aturday we picked up some friends and headed to Nyack for Dolores’s 50th birthday party at the Nyack Center. Potluck on the wine, beer, and liquor; caterer had brought in a hot buffet (mostly pasta)- penne a la vodka, calamari fra diavolo, broccoli rabe, spaghetti with artichoke, salad, etc. A nice gathering of family and friends from different parts of her life. The wines I tried:

Bubbly:
NV Delacroix (Limoux?) - very light, crisp, green apple and lemon, not a lot of there there but ok thirst quencher B-

NV Mionetto Prosecco (mag)- a touch sweet, a little short. B-/C+

Still White
2009 Speer Chardonnay
This tastes more like 13 than 3. Ripe, a little rancid butter, plus some oxidative notes. Storage? This bottle C

2010 TuTu Pinot Grigio
Fig and lemon, short, dilute. Better than the Speer! C+

2008 Rosenblum Sauvignon Blanc
OK, maybe not my day for whites. Plump, cantaloupe and grapefruit, a tad short, B-

2011 Franck Peillot Chardonnay (Bugey)
Alright baby, finally. Medium bodied, chalky minerality, crisp citrus fruits, kinda Chablisesque. B+

Pink
2011 Chapoutier Belleruche rose
Strawberry jam, clipped, a strange medicinal edge. C+/C

2011 Jaboulet Parallele 45 Cotes du Rhone Rose
A little sweet, but fresh tasting. B-

Red
There were several bottles of a Layer Cake Shiraz, I tasted but am trying to put out of my mine. The name is a clue.

2006 Mocali Brunello di Montalcino
Medium bodied, a little vanillin oak, black cherry fruit, some tannin. B

1962 Ch. Belair (St Emilion) 2 separate bottles
I had brought my only 2 bottles of 1962 as my other close friends with ‘62 birthyears were also in attendance.
First bottle- somewhere on the MS/HS line, fairly saturated cork, quite volatile on opening,
I was basically “oh well”. But it surprised me on revisit- the shoe polish has blown off leaving just a little lifted edge, some tiring cassis fruit, but some interesting smoke and cigarbox aromas.
Second bottle-slightly better fill-HS- better nose to start, smoke and mushrooms over the modest fruit, good acids but not much noticable VA, no remaining tannin.
In the end they ended up being more similar than different, tired without being gone. I guess if I had to grad I’d give both an eventual B-/C+, but I was actually happy, because 3 great people were happy to have tried their first birthyear wines.

Fun night.

Sunday I grilled- some sockeye with an Asian marinade, eggplant that I topped with a yogurt/ lemon/mint sauce, and squash with thyme. Wine was the 2011 Ventura “Vina Do Burato” (Ribeira Sacra)- snappy raspberry meets cranberry fruit, crisp acids, nice wine to drink chilled on the patio (though maybe something a little weightier might have done better with the salmon). B+/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.

On Monday, July 30, 2012 4:31:23 PM UTC-4, DaleW wrote:
> aturday we picked up some friends and headed to Nyack for Dolores’s 50th birthday party at the Nyack Center. Potluck on the wine, beer, and liquor; caterer had brought in a hot buffet (mostly pasta)- penne a la vodka, calamari fra diavolo, broccoli rabe, spaghetti with artichoke, salad, etc. A nice gathering of family and friends from different parts of her life. The wines I tried: Bubbly: NV Delacroix (Limoux?) - very light, crisp, green apple and lemon, not a lot of there there but ok thirst quencher B- NV Mionetto Prosecco (mag)- a touch sweet, a little short. B-/C+ Still White 2009 Speer Chardonnay This tastes more like 13 than 3. Ripe, a little rancid butter, plus some oxidative notes. Storage? This bottle C 2010 TuTu Pinot Grigio Fig and lemon, short, dilute. Better than the Speer! C+ 2008 Rosenblum Sauvignon Blanc OK, maybe not my day for whites. Plump, cantaloupe and grapefruit, a tad short, B- 2011 Franck Peillot Chardonnay (Bugey) Alright baby, finally. Medium bodied, chalky minerality, crisp citrus fruits, kinda Chablisesque. B+ Pink 2011 Chapoutier Belleruche rose Strawberry jam, clipped, a strange medicinal edge. C+/C 2011 Jaboulet Parallele 45 Cotes du Rhone Rose A little sweet, but fresh tasting. B- Red There were several bottles of a Layer Cake Shiraz, I tasted but am trying to put out of my mine. The name is a clue. 2006 Mocali Brunello di Montalcino Medium bodied, a little vanillin oak, black cherry fruit, some tannin. B 1962 Ch. Belair (St Emilion) 2 separate bottles I had brought my only 2 bottles of 1962 as my other close friends with ‘62 birthyears were also in attendance. First bottle- somewhere on the MS/HS line, fairly saturated cork, quite volatile on opening, I was basically “oh well”. But it surprised me on revisit- the shoe polish has blown off leaving just a little lifted edge, some tiring cassis fruit, but some interesting smoke and cigarbox aromas. Second bottle-slightly better fill-HS- better nose to start, smoke and mushrooms over the modest fruit, good acids but not much noticable VA, no remaining tannin. In the end they ended up being more similar than different, tired without being gone. I guess if I had to grad I’d give both an eventual B-/C+, but I was actually happy, because 3 great people were happy to have tried their first birthyear wines. Fun night. Sunday I grilled- some sockeye with an Asian marinade, eggplant that I topped with a yogurt/ lemon/mint sauce, and squash with thyme. Wine was the 2011 Ventura “Vina Do Burato” (Ribeira Sacra)- snappy raspberry meets cranberry fruit, crisp acids, nice wine to drink chilled on the patio (though maybe something a little weightier might have done better with the salmon). B+/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.

Funny how many people enjoy Layer Cake....I'm not one of them either.