Wednesday we went to a new Greek place in Sleepy Hollow based on some
Chowhound raves. Revithosalata, taramasolate, lamb shank, avgholemono
were excellent, tzaziki,.hummus,souvlaki, gyro very good, salad
average. Baklava was weak spot. Waiting on liquor license, so BYO for
now , so we carried the 1999 Juge "Cuvee C" Cornas. Lovely Syrah, not
a blockbuster by any means, pretty medium bodied wine with balanced
blackberry fruit and a hint of gamey/meaty aromas. If you like your
Syrah low-acid this won't be for you. Good length. Still developing as
we left, hope the chef enjoyed the rest. A-/B+

Thursday I didn't have any wine, but enjoyed Agrippina at NYCO (the
beautiful cellist doing the continuo was excellent, I might add)
I decided to make up for that on Friday, which was a good thing as my
local group was coming over. But before that, Betsy made osso buco for
an early dinner. I went down for a Sangiovese, but stumbled across a
1998 Beni di Batasiolo Barbaresco and opened that. Not a ton of
character- some tannins, high acids, a bit grapey. With some air more
black cherry. Tasting group samples a couple of time, integrates a
bit, shows a little interest, but never strikes me as very Nebbiolo-
ish. Ok for $20, I guess. B-

So the guys gathered - though with a couple sick and one out of
country, only 4 of us. We started each bottle blind, along with a good
assortment of cheese (Lambchopper, Langres, Gouda, Keens Cheddar,
Sottocenare) and soppresatta. . Theme was supposed to be
"Comparatively Obscure Grapes", and I had sent out a list of about 12
banned (too popular, from Barbera to Zinfandel) red grapes. The wines:

Wine #1 isn't blind for me, as it was my contribution. Light color,
light body, but with persistence and depth. Floral, bright strawberry
fruit accented with mineral and roadtar. After I confirm Italy, Fred
guesses Piedmont. Good guess- the 2004 La Casaccia "Casa Poggeto"
Grignolino del Monferrato. B+

Wine #2
There's a (beautiful) herbal aspect to the nose that leads me
immediately to Loire, but I know Cab Franc is on disallowed list.
Fairly light color, yet deep fruit. I manage to guess Pineau d'Aunis,
but that's as much social engineering as blind tasting. It's got
excellent length, bright acidity, rich red fruit, a mineral/herb/
tobacco leaf finish. It's the 2006 Clos Roche Blanche L'Arpent Rouge
Touraine, and I'll be ordering some. B+/A-

Wine #3
Very ripe black cherry fruit, a bit of oak. Someone guesses New World,
Marc says no. I then go to Italy, but am guessing south. It's very
very ripe, and my mind is on Sicily, Campania, etc. I'm wrong, it's
the 2003 Dei Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Actually Sangiovese was on
banned list, but Franco-Belgian Marc was relying on label, which
called it Prugnolo. I was wrong about the oak, too- found something
that said foudre. In any case, not bad, but I wouldn't look for it. B-

Wine #4
Jammy red fruit, a hint of VA, some oak. A bit tannic, ripe bordering
on overripe, but with good length and depth. Again I'm guessing
Southern Italy, again it's central. The Pardi Sagrantino (Montefalco)
is probably biggest wine of the night, others like more than I. B-

We're having a good time on a rainy night., let's extend with a
dessert wine. Something different- a half bottle of the 1991 Freemark
Abbey
Johannisberg Riesling Edelwein Gold. Dessert Riesling from Napa? I had
loved a bottle of this from mid-70s. Cork is crumbly, I destroy and
then filter into a carafe. Color is a deep gold, but immediately
begins to darken. As I pass around, it has a deep orange tone and
everyone thinks its a red. Within 15 minutes, it can only be described
as brown. Yet this is actually tasty. Nutty, caramelly, it reminds me
of a very good dessert sherry. Someone says "Toffee!" Quite nice,
though a bit low acid. I think everyone likes, and it's still holding
on when Betsy gets back from work. By morning it looks and tastes like
mud, but this gets my vote for "tastes better than it looks" award. B/B
+

Fun night, ok to very good wines, great group of guys.

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