Some recent wines:
A few nights ago, with chipotle-laced cabbage rolls braised with sauerkraut I served a 2005 Wegeler Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett. Sweeter than expected for a kabinett, the lychee fruit mid-palate segued into lime and lime peel for the finish. Enjoyable and a good food match, but rather simple.
The 2006 Karly Sauvignon Blanc from California's Amador County suggests that 2006 was a cool year there because this pale wine is nicely pared down from it's typical ripe citrus flavors and is instead refreshingly light and herbal.
A 2006 Canoe Ridge Gewurztraminer "Snipes Vineyard" from Washington state would win guffaws from an Alsatian, but this balanced wine's mild floral aromatics and simple nectarine and spice palate will make Aunt Edna happy enough, and the 14.2% alcohol doesn't really show.
Last night our friend Bruce brought the 2005 Cedar Creek Platinum Reserve Chardonnay to dinner. A delicious, balanced wine with an elegant presence. Very pale color with generous apple and lemon fruit swathed in sweet cream. Great mouthfeel. Spendy but worth it.
For the main course (ancho-porcini crusted roast filet mignon with mushroom duxelle on chive pastry pillow), we started with a 78 Pontet Canet's whose cork disintegrated on contact with the corkscrew. The wine was shot. So I replaced that with an 86 Gruaud Larose which is drinking SUPERBLY right now. Grand black cherry and plum fruits, cedar notes and a little earthy funk--everything fans love about Gruaud Larose is all there, and the tannins have really relaxed. The wine's almost lost it's rusticity completely and is becoming quite elegant.
I invited Bruce to choose a California counterpoint from our cellar to pair with the Bordeaux, and he picked a 1996 Dominus. It's in a very good place right now, too, showing red fruit and spice on a nice core of acidity, but it seemed a bit dull alongside the fab Gruaud.
With cheese, fresh pears and persimmons, we stepped out on the wild with a Michel Duffour NV Floc de Gascogne. Made from Columbard and gros manseng grapes and fortified with Armagnac (17% abv), this deep gold wine had saturated flavors of baked apples, quince and guava. Not an every day wine, but pretty interesting stuff.