We lucked out again with weather for the park concert- sunny, low humidity, not hot, nice breeze. Unusual band (kind of ragtime meets swing), lovely sunset, good people. We had brought a steak salad (dry aged ribeye from local butcher, wow), grilled sweet potato & scallion salad, cheeses, and cherries. Others shared lobster rolls and cheeses. And of course wines

2014 Red Newt Riesling
Softer acids, a little toasty oxidative note, needs some zip. C+/B-

2014 Drouhin LaForet Bourgogne blanc
Citrus, green apple, clean and crisp. Good value. B

2015 Pacherhof Pinot Grigio
Good acids, apple and pit fruits, a little nutty/almondy note to let you know youre in Italy. B/B+

1994 Edmunds St John Cotes Sauvages
Id double-decanted for sediment. Nice match with the steak- just a bit of tannin, good acids, herby with some meat & leather notes on the warm dark fruit. Fruit is a bit less exuberant than the "95, Ill drink other soon. Very fun. B+

2016 Cantalupo Il Mimo
Red fruited, decent acids but a little ponderous. I used to like this a lot, but last several vintages have seemed heavy to me. Did wine change or me? Still, a perfectly acceptable fuller rose. B-

Cleto Chiarli "Vecchia Modena Premium" Lambrusco
Didnt see a vintage on this, but probably came from Astor, where they list the 2016. Quite pale (listed as red Lambrusco, Id call this rose, and on the light side of rose). Minerally, crunchy white and red fruits, light petillance, saline. Fun. B/B+

Some old friends came down for dinner and to meet Ruby. We had some fresh ricotta leftover from stuffing squash blossoms, mixed it with herbs and lemon and then made smoked salmon rolls for appetizers, along with some lonza. Served with the NV Camille Saves Brut Rose Champagne. Lovely bottle of rose, strawberries and Rainier cherries accented with chalk and floral notes. Full-bodied, lively, fine mousse. A-

We moved to patio for dinner- Bobby Flays chicken with mint sauce, with salad. Followed by some nice cheeses Joe and Rachel brought from Beacon.

1996 Vignaioli/Pertinace €œVigneto Casellizzano€� Barbaresco. This is an early maturing Nebbiolo (most 96s I plan on not touching for a while) but hard to figure out treatment. I took a chance on a decant about 3 hours before serving. Smelled good on decant, then seemed to shut down aromatically, but by dinner was back in business. Nice tannin/acid balance, dried cherries, rose petals, tar. Medium bodied, ready to go. B+

2011 Ch. Joanin Becot
Blueberry milkshake with a shot of mocha, a parody of RB Bordeaux. C+/C

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.