Betsy flew out early Tuesday, leaving me a large hunk of one of the 2
standing rib roasts she had cooked for Christmas defrosting in the
fridge. But it was snowing Tuesday night, and I had to pick up the
stepson (rather than trust him to a 16 yr old driver in the snow), so I
left the beef to sit and had some leftovers, along with a NV
Geroldsteiner water (B+, good QPR at $0.99, oops, wrong newsgroup!), to
keep a clear head. But Wednesday night there was no need for me to
drive, so the beef came out. I sliced a 2" steak, seared it to warm up
(it was roasted to very rare before freezing), served with some red
cabbage and some Japanese-style kale. Served with a 375 of the 1997
Monbousquet (St. Emilion). Not profound, but a clean well-done modern
Right Banker. Enough body to stand up to rare beef, good dark berry
fruit with some heavy but integrated smoky oak. Some tannins remaining,
but the beef acts as a foil. Some coffee & tobacco notes. Well-worth
the under$15 price (Post in Syosset, closeout bin). It's kind of
strange, the more modern-styled St. Emilions are not generally my
favorite style, but they're probably my favorite style of 1997s. 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

I've had that wine before. You are an easy grader. I wish you were a
professor years ago when I took Cost Accounting in College. My D could have
been an A. :-)




"DaleW" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Betsy flew out early Tuesday, leaving me a large hunk of one of the 2
> standing rib roasts she had cooked for Christmas defrosting in the
> fridge. But it was snowing Tuesday night, and I had to pick up the
> stepson (rather than trust him to a 16 yr old driver in the snow), so I
> left the beef to sit and had some leftovers, along with a NV
> Geroldsteiner water (B+, good QPR at $0.99, oops, wrong newsgroup!), to
> keep a clear head. But Wednesday night there was no need for me to
> drive, so the beef came out. I sliced a 2" steak, seared it to warm up
> (it was roasted to very rare before freezing), served with some red
> cabbage and some Japanese-style kale. Served with a 375 of the 1997
> Monbousquet (St. Emilion). Not profound, but a clean well-done modern
> Right Banker. Enough body to stand up to rare beef, good dark berry
> fruit with some heavy but integrated smoky oak. Some tannins remaining,
> but the beef acts as a foil. Some coffee & tobacco notes. Well-worth
> the under$15 price (Post in Syosset, closeout bin). It's kind of
> strange, the more modern-styled St. Emilions are not generally my
> favorite style, but they're probably my favorite style of 1997s. 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
>

I've had that wine before. You are an easy grader. I wish you were a
professor years ago when I took Cost Accounting in College. My D could have
been an A. :-)




"DaleW" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Betsy flew out early Tuesday, leaving me a large hunk of one of the 2
> standing rib roasts she had cooked for Christmas defrosting in the
> fridge. But it was snowing Tuesday night, and I had to pick up the
> stepson (rather than trust him to a 16 yr old driver in the snow), so I
> left the beef to sit and had some leftovers, along with a NV
> Geroldsteiner water (B+, good QPR at $0.99, oops, wrong newsgroup!), to
> keep a clear head. But Wednesday night there was no need for me to
> drive, so the beef came out. I sliced a 2" steak, seared it to warm up
> (it was roasted to very rare before freezing), served with some red
> cabbage and some Japanese-style kale. Served with a 375 of the 1997
> Monbousquet (St. Emilion). Not profound, but a clean well-done modern
> Right Banker. Enough body to stand up to rare beef, good dark berry
> fruit with some heavy but integrated smoky oak. Some tannins remaining,
> but the beef acts as a foil. Some coffee & tobacco notes. Well-worth
> the under$15 price (Post in Syosset, closeout bin). It's kind of
> strange, the more modern-styled St. Emilions are not generally my
> favorite style, but they're probably my favorite style of 1997s. 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
>

Dick,

I admit to being an easy grader. I'm pretty sure though that if I were
a professor you'd have an F.

I'm curious, when did you have the wine and why would you have rated it
poorly? My guess is early in its life it would have shown as very oaky,
but someone who spends money on Silver Oak wouldn't object to that.

DaleW states, in part : "Served with a 375 of the 1997 Monbousquet (St.
Emilion). Not profound, but a clean well-done modern Right Banker."

When I read the above, I knew I had tasted Monbousquet a long time ago.
I found that I had a single bottle of the 1971 and drank it in the mid
70s. It was a fairly light traditional St. Emillion back then. I do not
know when they started making it in a more modern style.

My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase
from my email address. Then add . I do not
check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response.

DaleW states, in part : "Served with a 375 of the 1997 Monbousquet (St.
Emilion). Not profound, but a clean well-done modern Right Banker."

When I read the above, I knew I had tasted Monbousquet a long time ago.
I found that I had a single bottle of the 1971 and drank it in the mid
70s. It was a fairly light traditional St. Emillion back then. I do not
know when they started making it in a more modern style.

My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase
from my email address. Then add . I do not
check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response.

Cwdjrx _ wrote:
> DaleW states, in part : "Served with a 375 of the 1997 Monbousquet
(St.
> Emilion). Not profound, but a clean well-done modern Right Banker."
>
> When I read the above, I knew I had tasted Monbousquet a long time
ago.
> I found that I had a single bottle of the 1971 and drank it in the
mid
> 70s. It was a fairly light traditional St. Emillion back then. I do
not
> know when they started making it in a more modern style.


I believe M. Perse bought Monbousquet in '93, a few years before he
acquired Pavie-Decesse and Pavie. I think he pretty quickly brought in
Rolland, at least by the '95 it was a modern/oaky/extracted wine. I've
had one pre-Perse Monbousquet, I think the '88, very different style.

"F" Huh....it really was a hard course. :-)

Dale, I never did have that wine...was just in the mood for fun.

Enjoy...Silver Oak...was a favorite a ways back.


"DaleW" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Dick,
>
> I admit to being an easy grader. I'm pretty sure though that if I were
> a professor you'd have an F.
>
> I'm curious, when did you have the wine and why would you have rated it
> poorly? My guess is early in its life it would have shown as very oaky,
> but someone who spends money on Silver Oak wouldn't object to that.
>

"F" Huh....it really was a hard course. :-)

Dale, I never did have that wine...was just in the mood for fun.

Enjoy...Silver Oak...was a favorite a ways back.


"DaleW" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Dick,
>
> I admit to being an easy grader. I'm pretty sure though that if I were
> a professor you'd have an F.
>
> I'm curious, when did you have the wine and why would you have rated it
> poorly? My guess is early in its life it would have shown as very oaky,
> but someone who spends money on Silver Oak wouldn't object to that.
>