The orchestra my wife plays in has been accompanying the Birmingham Ballet at
the Lincoln Center Festival's Ashton celebration, and she came home very
impressed with the conductor's job with the Elgar Variations, declared I had to
see it. So I got tickets with some other friends, and we met Betsy and Joe the
bass player at Afghan Kebab House on 9th for a pre-ballet dinner. This is a
good place to bring sturdy reds (no license, so no corkage), and we had a
delicious meal. We started off with both pumpkin and spinach bulanee, as well
as sambosa and aushak (new dish to me, boiled dumplings in a yogurt-mint sauce.
Joe had brought the 2000 Giuseppe Mascarello Langhe Freisa. Nicely chilled
light red, bright red almost Fleurie-ish fruit, but with a definite Piemonte
tar and spice notes. No fizz. Really refreshing wine on a warm summer evening,
and the lightness complimented the appetizers. B+

For the main course I had kabuli palow (lamb, beef,and chicken kebabs over
brown rice, veggies, raisins, and almonds). I had brought the 1997 Cantalupo
Ghemme . Ripe and round Nebbiolo, strong violet perfume, deep red fruit, soft
acidity, hint of leather. I prefer my Nebbiolo with a little more acidic
backbone, but this is nice. A few more years might help, though I wouldn't try
this wine as a real long-ager. B+

Last up, a half-bottle of the 1996 Karl Lawrence Cabernet Sauvignon. Vanilla
and blackcurrant on the nose. Sweet dark fruits, lots of toasty oak,
chocolately finish. Pretty decent example of California Cab, I was actually
glad we were done eating, it kind of made a nice dessert. B/B+

The Elgar was quite nice musically, and the dancers also did a nice job. That,
plus the glow of the wine, kept me awake through the cheesey second part of the
program ("Two Pigeons", music by Messager)

Saturday I was home alone, and noshed on leftovers rather than a proper dinner.
The wine I sipped was the 2002 Michel Bailly "Les Loges"* Pouilly-Fume.
Vibrant nose of flowers, citrus, and gunflint. Ripe fruit, yet tartly acidic.
Finish of wet rocks and a hint of capsicum. Got nicely smoky after being opened
a while. B+

Sunday was a day of working on house and cellar, then taking the basset to a
doggie playground (funny to watch her short legs trying to keep up with the
malamute, shepherds, and retrievers). We returned home to have friends over for
dinner.
Betsy had the cooking itch after a week with no opportunity, so outdid herself.
We started with an avocado-buttermilk soup, then chicken with sauteed radicchio
and fennel-mustard butter, orzo salad with tomatos and basil, & roast corn with
jalapeño butter. One friend is red-only, so we had the 2000 JL Chave "Mon
Couer" Côtes du Rhône. When I first saw this, I thought I was pretty savvy
buying a Chave for $13. But rather than gaining complexity, these have gotten
more and more boring. Ripe round international Grenache. I'd be happy with this
as an $8 CdR. B-

The whites:
2002 JM Brocard "Domaine Ste. Clair" Sauvignon de St. Bris. Yep, Sauvignon
Blanc from Burgundy. Grapefruit and gooseberry, a little grass. Clean
chalk-mineral finish. Excellent deal at $9. B++

2002 Louis Latour Mcon-Lugny Les Genièvres
Clean apple/chardonnay fruit with a slightly nutty edge. No sign of oak. A
little softer and rounder than say the Brun Beaujolais Blanc, but still an
interesting $7.xx chardonnay, I think this and the Melini Orvieto have taken
the worse urgency off my search for the cheap drink-or-cook-with house white. B

Hey, pretty good wine week so far. But Monday head to a MoveOn Kerry party, and
sample the wines. I'm glad I went, but not for the wines. I should have gone
for the dependable Borsao normale, but instead experiment:

Mystery white: bottle in icebucket sans label. Tastes like bad CalChard- Too
sweet, too oakchippy, and actually shy on the fruit. I hear the host say "would
you like to try this Long Island chardonnay?" Enough said, no need to
investigate maker. C+

2001 Murphy-Goode Sonoma Chardonnay
Oaky pear CalChard, but a relief after previous wine. B-/B

I can't find the vintage on the Campo Burgo Rioja, but it's one of the worse
wines I've tried in a while. I wouldn't try another vintage except maybe at
gunpoint. Behind the VA lies unripe fruit, overblown oak, and mustiness. A
short bitter finish rounds out the package. D+/C-

2003 Santa Isabel Cabernet Sauvignon (Mendoza)
An improvement, but that says more about the Rioja than the CS. Red fruit, a
bit weedy, clipped finish. C/C+

2001 Salisbury Shiraz-Cabernet.
Again, a bit of an improvement, but that's damning with faint praise. At least
this one is innocuous and anonymous, just a round slightly sweet soft wine that
doesn't have any hard edges. B-/C+

We escape to a Korean restuarant, where the mediocre OB beer is still a relief.


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.
Dale

Dale Williams
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