TN: Wine with friends- Piedmont, CdP, Bdx, Chablis, Kremstal
 

With my lack of kitchen and Betsy away, friends invited me for dinner.
Marinated shrimp, artichokes
Prosecco Extra Dry that I wrote down as Franco di Rao, but cant find any records of anything close to that on CT or Winesearcher.Doesn't matter- It was forgettable wine.

Rigtatoni with meat sauce (fennel sausage and ground pork)
2001 Sella Lessona
Really in a nice place, red cherry, tar, and flowers, resolved tannins, balanced acid. B+/A-

2005 Valfieri Barolo
Midbodied, fairly open, some tannin, black cherry. B/B-

1996 Talbot (375 ml)
Pretty classic claret- cassis, cigarbox, leather. Fully mature from half. B+

Saturday I grilled some sausage & squash, reheated some quinoa, made salad.

1993 Salomon Undhof Kogl Library Release Riesling
Released about a dozen years ago, hasnt progressed much since then.. Grapefruit, ginger, light honey note (though pretty dry). Modest finish, competent if unexciting. B-

Betsy came home from a concert in Pocantico Hills bearing lobster. Didnt think the Riesling was best match, 2013 Fevre €œles Clos€� Chablis Grand Cru. Really young, pit fruits, great mineral finish, taut. A-/B+

Betsy, Ruby, and I walked over hill for a dinner party Sunday night.
As folks gathered, some excellent crudite as well as other snacks, and the NV Evohe X Cava Brut Nature. Brut Nature? Seems pretty sweet to me. Appley, not too attractive. C+/B-

With chateaubriand, €œParty potatoes€� (sour cream and cream cheese), salad, and asparagus

1986 Meyney
This caught me a little by surprise, delicious as always, but I think of this as a cassis driven wine and this seemed more red fruited. Cherry and rich raspberry, leather, tobacco. Balanced and with a nice finish. Tasty mature claret. B+

2000 Lava Cap €œGranite Hill Reserve€� Petite Sirah
This was tannic in youth and I put away, but didnt really plan on this long. It actually has held up ok, just not improved. Less tannic, but a bit hot and jammy. Others liked much more than I did. B-/C+

2004 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Kirsch and strawberry, quite herbal, midbodied, some forest floor and mushroom. Nicely balanced, ready to go. B+/B

2010 La Rioja Alta €œAlberdi€� Rioja Reserva
Popped and poured at end of night, think this would have benefited from air.. Vanillin oak and red fruit, stern. Only had a quick sip, would like to explore another time

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.

TN: Wine with friends- Piedmont, CdP, Bdx, Chablis, Kremstal
 

On 4/9/18 3:53 PM, DaleW wrote:

> 2001 Sella Lessona
> Really in a nice place, red cherry, tar, and flowers, resolved tannins, balanced acid. B+/A-

I love those Sella wines, but I haven't read much about recent vintages.
Has there been a change in winemaking there?


> Betsy, Ruby, and I walked over hill for a dinner party Sunday night.

Ruby? Is she a new dog around the house? I feel like I may have missed
something. If so, apologies.


> 1986 Meyney
> This caught me a little by surprise, delicious as always, but I think of this as a cassis driven wine and this seemed more red fruited. Cherry and rich raspberry, leather, tobacco. Balanced and with a nice finish. Tasty mature claret. B+

Sounds great. I think that I have a bottle of '86 Gruaud-Larose still
in the cellar (it'll probably outlive me).

As always, thanks for the notes, Dale.

Mark Lipton


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

TN: Wine with friends- Piedmont, CdP, Bdx, Chablis, Kremstal
 

On Monday, April 9, 2018 at 4:12:13 PM UTC-4, Mark Lipton wrote:
>
> I love those Sella wines, but I haven't read much about recent vintages.
> Has there been a change in winemaking there?
>
No idea, I always bought at Chambers, but haven't noticed them offered in recent vintages
>
> > Betsy, Ruby, and I walked over hill for a dinner party Sunday night.
>
> Ruby? Is she a new dog around the house? I feel like I may have missed
> something. If so, apologies.
>
Yes, sadly Lucy had to be put down early last year. She was happy and chipper even at 14, but then got pancreatitis. We were going to take a break from dog for a while, and maybe not do Bassets, plan lasted about 2 weeks till I came home to find Betsy watching Basset puppy videos. A bit of searching, 2 months after Lucy we rescued Ruby, she was 5 1/2 months (someone got puppy from breeder as Christms present for small kids, then discovered what that was like). She;s 1.5 years now, very happy dog. If you come to NY and visit again, she'd like to meet you (we can open an ESJ Bassetti)
>
> Sounds great. I think that I have a bottle of '86 Gruaud-Larose still
> in the cellar (it'll probably outlive me).
>
The whole Cordier stable (Meyney, Gruaud, Talbot) did so great that year. The Gruaud especially, though all offered great value (Gruaud 86 is getting expensive now)

TN: Wine with friends- Piedmont, CdP, Bdx, Chablis, Kremstal
 

On 4/9/18 9:43 PM, DaleW wrote:
> Yes, sadly Lucy had to be put down early last year. She was happy and
chipper even at 14, but then got pancreatitis. We were going to take a
break from dog for a while, and maybe not do Bassets, plan lasted about
2 weeks till I came home to find Betsy watching Basset puppy videos. A
bit of searching, 2 months after Lucy we rescued Ruby, she was 5 1/2
months (someone got puppy from breeder as Christms present for small
kids, then discovered what that was like). She;s 1.5 years now, very
happy dog. If you come to NY and visit again, she'd like to meet you (we
can open an ESJ Bassetti)

I dimly recall your posting about Lucy, but I somehow missed the
adoption. Congrats to you all, Dale. I'm sure that Ruby will have a
great life with you and Betsy (and hopefully Betsy can lay off the
bassett videos for another decade or two -- very touching story)


> The whole Cordier stable (Meyney, Gruaud, Talbot) did so great that
year. The Gruaud especially, though all offered great value (Gruaud 86
is getting expensive now)
>
This was a bottle I bought on release at North Berkeley Wines while a
penurious postdoc at Berkeley. I believe the price paid was $35. Since
we don't drink as much claret as we used to (less red meat in the diet)
no problem hanging onto this and other bottles.

Mark Lipton

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

TN: Wine with friends- Piedmont, CdP, Bdx, Chablis, Kremstal
 

On 4/9/18 7:43 PM, DaleW wrote:
> On Monday, April 9, 2018 at 4:12:13 PM UTC-4, Mark Lipton wrote:
>>
>> I love those Sella wines, but I haven't read much about recent vintages.
>> Has there been a change in winemaking there?
>>
> No idea, I always bought at Chambers, but haven't noticed them offered in recent vintages
>>
>>> Betsy, Ruby, and I walked over hill for a dinner party Sunday night.
>>
>> Ruby? Is she a new dog around the house? I feel like I may have missed
>> something. If so, apologies.
>>
> Yes, sadly Lucy had to be put down early last year. She was happy and chipper even at 14, but then got pancreatitis. We were going to take a break from dog for a while, and maybe not do Bassets, plan lasted about 2 weeks till I came home to find Betsy watching Basset puppy videos. A bit of searching, 2 months after Lucy we rescued Ruby, she was 5 1/2 months (someone got puppy from breeder as Christms present for small kids, then discovered what that was like). She;s 1.5 years now, very happy dog. If you come to NY and visit again, she'd like to meet you (we can open an ESJ Bassetti)
>>
>> Sounds great. I think that I have a bottle of '86 Gruaud-Larose still
>> in the cellar (it'll probably outlive me).
>>
> The whole Cordier stable (Meyney, Gruaud, Talbot) did so great that year. The Gruaud especially, though all offered great value (Gruaud 86 is getting expensive now)
>

Thanks to Mark for asking the question before I did. sorry to hear about
Lucy but a Basset puppy is fun. Enjoy your new friend with great wine.