Saturday evening went to a birthday party for a friend. We had been
asked to help with beverages, and we carried a load of seltzer as well
as some Muscadet and Cotes du Rhone. But when we get there, some other
wines were already out:

2003 Palacio de Menade Cuvee RS (Rueda)
I think I had tried the 2002 of this (though my notes have producer as
Cuevas de Castillo, I doubt there are 2 "Cuvee RS" Ruedas?) and thought
it an innocuous dry white, decent QPR. The '03 version has light
honeysuckle and tropical fruit on nose, and is rather thick on the
palate. Comes across as just off-dry, with overripe canned peach and
mango fruit. Not recommended,but it actually seemed popular among
others. C+

2001 Campuget Blanc (Costieres de Nimes).
Light and easy, floral nose with simple, white fruit. Good acidity,
nothing special but improvement over the Rueda. B/B-

2002 Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe
I'm pretty sceptical as I note the vintage. Hey, not bad. moderate red
fruit and some pepper and spice. There's enough tannins (and plenty of
acidity) to keep this from being a good sipping wine, but does well as
a burger wine. B

Nice party with nice people. But Betsy's cat allergies were acting up,
so we made our excuses. Unfortunately not before the Korbel toast-
enough said.

Sunday my stepson and bassett hound (with help from Betsy) prepared a
nice Father's Day brunch. Then David went off to do his teen stuff and
we had a quiet day at home. Betsy decided lamb would be a nice FD
dinner for me. The NYT did an article/tasting panel on Washington
Syrahs last week, and included a recipe to match with them. Betsy
decided to make it - smoky rack of lamb (marinade included Spanish
paprika, chipotle, mint and thyme). I actually didn't HAVE any WA
syrah, so opened the 2001 Finca Sandoval (Manchuela). Still too young,
but tasty and an excellent match with the lamb. Rich black fruits, some
toasty oak and earth. There's some smoke to match the smokiness of the
lamb, as well as an almost Cote-Rotish meat/bacon note. Certainly
modern, just as certainly (to my tastes) good. A-/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