Monday was wineless , Tuesday was artic char, brown rice with furikake, and asparagus; wine was the 2014 Couly-Dutheil 'les Chanteaux" Chinon Blanc. Apples, wool, a light waxy note, sec-tendre. Pleasant and typical bottle of Chenin. B/B-

Wednesday Betsy made an Asian-ish shrimp and napa cabbage stew, wine was the 2014
Keller Trocken. I'm not always on Keller bandwagon but this is a pretty serious value at $17. Citrus and mineral, stony in all the right ways. Pretty much all I could ask for in dry Riesling at this pricepoint. B++

Thursday broiled some salmon to accompany vegetable leftovers and opened the 2015 Brun/Terres Dorees "L'Ancien" Beaujolais Nouveau. My first BN in couple of years. Actually pretty enjoyable- fresh, fruity, fun. There's even a little earth and underbrush. Not seeking more, but glad to try. B/B-

Friday Betsy had a concert in city and I just cleaned out fridge of leftovers and enjoyed remainders of the Keller and the Brun BN. Saturday we went to a Nikolaus party (German outdoor holiday party). The mulled wine was better than most (not cloying), but I carried along a couple of bottles- one as gift and one as non-mulled non-warm sipper. Pretty pleased with the 2014 Pavillon de Chavannes "Cuvee des Ambassades" Cote de Brouilly. Red and black cherries, anise, earth, plenty of fruit, lots of acid. Bright and fiesty. B+

Back home I had dinner prepped- just a few minutes to do broiled local mackerel, quinoa, and a claytonia salad. Wine was the 2010 Pepiere "Clisson" Muscadet. Rounder and fuller than the Briords, but still with a vibrant acidic core. Seashells, wet stones, and lemon. Acids stand up well to the oily fish, very nice indeed. A-

Friday had been Betsy's birthday, I couldn't attend her concert so took her to dinner at St. George in Hastings Sunday night. She had oysters, ribeye steak frites, and spinach; I had Little Gem salad with horesradish/dijon dressing and cured pork blade with carrots and potatoes. Wine was the 2006 Dujac Morey-St-Denis. I was a little worried this might be closed, and it did seem a touch tight, but I had double-decanted and by time we got to beef and pork (neither oysters or horseradish mustard dressing really scream "red Burg! it was showing pretty well. Fairly powerful, black cherry and a touch of coffee and sandalwood, ripe but balanced. Some earthy notes towards end. Lovely rich red Burg. Hope the waitstaff enjoyed rest! B+/A-

Monday was tomato/olive/feta/peashoot pizza and a sumac/tahini slaw, but no wine.


Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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 12/8/15 11:43 AM, DaleW wrote:

> Wednesday Betsy made an Asian-ish shrimp and napa cabbage stew, wine
> was the 2014 Keller Trocken. I'm not always on Keller bandwagon but
> this is a pretty serious value at $17. Citrus and mineral, stony in
> all the right ways. Pretty much all I could ask for in dry Riesling
> at this pricepoint. B++

Was this the "S" bottling or Von der Fels? In the past, I've found
Keller's wines good but not awe inspiring, but I don't usually buy GG
bottlings, either.


> Friday Betsy had a concert in city and I just cleaned out fridge of
> leftovers and enjoyed remainders of the Keller and the Brun BN.
> Saturday we went to a Nikolaus party (German outdoor holiday party).
> The mulled wine was better than most (not cloying), but I carried
> along a couple of bottles- one as gift and one as non-mulled non-warm
> sipper. Pretty pleased with the 2014 Pavillon de Chavannes "Cuvee des
> Ambassades" Cote de Brouilly. Red and black cherries, anise, earth,
> plenty of fruit, lots of acid. Bright and fiesty. B+

Hmmm... New producer to me. Will have to look for this.

>
> Back home I had dinner prepped- just a few minutes to do broiled
> local mackerel, quinoa, and a claytonia salad. Wine was the 2010
> Pepiere "Clisson" Muscadet. Rounder and fuller than the Briords, but
> still with a vibrant acidic core. Seashells, wet stones, and lemon.
> Acids stand up well to the oily fish, very nice indeed. A-

I just opened one of these recently (my last) with similar results. One
thing that struck me was the feeling of greater dry extract (a rounder
mouthfeel) compared to the Briords. It's an interesting take on
Muscadet, but not necessarily my ideal for the grape.

>
> Friday had been Betsy's birthday, I couldn't attend her concert so
> took her to dinner at St. George in Hastings Sunday night. She had
> oysters, ribeye steak frites, and spinach; I had Little Gem salad
> with horesradish/dijon dressing and cured pork blade with carrots and
> potatoes. Wine was the 2006 Dujac Morey-St-Denis. I was a little
> worried this might be closed, and it did seem a touch tight, but I
> had double-decanted and by time we got to beef and pork (neither
> oysters or horseradish mustard dressing really scream "red Burg! it
> was showing pretty well. Fairly powerful, black cherry and a touch of
> coffee and sandalwood, ripe but balanced. Some earthy notes towards
> end. Lovely rich red Burg. Hope the waitstaff enjoyed rest! B+/A-

I opened one of these a couple of years ago and was surprised at how big
and masculine it seemed. I'm hanging on to the rest of mine for a few
more years in the hopes that they gain more finesse.

Thanks for the interesting notes, Dale!
Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

On Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at 12:11:39 PM UTC-5, Mark Lipton wrote:
>
> Was this the "S" bottling or Von der Fels? In the past, I've found
> Keller's wines good but not awe inspiring, but I don't usually buy GG
> bottlings, either.

It's 2014 Keller Riesling Trocken, no S on label (definitely not the Von der Fels. AP #12 (15)
I've thought the higher end Kellers (in my limited experience) good but not justifying price. This is good enough value to restock


> 2014 Pavillon de Chavannes "Cuvee des
> > Ambassades" Cote de Brouilly.

> Hmmm... New producer to me. Will have to look for this.

I believe story is a hunk of production historically goes to Foreign Ministry for embassies. I like in any case

>
>
>(Dujac) I opened one of these a couple of years ago and was surprised at how big
> and masculine it seemed. I'm hanging on to the rest of mine for a few
> more years in the hopes that they gain more finesse.
>
Yes, finesse is not the strongpoint at moment. But pretty nice wine!