Monday we took a break from family duties to have a lovely dinner on
the back porch of some friends. Rachel had made a Mexican-themed
dinner- cold avocado soup, ceviche, and shredded pork tacos. One
couple are AA, Rachel was abstaining, Betsy merely sipping, and so Joe
and I drank:

2005 Borsao (Campo De Borja)
Joe's house wine, and this old dependable is just fine. Red cherry
fruit, almost too fruity for me at first. Quickly settles in, sweet
fruit, good acidity, light tannin. There's some leathery/earthy notes,
a little pepper. There's nothing remarkable here, other than the fact
that a wine can offer even a little complexity and depth at $6. B, but
A- for value.

1993 Roagna Barbaresco
I brought this along because Joe is mostly a red drinker (no clue re
what menu was). At first I worried this was a little past it, or maybe
cooked. Not a lot of fruit showing, just acidity and alcohol. But just
a short sojourn in the glass helped a lot, cherry and raspberry
emerging, a bit of earth. Glasses towards the end of bottle were the
best, the acidity seemed a bit more rounded, the leather notes fully
integrated with the fruit, a bit of tar. A little short. OK mature
Nebbiolo, but without the depth or concentration of a great one. I
preferred the Roagna '93 "Rocca & Pira" Barolo I had a year or two
ago. B

Tuesday I had a board meeting, dined before with some of our homeless
members. Crystal Light was the beverage of choice with our Chinese
takeout. When I got home after a long day, Betsy had saved me little
samples of the meal she had prepared for her family- I liked a
shotglass of cucumber soup, and a small plate of crab/mango salad. We
opened a 375 of the 2002 Billaud-Simon Chablis. Lemon, apple, and a
little grapefruit; good acids yet not sharp, easy and slurpable if not
especially deep. B/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

The Borsao rose is really nice too, but it's harder to find in stores.

Shaun Eli
www.BrainChampagne.com
Brain Champagne: Clever Comedy for Smart Minds (sm)