The occasion of Andrew's "Fall break" from kindergarten prompted our
decampment for a long weekend to a beach house on the Lake Michigan
shore. While there, a few interesting wines were consumed:

1998 Chateau de Campuget "Prestige" Costières de Nîmes
nose: dark berry fruit, underbrush, medicinal notes
palate: firm acidity, fine-grained tannins, medium body, dark fruit

This was one of those cellar finds, a wine that had escaped somehow my
efforts at cataloging our cellar contents. Found while I was down for a
different wine, it was chosen as a potential accompaniment to a
late-night dinner of spaghetti upon our arrival Thursday night. It was
a good match to the spaghetti with tomato sauce courtesy of the high
acidity. Very drinkable and not at all tired, it was a very pleasant
surprise.

With a light dinner the next night at a good French-styled bistro in
Saugatuck, MI, we ordered a bottle of:

2007 Huber "Hugo" Grüner Veltliner
nose: floral, grassy, stones
palate: light body, crisp acidity, grassy

A pleasant, lightweight wine, that went well with my crabmeat crepes
and, surprisingly, with Jean's duck rilettes, it had little if any
varietal character to me. The nose put me in mind of Pinot Blanc or the
more floral style of Kiwi SB, with the grassiness pushing me toward the
latter. It had no peppery or green pea notes that I usually find even
in the lighter examples of GV, such as the Hugo in earlier vintages.

With pizza on our last night, we got:

2008 Borsao Campo de Borja (75% Garnacha/25% Tempranillo)
nose: bright, red cherryish fruit
palate: fruit-forward, lush, medium body, decent acidity

What a coincidence! On the heels of our recent discussion of Borsao, I
find a lone bottle with the familiar label and composition on a
retailer's shelf in Saugatuck. At $8.69, a decent but not spectacular
QPR. I found this year's edition to be simpler and more fruit forward
than earlier years' versions. Still, a decent quaff and not marred by
new oak or overextraction.

Mark Lipton
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