Wine (alt.food.wine) Devoted to the discussion of wine and wine-related topics. A place to read and comment about wines, wine and food matching, storage systems, wine paraphernalia, etc. In general, any topic related to wine is valid fodder for the group.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)   Report Post  
Posted to alt.food.wine
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,554
Default TN: al fresco wines with friends- VdP, CA, WA

A dear friend is having a hip replacement repaired today (she had
choice words for the doctors who put it in!), decided to have some
friends over last night for a pre-surgery party. Gotta love that kind
of spirit, and a group who love her gathered for food (BBQ chicken,
assorted salads, deviled eggs with shrimp, etc), conversation, and
some liquids- beer, plus some wine:

2002 Saintsbury "Brown Ranch" Chardonnay (Carneros)
Though Dana wasn't drinking much night before, I brought this because
she's a Chardonnay lover. Butterscotch and toasty oak on nose, rich
pear fruit. Not flabby, good acidity for California, a pretty good not-
over-the-top example of California Chardonnay. Maybe a little short.
Better by itself than with food, but I enjoyed. B/B+

2005 Iche/Ch. d'Oupia "Les Heretiques" (VdP de l'Hérault)
A nice showing by this QPR winner (one of those wines that does well
outside!). Mostly warm red berry fruit, not especially big, just a
nice welterweight that punches a bit above its class. Raspberry fruit
is accented by some earth, herb and meat nuances, this could hold its
own with many Rhones at twice the price (or more). B+, but solid A for
value ($7.xx)

2004 J. Lohr "Seven Oaks" Cabernet Sauvignon (Paso Robles)
Red and black currants, a little vanillay oak, decent party wine but
while weightier than the preceding wine, lacks that wine's definition
and verve. This is the journeyman middleweight that ain't never gonna
be a contender. B-

2005 Ex-Libris Cabernet Sauvignon (Columbia Valley)
Not really sure how a current release wine would be called ex-libris.
Sweet cassis, a little blueberry, lots of vanilla. Seems more CA than
WA to me. Good concentration, popular around the table, but
stylistically too ripe/sweet/lowacid for me. A cocky young
cruiserweight which wouldn't last long with a real champ. B/B-

A great spring evening, we all had fun, and enjoyed gathering around
one of our own.

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

Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
TN: wines al fresco (lighter reds, roses, whites) DaleW Wine 0 19-06-2015 05:37 PM
TN: wines al fresco (Burg, Jura, Rioja, Loire, etc) DaleW Wine 0 27-06-2014 06:20 PM
TN: Wines al fresco, mostly rose, plus a Volnay, Marsannay white,Bandol red, etc DaleW Wine 0 04-07-2010 01:04 AM
[TN] Al Fresco Wines, from Spain, Italy, France DALE WILLIAMS Wine 0 08-06-2007 05:05 PM
TN: New friends, new wines, a few old favorites Jim Wine 1 23-05-2005 03:13 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:37 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 FoodBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Food and drink"