TN: Chile half-bottle and 3 French 750s
 

Tuesday I didn't have wine with dinner (chicken meatballs with rice and raita), but after going to city to distribute some supplies I had a glass of the 2010 Aplatagua Chardonnay Reserva (Casablanca Valley). Ripe apple, no apparent oak chip, a touch of grass and gooseberry, this reminds me more of SB than Chard, but at $5/half who's complaining. B-

Last night a couple of friends came up from city and Yonkers to celebrate the birthday of one; Betsy did a nice job with spahgetti with "green puttanesca" sauce, squash, watermelon/feta salad, and a freeform peach tarte.

NV Philipponnat "Royale Reserve" Brut Champagne
Good acidity, midbodied, not much yeast but plenty of chalk. B

2008 Drouhin Vaudon (Joseph Drouhin) Chablis 1er Cru.*
I've really liked this before, but this seemed a bit flat and muted- with a bit of a nutty note. Doesn't seem shutdown, I wonder if there is a little cork failure (or TCA, though I don't detect). Drinkable, but nowhere near as enjoyable as normal. B-/C+

2001 Ch. Gloria (St Julien)
Charles is mostly a red guy, so we also had this. Nice showing - sweet cassis, tobacco, earth, enough acidity that the mouthfeel isn't heavy, resolved tannins, in a good place. I wouldn't hold these for a long time,but nice now. 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: Chile half-bottle and 3 French 750s
 

On Sep 1, 3:41*pm, DaleW > wrote:
> Tuesday I didn't have wine with dinner (chicken meatballs with rice and raita), but after going to city to distribute some supplies I had a glass of the 2010 Aplatagua Chardonnay Reserva (Casablanca Valley). Ripe apple, no apparent oak chip, a touch of grass and gooseberry, this reminds me more of SB than Chard, but at $5/half who's complaining. B-
>
> Last night a couple of friends came up from city and Yonkers to celebrate the birthday of one; Betsy did a nice job with spahgetti with "green puttanesca" sauce, squash, watermelon/feta salad, and a freeform peach tarte.
>
> NV Philipponnat "Royale Reserve" Brut Champagne
> Good acidity, midbodied, not much yeast but plenty of chalk. B
>
> 2008 Drouhin Vaudon (Joseph Drouhin) Chablis 1er Cru.*
> I've really liked this before, but this seemed a bit flat and muted- with a bit of a nutty note. Doesn't seem shutdown, I wonder if there is a little cork failure (or TCA, though I don't detect). Drinkable, but nowhere near as enjoyable as normal. B-/C+
>
> 2001 Ch. Gloria (St Julien)
> Charles is mostly a red guy, so we also had this. Nice showing - sweet cassis, tobacco, earth, enough acidity that the mouthfeel isn't heavy, resolved tannins, in a good place. I wouldn't hold these for a long time,but nice now. 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

Dale-your comments on the 2001 Gloria got my attention. Do y ou think
the 2001's in general need atention soon or just the Gloria? I have a
number of cases of 2001 Bordeaux that I haven't touched yet. Should I
get busy?

TN: Chile half-bottle and 3 French 750s
 

I think Gloria changed styles around 1990, and tends to drink earlier- I don't think you'll ever see a 40 year Gloria again. But I'm ok with a $15 dollar wine just going 10-15 years.
I also have a lot of 2001 that is put away. I should work on the lesser ones, but I think no hurry on most classified growths or better Right Bankers. I'm generally a fan of the vintage

TN: Chile half-bottle and 3 French 750s
 

On Sep 2, 2:44*pm, DaleW > wrote:
> I think Gloria changed styles around 1990, and tends to drink earlier- I don't think you'll ever see a 40 year Gloria again. But I'm ok with a $15 dollar wine just going 10-15 years.
> I also have a lot of 2001 that is put away. I should work on the lesser ones, but I think no hurry on most classified growths or better Right Bankers. I'm generally a fan of the vintage

There were some real bargains in that vintage (2001) given the hype of
2000 and subsequent pricing. I bought a lot of my favorites, Lynch
Bages, Montrose, The Leovilles, Pichon, etc.