolis "Highland Beauty" (Nova Scotia) 375 ml
a gift from a friend who had traveled to NS. Soft, very tropical and fruity, not complex but ok way to end meal. B-

During clean up I also sampled the 2001 Haut Guiraud (Cotes du Bourg) that was used (along with some plum wine) to deglaze for the goose sauce. This was a bottle I found a little hard on release, and put away for a "couple years", and then recently stumbled across. I had it for the cooking wine (with a backup) Actually quite pleasant for 10 year old minor satellite- plummy Merlot fruit, spice, a little cedar. B/B-

Monday Betsy made fried maitake and watercress salad, which we had with assorted leftovers and the 2002 Bachelet Bourgogne. This is really in a lovely place- sweet black cherry fruit, a slightly exotic note of 5 spice, good acids, smooth mouthfeel. B+/A-

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.