TN: All French weekend - Burgs, Rhone, Loire
 

Friday we started with smoked salmon/fromage blanc canapes and the 1990 Bernard Morey €œLe Charmois€� St. Aubin 1er. This is doing fine. No serious oxidation, just some integrated hazelnut aromas over apple and pear fruit. Moderate acids, not a ton of depth, but pleasant mature white Burg and I'm just happy it's alive, B

Main course was duck legs with mustard/panko crust, cauliflower, with the 2010 Bachelet Bourgogne rouge. Yummy, red cherry and plum, cocoa, some earth and smoke. Some structure but drinking well. In a nice place. B+

Saturday was oysters, roast sea bass, couscous, cider braised red cabbage, and broccoli
Wine was the 2012 Pepiere €œClisson€� Muscadet. I dont think this is correct. I refilled on this recently, a wine I love, but noticed one bottle had a slightly depressed cork. Opened, cork seemed saturated, wine had some nuttiness that Ive not run across before, some oxidation, so switched back to previous nights St. Aubin. Hopefully just the one bottle. NR

Sunday was Poulet Bonne Femme, which I usually serve with white, but this time needed some red on a pre-snow evening. Wine was the 2001 Charvin Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Red fruit, brambles, black olives. Evolves with more herbs and pepper as it gets air. A bit headier (14.5) than most reds I drink, but it handles it well. B+


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.