WTN: Lambrusco and Loire SB

Betsy decided to go back on the Sonoma diet, she wants to lose 5 pounds, while politely saying nothing about my need to drop 20-25. I of course eat the same foods (though bigger portions), luckily for the most part dishes have plenty of flavor. Monday was a chicken marsala accompanied by kale, cookbook suggested Sauvignon Blanc. I decided instead to go with a rosé, the 2006 Zucchi Lambrusco di Sorbara Rosato. Pink Lambrusco is a rarity, but this was quite nice. Gently frizzante, bright strawberrry and cherry, a lovely hint of bitterness. Seems a touch sweet at first, but that's just fruit-its actually fairly dry. Fun and tasty wine (though I did a poor job resealing and it was rather flat and uninteresting next night). B/B+

Betsy had a rehearsal for the continuo in Agrippina Tuesday, assigned me a recipe from the Sonoma book. I am mostly a free-form cook and follow recipes poorly, but managed. Grilled shrimp over a white beans and wilted mizuna (recipe called for arugula, but Betsy approved switch). Book again called for Sauvignon Blanc, this time I acquiesced. I wasn't so fond of the 2006 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon #2 (Touraine) first time I tried, but others have liked, and I saw a positive note from Gilman in last View from the Cellar. Certainly not a flawed wine- clean and fairly crisp. But to me it lacks the verve and nervosity of earlier vintages. Straightforward SB flavors of citrus and gooseberry, a little grass. OK acidity, not anything WRONG with this, just less than exciting. More for everyone else I guess. 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, what's with the "#2" on the CRB? I've only been able to find this wine sporadically in previous vintages, but I don't recall any numeric designation on the label.

Clinton,
there are generally 2 CRB SBs imported to US, the #2 and the #5. The designation is on bottle, but in a fairly light font above the main info. The basic bottling is the Number 2 (far more common), the Number 5 is a bit bigger and richer, and usually costs maybe $5 more. I actually often like the #2 better. Maybe a real CRB expert can answer better.

I don't know what happened to #1, #3, #4, or any higher-numbered designations, if they exist

(edited because I put "Numero" , but think that's Dominique Laurent who uses numero on label).

Dale wrote:

I wasn't so fond of the 2006 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon #2 (Touraine) first time I tried

I agree. Opened one the other night with high expectations and both of us were disappointed. Just didn't have anything to recommend itself.

Dale wrote:

I wasn't so fond of the 2006 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon #2 (Touraine) first time I tried

I agree. Opened one the other night with high expectations and both of us were disappointed. Just didn't have anything to recommend itself.

Well, that's about 1% of the CRB wines I've tried that disappointed, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much.
And this was one year I liked the #5 better:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13335&p=110487&hilit=blanche+numero#p110487

Hi Dale,
Another fan here of the Zucchi rosato. If you can find it, Zucchi has a frizzante made from Pignoletto that is very tasty and maybe even more interesting than the rosato. It reminded me of a little of a sparkling Muscadet, with some fennel thrown in. Worth picking up a bottle if you see one.

Marc

Dale wrote:

Well, that's about 1% of the CRB wines I've tried that disappointed, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much

The irony is that it's the only CRB I've bought! All the positive things said here about their Touraine finally got me to give it a try. In fact, I bought 4 of them. Wish now I'd seen Dale's comments first.