Betsy's first day back at work for an abbreviated season, my turn to
cook. Venison chops with a red wine jelly (only slightly sweet),
tomato/arugula relish, corn, squash, and bok choy salad. Wine was the
1995 Graillot " La Guiraude" Crozes-Hermitage (thanks for matching
advice all). Brawny for Crozes, big sweet dark fruit with a lot of
leather and smoke. The blackberry and black plum fruit has the
slightest hint of prune to it, not sure if that is wine or possibly a
sign on some warm storage (I bought this on secondary market). Despite
the ripe edge to the fruit there's plenty of acidity keeping this
lively. Tannins seem resolved. Some classic Northern Rhone aromas of
grilled meats and olives, but also some Baroloesque tar. If not for
that slight pruney note this would be outstanding. 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.

DaleW wrote:
> Betsy's first day back at work for an abbreviated season, my turn to
> cook. Venison chops with a red wine jelly (only slightly sweet),
> tomato/arugula relish, corn, squash, and bok choy salad. Wine was the
> 1995 Graillot " La Guiraude" Crozes-Hermitage (thanks for matching
> advice all). Brawny for Crozes, big sweet dark fruit with a lot of
> leather and smoke. The blackberry and black plum fruit has the
> slightest hint of prune to it, not sure if that is wine or possibly a
> sign on some warm storage (I bought this on secondary market). Despite
> the ripe edge to the fruit there's plenty of acidity keeping this
> lively. Tannins seem resolved. Some classic Northern Rhone aromas of
> grilled meats and olives, but also some Baroloesque tar. If not for
> that slight pruney note this would be outstanding. B+

And how did it fare with the food, Dale?

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

On Sep 24, 10:05�am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> DaleW wrote:
> > Betsy's first day back at work for an abbreviated season, my turn to
> > cook. Venison chops with a red wine jelly (only slightly sweet),
> > tomato/arugula �relish, corn, squash, and bok choy salad. Wine was the
> > 1995 Graillot " La Guiraude" Crozes-Hermitage �(thanks for matching
> > advice all). Brawny for Crozes, big sweet dark fruit with a lot of
> > leather and smoke. �The blackberry and black plum fruit has the
> > slightest hint of prune to it, not sure if that is wine or possibly a
> > sign on some warm storage (I bought this on secondary market). Despite
> > the ripe edge to the fruit there's plenty of acidity keeping this
> > lively. Tannins seem resolved. Some classic Northern Rhone aromas of
> > grilled meats and olives, but also some Baroloesque tar. If not for
> > that slight pruney note this would be outstanding. B+
>
> And how did it fare with the food, Dale?
>
> Mark Lipton
>
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: �http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

I think it did pretty well. The sweet edge to the fruit let it mesh
with the light sweetness of the red wine jelly, the meaty/smoky part
did well with the venison. If I was being picky I'd say I erred by
using a mature Syrah, maybe something with more tannins remaining
might have been a better foil for the medium rare chops.

On Sep 24, 8:36 pm, DaleW > wrote:
> Betsy's first day back at work for an abbreviated season, my turn to
> cook. Venison chops with a red wine jelly (only slightly sweet),
> tomato/arugula relish, corn, squash, and bok choy salad. Wine was the
> 1995 Graillot " La Guiraude" Crozes-Hermitage (thanks for matching
> advice all). Brawny for Crozes, big sweet dark fruit with a lot of
> leather and smoke. The blackberry and black plum fruit has the
> slightest hint of prune to it, not sure if that is wine or possibly a
> sign on some warm storage (I bought this on secondary market). Despite
> the ripe edge to the fruit there's plenty of acidity keeping this
> lively. Tannins seem resolved. Some classic Northern Rhone aromas of
> grilled meats and olives, but also some Baroloesque tar. If not for
> that slight pruney note this would be outstanding. B+

Sounds like a nice wine Dale. I wouldn't be too worried about storage
based on the prune-like note, as I've found hints (or more) of that in
a couple of his other wines. I recollect his 05 Crozes-Hermitage
showing a very faint touch of that which didn't detract from the wine,
and also had a rather unpleasant experience with a bottle of his 03
Saint Joseph that literally reeked of prunes and oak.