After a bad day at work (nothing like the server for your primary
email being down for 10 hours), I was happy to be home, and to cook
dinner while Betsy made her way home from rehearsal. Fried chickpeas
with chorizo and spinach, sauteed beet greens, and sweet potatoes.

2005 *Valdehermoso Roble “Terruno Hombre" (Ribera*del Duero)*
Running a bit hot, ripe red fruit (I'm envisioning skins splitting!) ,
smoke, a little tire on pavement. Not my style (I think Dave liked).
B-/C+

After dinner, I headed to Roger's for our local group's look at
Tuscany. Roger is German and had an interesting selection of German
and Italian meats and pates, plus some cheeses. Wines were blind:

Wine #1
Dark cherries, leather and a little ashtray, this is tired on palate
though color is good. Drinkable, but tastes old, I'd assume storage
issues. B-/C+
2000 Casanova di Neri "Tenuta Nuova" Brunello di Montalcino

Wine #2
My wine. I had double-decanted at home (lots of sediment). It had
seemed tired then, but had picked up by time we served. Red fruit,
dried cherries, leather. Good acids for a Tuscan with lots of Cab. OK
finish, this is no spring chicken but a pleasant mature SuperT. B.
1982 Avignonesi Grifi

Wine #3
Ripe, seems younger than first two. Not especially complex, but nice
in a fleshy kind of way. My guess is 2001 Chianti, from a modern
producer. B 1998 Talenti (Toscano IGT)

Wine #4
Quite different from previous 3, this is light and lovely, a pretty
bright wine with fresh strawberry/cherry fruit, soil, and a little
hint of brett. I really like this, but didn't guess though I have had
before. B++ 2007 Montevertine "Pian del Ciampolo"

Wine #5
Big, sweet and overripe, some tannins, short finish for a big wine.
Very popular with some but I don't care for it. I guess a 2003 Super
T. C+
2006 Le Cupole di Trinoro

Wine #6
Better balanced acidity, ripe but not overripe, integrating oak, tasty
modern midweight. Fred and I both guess the 05 Greppicante, but we
knew Marc bought tons so this wasn't brilliant tasting, just social
engineering. B+/B 2005 Il Greppi Greppicante

Wine #7
More ripe red fruit, a little VA, despite the ripeness there's an edge
of green. I like a bit more with some air, B- 2006 Poggio al Tufo
"Rompicollo" Maremma

Wine #8
Since I had worries re the Grifi, I had opened and brought a second
bottle. I can say this is the best 2002 Tuscan I've tried. The 2002
Montevertine seems to be pretty ready, a mid-bodied Sangiovese with
good acids, nice concentration in the red and black cherry fruit, nice
finish. Not a profound Montevertine, but excellent considering the
vintage (I think I heard there was no Pergole Torte for that year,
which might help explain). B+

Fun night with the guys. A very wet 10 minute walk home, but worth it!

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 Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:16:59 -0800, DaleW wrote:

> 2005 Â*Valdehermoso Roble €œTerruno Hombre" (RiberaÂ*del Duero)

I might look for this one if only for the double entendre connotation.
My spouse is named "Teru" (with or without the "ko") and the conjunctive
"no" in Japanese denotes possession of whatever noun follows. In this
case it would be "Hombre" meaning "Man" = Me. ;-)

Would that you had rated the wine more highly, but that would be frosting
on the cake. :-)

Godzilla

On Mar 13, 7:24*pm, Godzilla Lizard > wrote:
> On Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:16:59 -0800, DaleW wrote:
> > 2005 *Valdehermoso Roble “Terruno Hombre" (Ribera*del Duero)
>
> I might look for this one if only for the double entendre connotation.
> My spouse is named "Teru" (with or without the "ko") and the conjunctive
> "no" in Japanese denotes possession of whatever noun follows. In this
> case it would be "Hombre" meaning "Man" = Me. ;-)
>
> Would that you had rated the wine more highly, but that would be frosting
> on the cake. :-)
>
> Godzilla

I wouldn't say this is worth price tag, but if it earns you points
with spouse- priceless!