A nice summer’s week of wine, with Betsy and friends

With linguini with pesto along with leftover tomato/squash gratin, the 2010 Terres Dorees (Brun) Beaujolais Chardonnay. Clean, crisp, and fun, as usual. I admit that I was surprised how hard oxidation hit the leftovers with only one night in fridge. But night one, B+/B

A gray rainy day seemed made for smoked pork chops with braised chard, with Riesling of course

2009 Gritsch-Mauritiushof “ 1000-Eimerberg “ Smaragd Riesling (Wachau)
Spicy/gingery, tropical fruits, faint hint of sweetness, full. B/B+

2010 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Reisling Kabinett halbtrocken
Nice, plenty of acid though not truly zippy, light and herby with some stony mineral on the finish. B++

With grilled teriyaki style sockeye, grilled summer squash, a mizuna salad, and a corn/avocado salad, the 2009 Descombes Morgon. A little subdued at first, but opens nicely into a raspberry driven delight. Red fruits, herbs, sweet and long. This held up well over 3-4 days. And yes, this was just the regular not the VV! B+/A-

I made a chicken/maitake/leek sauce to put over pasta, wine was the
2008 Mount Eden “Saratoga Cuvee” Chardonnay. Good balanced acids, good Chardonnay fruit, but the oak is a bit obtrusive for my tastes(though thankfully no movie theater “butter”). This has a nice balance, and some oomph in reserve, I think a couple years could help integrate the oak. But I think this was fake cork, so maybe just better to drink now. B/B-

With flounder in a panko crust, salmorejo (basically thick gazpacho) with shrimp, rice and furikake, and greens, the 2001 Haut Bourg Muscadet Cotes du Grand-Lieu. This is a late release (7 years on lees?) Muscadet, I liked this better than a previous try. Good acids, fresh tasting fruit, but with a level of complexity and minerality I didn’t recall from previous (recent) try. B+

The 2010 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Kabinett was a bundle of limeade loveliness, with minty and floral notes, delicious but I decided too sweet for my dinner, better as an apertif. B+/A-

With corn & black bean salad topped with egg, plus vegetarian tacos (tomatillo guacamole, cheese, etc), the ever dependable 2011 Edmunds St John Bone Jolly rose. Ripe, full, sweet cherry and red plums, good finish. B+/B

With a steak salad (sirloin marinated in a combination of soyu, sambal olek, korean chili paste, sesame oil, etc over arugula), grilled corn, caprese, and green beans sauteed in duck fat, the 2000 Ch. Meyney.Context is everything. If this was a 1994 or 2002 St. Estephe, I’ve have found fairly typical/acceptable- dark fruits, some tannin that needs a bit of time, an herbal note- but for 2000 this seems thin and short. Can’t help but be disappointed. B-/C+

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.