With porterhouse, boiled yellow potatoes, and a spinach/tofu/miso salad, the 2008 Wind Gap “Rana.” Red fruits, full, a little smoky, some black. GSM, not too over the top for California. Pretty good (and I’m not Mr. Grenache), but at $30+ not a buy again for me. B

Monday I made pasta with a fresh tomato & arugula sauce, served the NV Clothilde Davenne Cremant de Bourgogne Extra Brut. Crisp, green apple, light, flinty. B

Wednesday Betsy made salmon, mushroom risotto, and sauteed chard. The cooking wine was the 2010 Cameron Hughes Lot 270 RRV Sauvignon Blanc. Easygoing, grapefruit and light gooseberry, decent acidity, decent value. B-

Dinner wine was the 2006 Meo-Camuzet Bourgogne. Ripe but balanced, sweet black cherry with spice, some tannic grip, good length. B+

Thursday was Cornish hens with bacon and sage butter, baby Shanghai cabbage, and a potato hash. Wine was the 1989 Ch. Rochebelle (St. Emilion). Apparently filtered, virtually no sediment in a 23 year old claret. This was certainly alive- some fruit, no signs of tiredness, but nothing much of interest either. Flat black plum fruit, a little tobacco, somewhat short, proof that a wine can survive without necessarily gaining complexity. C+

Friday Betsy threw together a garlicky shrimp dish, with leftover risotto and chard.
2006 de Villaine “Les St. Jacques” Rully. Rich, a bit soft, maybe a touch of botrytis (though that would surprise me re Villaine), at first I thought needed more zip. But I have to say, though it stayed sweet/honied and round, this really got more and more appealing to me during night- friendly and maybe a tad sluttish, but with all sorts of interesting mineral/wax/floral notes. Good on following night as well. B+

Saturday we took the hound downtown for the Ferry Festa (local street fair), where we had a pretty good time, snacking on short rib confit sliders, oysters, etc. Betsy had a lot of cooking to do for a party tonight, so we ordered a takeout tomato/ricotta/spinach pizza for dinner, with the 2011 Castello di Ama Rosato. Lusher/fuller style of rose though fully dry, all ripe strawberry and a hint of cherry. Leaves me a little disappointed. I remember a great bottle of di Ama pink on a beach 12+ years ago, all since have left me a little deflated, probably memory more of occasion rather than wine. B-/B

Betsy was making a big dish of duck with turnips and scallions for tonight, needed about 1.5 cups of wine, so I opened the 2009 Sherwood Pinot Noir (Marlborough). Screwcap, lighter styled with sweet cherry fruit and a touch of earth, good deal at $10/bottle. 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.