Between Betsy's travel, my work, and a load of other stuff, we decided
we couldn't throw our normal big holiday bash this year. But we invited
some of our closer friends who we hadn't seen lately to dinner Th.
Thinking that the week before Hanukkah/Christmas everyone would be
busy, we invited about 16 people, so we could fill our table for ten.
Imagine our surprise when almost everyone said yes. Betsy made a
double recipe of beef bourguignon, a big pot of a mushroom/madiera
soup, and some green beans with spiced nuts and gorgonzola. We served
buffet style, and served a few wines too:

NV Astoria Prosecco
Lighter styled Prosecco, pretty popular with the crowd but left me
unimpressed - I felt dilute. C+/B-

2002 Brun (Terres Dorres) Beaujolais Blanc (Chardonnay)
This just keeps getting better, but this might be my last bottle (I
have plenty of '04, though). Chalk and white fruit, no sign of oak,
just pure clean Chardonnay juice. B+

2004 Pepiere (Olivier) Muscadet
My candidate for QPR wine of the year, with saline minerality and a
clean long finish. Do I have enough of this to keep me away from the
Briords? B++

2004 Iche (Oupia) "Les Heretiques" (Vin de Pays de l'Hérault)
Oh, wait, maybe this could be the the candidate for QPR of the year.
Straight ahead warm climate red, medium bodied with warm red fruit,
some underbrush and herb, nice finish. $7 wine that could kick many
$12-15 CdRs butt. B/B+

2002 Shingleback Shiraz (McLaren Vale)
Blackberry fruit, a little grapey, soft and typical . B

1998 Rodet Nuits St George
I had thought this was getting better from last bottle last year. But
this showed some hard unripe tannins, but with not much in the way of
redeeming fruit or character. B-C+

2001 Domaine Bertrand Ambroise Bourgogne
I bought this based on an enthusiastic Burghound shelftalker. Nice ripe
round PN fruit, but surprisingly rather oaky. For the price($14) this
isn't bad , but not what I expected. Developed some earth with time,
but still seemed oaky. B/B-

1994 La Fleur de *** (Pomerol)
Those hard 1994 tannins at first. Some time in the decanter helped.
Moderate black plum fruit with an edge of mocha/coffee, but the tannins
still intruded. Some Comte and Tomme de Savoie helped (cheese plate
also included Epoisses, Rocbleu, and Cowgirl Creamery Mt Tam). B

Tonight Betsy made an old standby, slow-cooked duck legs. Served over
greens (dressed with my first bottling of homemade wine vinegar) with
mashed potatoes. Wine was the 1999 Guy Castagnier Gevrey-Chambertin.
Plenty of acidity, light tannins, surprisingly open with rich raspberry
and black cherry fruit. Some real earth appears over time (we had a
glass or two with dinner, I revisited a couple hours later). Nice
typical traditionally-styled Gevrey. B+/.A-

Between dinner and the last taste of the Gevrey, we visited some
friends having an open house. I took small tastes of several wines:

2004 Cortijo III Rioja
A bit better than a previous bottle. Light cherry fruit, a little sense
of sage/herbs, a bit short on finish. Not great, but not the big loser
of previous bottle. B-/C+

2003 Big Yellow Cabernet Sauvignon (Central Coast)
Hey, this surprises me. Not especially complex, but pretty serious
blackcurrant and black plum fruit, dusty nose, decent finish. B

2002 Veramonte Merlot (Chile)
Soft, innocuous, though there's a simple spice over the blackberry and
plum fruit to keep it from falling totally into insipidity. B-/C+

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.