TN: 4 good wines (Loire, Nahe, CdN, Rioja)
 

It's not just the veggies that make me love the farmer's market, I
also like the excellent Montauk fishmonger, the duckmonger, the
smokehouse, the creamery, etc. So Saturday picked up fish for that
night, and sausage for the next, and assorted goodies for the week.

With LI flounder, grilled squash and eggplant, and tomato salad, the
2009 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon Blanc #2 (Touraine), Bigger styled
than usual, grapefruit with a hint of pit fruit, full, but good
acidity. There's a nice herbal note, this could stand toe to toe with
99% of single vineyard Sancerres. A-/B+

With smoked lamb and rosemary sausage (from Mountain Smokehouse in
Lagrangeville), the 1995 Muga "Prado Enea" Rioja Gran Reserva. Red
berries, dill, vanilla. I've heard the Prado Enea compared to CdP
(apparently lots of Grenache as well as Tempranillo), and I can see
that here. But fairly old school CdP- big but not overripe, good
acidity, citrus peel notes. So I guess Rioja that resembles old school
CdP is mid-modern Rioja? :)
Medium bodied, I quite liked, but on day 2 it totally fell apart. But
for 1-3 hours after opening, B+

As a snack with some Ouray (a cheese from Sprout Creek Farm), the 2008
Schafer-Frohlich "Medium Dry" Riesling (Nahe). It actually says medium
dry, not halbtrocken. Just a faint hint of sugar, this is functionally
dry. Light to medium body, nice length, refreshing. Peaches and lime,
very nice, and a good value at about $17. Holds well overnight. B/B+

With leftover beef, wheatberry salad, and green salad, the 1997* Jadot
Nuits-St-Georges. This was a "whattheheck" buy recently at $15. Round,
ripe, plenty of red cherry/kirsch fruit, light tannins. It could use a
bit more acid and sense of place, but it's a perfectly tasty bottle of
Pinot Noir, and I'd say an achievement for a village wine to do this
well in a vintage I'm not so fond of. 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.**

TN: 4 good wines (Loire, Nahe, CdN, Rioja)
 

On Aug 10, 10:39*am, DaleW > wrote:
> It's not just the veggies that make me love the farmer's market, I
> also like the excellent Montauk fishmonger, the duckmonger, the
> smokehouse, the creamery, etc. So Saturday picked up fish for that
> night, and sausage for the next, and assorted goodies for the week.
>
> With LI flounder, grilled squash and eggplant, and tomato salad, the
> 2009 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon Blanc #2 (Touraine), Bigger styled
> than usual, grapefruit with a hint of pit fruit, full, but good
> acidity. There's a nice herbal note, this could stand toe to toe with
> 99% of single vineyard Sancerres. A-/B+
>
> With smoked lamb and rosemary sausage (from Mountain Smokehouse in
> Lagrangeville), the 1995 Muga "Prado Enea" Rioja Gran Reserva. Red
> berries, dill, vanilla. I've heard the Prado Enea compared to CdP
> (apparently lots of Grenache as well as Tempranillo), and I can see
> that here. But fairly old school CdP- big but not overripe, good
> acidity, citrus peel notes. So I guess Rioja that resembles old school
> CdP is mid-modern Rioja? :)
> Medium bodied, I quite liked, but on day 2 it totally fell apart. But
> for 1-3 hours after opening, B+
>
> As a snack with some Ouray (a cheese from Sprout Creek Farm), the 2008
> Schafer-Frohlich "Medium Dry" Riesling (Nahe). It actually says medium
> dry, not halbtrocken. Just a faint hint of sugar, this is functionally
> dry. Light to medium body, nice length, refreshing. Peaches and lime,
> very nice, and a good value at about $17. Holds well overnight. B/B+
>
> With leftover beef, wheatberry salad, and green salad, the 1997* Jadot
> Nuits-St-Georges. This was a "whattheheck" buy recently at $15. Round,
> ripe, plenty of red cherry/kirsch fruit, light tannins. It could use a
> bit more acid and sense of place, but it's a perfectly tasty bottle of
> Pinot Noir, and I'd say an achievement for a village wine to do this
> well in a vintage I'm not so fond of. 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.**

I've had plenty of Prado Enea over the years (most recently a 1985
that was DOA) and find your experience to be similar but I never
thought of it in terms of CdP...make sense. I always found it to be a
bit lean considering the grenache. Nice call on the Jadot for $15. I
have been enjoying the '97's in general from Burgundy.

TN: 4 good wines (Loire, Nahe, CdN, Rioja)
 

"Bi!!" > wrote in news:97af4d1a-c825-402f-8794-
:
>
> I've had plenty of Prado Enea over the years (most recently a 1985
> that was DOA) and find your experience to be similar but I never
> thought of it in terms of CdP...make sense.


My experience with Prado Enea (and Muga in general) is that they are not
built for the very long age.

A few years ago I purchased a pristine bottle of one of their first
vintages (early 70's) coming from the winery to one chain of high end food
shops. And it was barely correct.

Lately, I received a few bottles of Prado Enea from the 80's. They came
from a private cellar from someone that was advised not to drink anymore so
he sold his cellar full of mature Rioja and I was one of the parts in the
purchase.

Both bottles that I have opened were almost dead, unfortunately.

However, Prado Enea is usually very good when released and I like it that
way.

s