Thursday Betsy made it in to LGA despite massive fog delays and diversions, she
was happy she didn't need to cook dinner. Friends showed up, meat lasagna in
hand. Before we sat down, we enjoyed the 2002 Naia (Rueda) . Crisp bright wine
with grapefruit and some grassy/herb notes. Great apertif wine. B/B+

With the lasagna, a pair of reds:

2001 Fattoria Sonnino Chianti Montespertoli
Medium-bodied and correct, modest cherry fruit and an underlying acidity. Not a
wine to look for, but ok value at $8. B/B-.
(What is Montespertoli? It's not one of the Chianti zones. )

2001 Franciscan Oakville Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Flashy California style, which I knew would please one of my guests. Deep ripe
blackberry & blackcurrant fruit, plenty of vanilla/oak flavors, good finish. A
bit tannic right now. Best for this wine in several vintages. Nice steak wine,
at $21 I'll probably buy more. B++

Friday was lemon chicken, and I thought I'd go for a lemony wine. I opened the
2001 Hubert Lignier Bourgogne Aligoté, and it was frankly too lemony. A bit
like biting into a lemon. High acid, subdued tart fruit, and a stony mineral
finish.I'm pretty acid-tolerant, but this was really too much. Lignier has an
excellent rep, at least for his reds, but I much preferred Aligotés from de
Villaine and Lafarge. C+

Sunday Betsy felt she would skip wine after Saturday Bordeaux blowout, but I'm
steadfast in my commitment to wine with dinner (or my debauchery, if you
prefer). I offered to cook dinner, thawing a big fillet of king salmon my
brother had caught on an Alaska trip. I made a salmon in balsamic glaze from
the new Gourmet cookbook, and felt that I needed a bigger Pinot for this. No
375s in cellar were calling to me, so I opened a 2001 Claude Dugat Bourgogne
and transferred half to an empty 375 and recorked. The remaining wine did a
good job to standing up to the dinner- the salmon with its intense glaze,
mushrooms in a chive/cream sauce, and green beans. The Dugat wasn't as oaky as
some Dugats , pretty intense black cherry & kirsch fruit with some forest
floor and light floral notes. Really about the fruit, but in a good way. 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.**
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

On 17 Jan 2005 21:56:19 GMT, amnspam (Dale Williams)
wrote:

>2001 Franciscan Oakville Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
>Flashy California style, which I knew would please one of my guests. Deep ripe
>blackberry & blackcurrant fruit, plenty of vanilla/oak flavors, good finish. A
>bit tannic right now. Best for this wine in several vintages. Nice steak wine,
>at $21 I'll probably buy more. B++

I've always like Franciscan wines--I guess I'm one of those "flashy
Californian style" kinda guys. But, the Oakville Estate caused me to
open Cellar because I recalled an OE cab that I had last year.

It was Robert Mondavi Oakville Estate Cabernet '99--it was offered by
Sam's on special for $24.99 reduced from about $50. I bought four and
here's what I noted: "Big, warm, full-bodied cab. Chocolate, leather,
cassis flavors. Resolved tannins. Drinkable now, but will be
interesting to watch for a while."

I guess that means that Oakville Estate is a good QPR area for the
last couple of years. Like you, I try to keep a leash on the routine
drinking wine costs and lean toward $12-$20 wines (or less when I find
a Rex Goliath style bargain). At the $20-25 price point for a
full-bodied cabernet, I get credit card urges....


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org

In ,
Dale Williams > typed:

> 2001 Fattoria Sonnino Chianti Montespertoli
> Medium-bodied and correct, modest cherry fruit and an
> underlying
> acidity. Not a wine to look for, but ok value at $8. B/B-.
> (What is Montespertoli? It's not one of the Chianti zones. )


If you can read Italian, there's info he
http://www.chianti-montespertoli.it/it/vini/1.html


--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

Ed,

To be clear, I've liked Franciscan wines in the past, especially the
Oakville. Flashy California appeals to me sometimes, just as subtler
styles appeal at others. My limited experience is that the Franciscan
Oakville can be a good (to very good) mid-tier Cabernet in good
vintages. But in more questionable vintages such as '98 & '00, might
not be first choice.

I've never tried the '99 Mondavi Oakville, but will keep eyes open.
best,
Dale

Thanks Ken. I can't read Italian, but with English and some really bad
French I attempted to read anyway. It sounds like Montespertoli IS a
zone. Did I read that correctly?

Dale and Ed,

How well do each of you think the 2001 Franciscan will age? If you had one
or two bottles and had to guess when it would be at peak, would you open it
in perhaps 2007 or 2009?

JK

"DaleW" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Ed,
>
> To be clear, I've liked Franciscan wines in the past, especially the
> Oakville. Flashy California appeals to me sometimes, just as subtler
> styles appeal at others. My limited experience is that the Franciscan
> Oakville can be a good (to very good) mid-tier Cabernet in good
> vintages. But in more questionable vintages such as '98 & '00, might
> not be first choice.
>
> I've never tried the '99 Mondavi Oakville, but will keep eyes open.
> best,
> Dale
>