Sunday some good friends came over for a dinner. Lovely May night on
the patio, Betsy have made a Southeast Asian feast:
spring rolls with pork, shrimp, herbs, jicama, noodles, sprouts, etc.
chicken satay with an incredible peanut sauce
straw mushrooms with Chinese broccoli
Our friends brought berries for desserts.

The best match with the food was the leftover Christoffel kab. But we
also had:
2003 Roucaillat Blanc (Coteaux Du Languedoc)
A recommendation from a local store. Perfumed nose, a bit herby, with
quince and pear fruit and mineral finish. Unfortunately, not enough
acidic zip for me. Actually, this $15 wine would probably do ok in a
tasting to whte Chateauneufs. On the other hand, I really don't care
for CdP blanc. B

2002 Hug Cellars "Bassetti Vineyard" (San Luis Obispo)
OK, no sane person would match this with the menu. But my friend Joe
prefers red,and big New World Syrahs/Shirazes are his fave. So I served
this and saved mine for after meal (the perfect situation for this
wine). Big, in your face blackberry and blueberry fruit. Lots of
vanilla-ey oak, long intense finish with black pepper and flint. Not a
style I generally favor, but in the context (as dessert, on a lovely
night with friends, watching my friend be wowwed by the wine) I really
enjoyed this. If you served it to me with dinner I'd probably go high C
to B-, but Sunday night a B+/A- .

Saturday AM we had decided to throw a last minute Memorial Day party.
Sent out some emails, and wondered how many folks would come. Marinated
some skirt and hanger steaks on Sunday. Monday AM we attended our
little village's Memorial Day parade (I love the small town parades-
fire trucks, HS marching band, scout troops, and the veterans (WW2
riding in convertibles, more recent vets marching). Then came home to
see who would show. A decent crowd showed up, and 6 dogs to boot. A
pleasant warm afternoon with dogs (both hot dogs and barking dogs),
croquet, beef, corn, watermelon, Japanese eggplant with leftover peanut
sauce, mango salsa and chips, sesame noodles and desserts. More beer
and seltzer was consumed than wine, but I did sample a few bottles:

2005 Chivite "Gran Fuedo" rosado (Navarra)
This was a big favorite of mine several years ago, but then I didn't
see for a couple of vintages. A Chivite rep assured me at an offline
that it was coming back. No longer $5.xx, but with the weak dollar $9
seems reasonable. Bright wild strawberry fruit with a hint of black
raspberry, there's a little white pepper and chalk note to the finish.
Is this "serious" wine? No, but a lovely refreshing rosé that's
perfect served very cold. B, but A- for value.

2004 Loosen "Dr. L." Riesling QbA
As noted before, this is quite the deal at $9. Lime and peach fruit,
clean finish, lively and not too-sweet. B/B+

2002 Wyndham Estate "Bin 444" Cabernet Sauvignon (South Eastern
Australia) This was a bottle someone had left at a previous party. I
thought too warm for CS, but there's always someone who wants a red
from a variety they recognize, and indeed this was one of the first
bottles opened. I sampled later, found it a bit grapey. To its credit,
it was recognizably Cabernet Sauvignon, with blackcurrant fruit and a
hint of mint. There's a bit of sweet oak, but it seems sweet overall
anyway, and with a very short finish. Pass. 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.

In article .com>,
"DaleW" > wrote:

> Sunday some good friends came over for a dinner. Lovely May night on
> the patio, Betsy have made a Southeast Asian feast:
> spring rolls with pork, shrimp, herbs, jicama, noodles, sprouts, etc.
> chicken satay with an incredible peanut sauce
> straw mushrooms with Chinese broccoli
> Our friends brought berries for desserts.
>
> The best match with the food was the leftover Christoffel kab. But we
> also had:
> 2003 Roucaillat Blanc (Coteaux Du Languedoc)
> A recommendation from a local store. Perfumed nose, a bit herby, with
> quince and pear fruit and mineral finish. Unfortunately, not enough
> acidic zip for me. Actually, this $15 wine would probably do ok in a
> tasting to whte Chateauneufs. On the other hand, I really don't care
> for CdP blanc. B
>
> 2002 Hug Cellars "Bassetti Vineyard" (San Luis Obispo)
> OK, no sane person would match this with the menu. But my friend Joe
> prefers red,and big New World Syrahs/Shirazes are his fave. So I served
> this and saved mine for after meal (the perfect situation for this
> wine). Big, in your face blackberry and blueberry fruit. Lots of
> vanilla-ey oak, long intense finish with black pepper and flint. Not a
> style I generally favor, but in the context (as dessert, on a lovely
> night with friends, watching my friend be wowwed by the wine) I really
> enjoyed this. If you served it to me with dinner I'd probably go high C
> to B-, but Sunday night a B+/A- .
>
> Saturday AM we had decided to throw a last minute Memorial Day party.
> Sent out some emails, and wondered how many folks would come. Marinated
> some skirt and hanger steaks on Sunday. Monday AM we attended our
> little village's Memorial Day parade (I love the small town parades-
> fire trucks, HS marching band, scout troops, and the veterans (WW2
> riding in convertibles, more recent vets marching). Then came home to
> see who would show. A decent crowd showed up, and 6 dogs to boot. A
> pleasant warm afternoon with dogs (both hot dogs and barking dogs),
> croquet, beef, corn, watermelon, Japanese eggplant with leftover peanut
> sauce, mango salsa and chips, sesame noodles and desserts. More beer
> and seltzer was consumed than wine, but I did sample a few bottles:
>
> 2005 Chivite "Gran Fuedo" rosado (Navarra)
> This was a big favorite of mine several years ago, but then I didn't
> see for a couple of vintages. A Chivite rep assured me at an offline
> that it was coming back. No longer $5.xx, but with the weak dollar $9
> seems reasonable. Bright wild strawberry fruit with a hint of black
> raspberry, there's a little white pepper and chalk note to the finish.
> Is this "serious" wine? No, but a lovely refreshing rosé that's
> perfect served very cold. B, but A- for value.
>
> 2004 Loosen "Dr. L." Riesling QbA
> As noted before, this is quite the deal at $9. Lime and peach fruit,
> clean finish, lively and not too-sweet. B/B+
>
> 2002 Wyndham Estate "Bin 444" Cabernet Sauvignon (South Eastern
> Australia) This was a bottle someone had left at a previous party. I
> thought too warm for CS, but there's always someone who wants a red
> from a variety they recognize, and indeed this was one of the first
> bottles opened. I sampled later, found it a bit grapey. To its credit,
> it was recognizably Cabernet Sauvignon, with blackcurrant fruit and a
> hint of mint. There's a bit of sweet oak, but it seems sweet overall
> anyway, and with a very short finish. Pass. 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.

I had though the Chivite "Gran Fuedo" rosado was gone. I looked
everywhere after two really good vintages but then the suppliers locally
had no more from 2003 or 2004. Is it readily available?

I'm not sure re Virginia, but in NY area there are several retailers
carrying it (Rochambeau, PJs, Chambers St). Problem of course is that
shipping is often not worth it for under$10 bottles. Think Kobrand
distributes, you could contact them.

In article .com>,
"DaleW" > wrote:

> I'm not sure re Virginia, but in NY area there are several retailers
> carrying it (Rochambeau, PJs, Chambers St). Problem of course is that
> shipping is often not worth it for under$10 bottles. Think i
> distributes, you could contact them.

Thanks I will give them a try.