Last night we were invited to some friends for dinner; best part of
the evening was when we saw other guests, friends we just don't see
enough of. Lovely evening on the wide old porch looking out at the
river and Palisades, and food was great: gazpacho, watermelon/feta
salad, corn, and lobster rolls. I tried several wines:

2007 Maso Canali Pinot Grigio
Overripe apples, a weird ripe banana note on finish, I avoided this
rest of evening. C

2007 Principessa Gavi
Of the whites, I had the lowest expectations of this, but it was my
fave for the night. Very light, crisp acidity, lemony fruit. Not a lot
of depth or length, but good with the food. B/B-

2007 Franciscan Sauvignon Blanc
Honeydew, a little hint of vanilla, broader style of SB. Don't think I
would have gotten variety blind. Seems heavy, maybe because it wasn't
really chilled. B-

2005 La Vieille Cure (Fronsac)
Decanted for 2 hours before going back in bottle. I really intended to
wait on these, but one was sitting out handy when I went downstairs
looking for big ripe red (knowing host's tastes). Firm tannins,
chocolate notes over ripe currant and black plum fruit, plenty of
wood, good grip. Quite modern, but tasty. B+

2007 Cline Zinfandel
Blackberries, black cherry, a little toasty note. Light to medium
bodied, fairly fresh with a nice acidic zip. A bit short on the
finish, but a pretty nice little Zin for what I assume is an $8-10
tag. B/B-

Lovely night with lovely friends.

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.*

*

On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:47:20 -0700 (PDT), DaleW >
wrote:

>Last night we were invited to some friends for dinner; best part of
>the evening was when we saw other guests, friends we just don't see
>enough of. Lovely evening on the wide old porch looking out at the
>river and Palisades, and food was great: gazpacho, watermelon/feta
>salad, corn, and lobster rolls. I tried several wines:
>
>2007 Maso Canali Pinot Grigio
>Overripe apples, a weird ripe banana note on finish, I avoided this
>rest of evening. C
>
>2007 Principessa Gavi
>Of the whites, I had the lowest expectations of this, but it was my
>fave for the night. Very light, crisp acidity, lemony fruit. Not a lot
>of depth or length, but good with the food. B/B-
>

Dale, Interesting about the two whites. I have had both and llike each
in its own way. Haven't notice the Maso Canali being quite that over
ripe, though I do like it as a cocktail wine more than anything else.

The Principessa Gavi is a fav of an Italian friend so whenever I have
it there are good memories attached. I would agree that it doesn't
shout (Canali does a little more of the" look at me!" thing) but it is
a decent crisp wine.

On Jul 28, 10:46*am, Joseph Coulter > wrote:
> On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:47:20 -0700 (PDT), DaleW >
> wrote:
>
> >Last night we were invited to some friends for dinner; best part of
> >the evening was when we saw other guests, friends we just don't see
> >enough of. Lovely evening on the wide old porch looking out at the
> >river and Palisades, and food was great: gazpacho, watermelon/feta
> >salad, corn, and lobster rolls. I tried several wines:
>
> >2007 Maso Canali Pinot Grigio
> >Overripe apples, a weird ripe banana note on finish, I avoided this
> >rest of evening. C
>
> >2007 Principessa Gavi
> >Of the whites, I had the lowest expectations of this, but it was my
> >fave for the night. Very light, crisp acidity, lemony fruit. Not a lot
> >of depth or length, but good with the food. B/B-
>
> Dale, Interesting about the two whites. I have had both and llike each
> in its own way. Haven't notice the Maso Canali being quite that over
> ripe, though I do like it as a cocktail wine more than anything else.
>
> The Principessa Gavi is a fav of an Italian friend so whenever I have
> it there are good memories attached. I would agree that it doesn't
> shout (Canali does a little more of the" look at me!" thing) but it is
> a decent crisp wine.

actually the Maso Canali had some acidity, it was just the fruit
profile that had the overripe tones. I guess it could be cooked,
though that's not what it seemed to me