Here's a summary of various bottles consumed with dinners this week:

2005 Drylands Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($15)
nose: complex, herbal, grassy, grapefruit
palate: crisp, decently complex, with an herbaceous finish

Quite nice with a paella dinner

2004 Dom de la Terres Dorées (J-P Brun) Fleurie ($15)
n: bright red berry fruit, slight mineral note
p: light, bright, fruity, lovely

A beautiful wine, and even better with the paella (which was a bit
meat-heavy) than the SB.

2004 Dr. Loosen "Dr. L" Riesling QbA ($14)
n: petrol, lemons, slightly floral
p: crisp entry, light body, lemons and petrol, clean finish

While I really liked this QPR winner, Jean found it too "Riesling-like"
to appeal to her newfound appreciation for the grape. Oh, well.

2005 Babich Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($11)
n: grapefruit, grapefruit and more grapefruit
p: guess what? crisp and clean

After the Drylands, this came across as a bit simple, but then it sold
for substantially less, too.

2005 Banfi "Rosa Regale" Brachetto D'Acqui
n: simple, confected cherry, little Muscat character
p: cloying, soft, sweet

A gift from an appreciative former student to Jean. Bleechh!

1999 Dom. de la Tourade Vacqueyras
n: meat, black cherries, tar
p: acidic entry, slightly tannic, black cherries beneath a gamey, meaty
flavor, short finish

Opened as a backup to the Brachetto, this wine was nice, if a bit
fruit-shy. It went very well with BBQ pork ribs, though.

Mark Lipton