WTN: bunch of inexpensive wines

Wednesday was warm but gorgeous, with low humidity for July in NY. I went to the waterfront concert for a picnic with friends, then joined Betsy at her sister's home as they arrived from DC. A variety of wines tasted:

2006 Catherine and Claude Marechal "Cuvee Antoine" Bourgogne
I love the Marechals' reds, but I just couldn't warm up to this. Rather big, with flavors of tropical fruit, grapefruit and apricot, part of my lack of bonding with it was just it not being what I expected from a Bourgogne. I also got a hint of a strange tinny note on the finish. I tried, really tried to like this, but with no success. B-

2004 Geyerhof "Rosensteig" Grüner Veltliner (Kremstal).
High acid, lemons and minerals. A little sharp by itself, but a good food wine. B

2006 Borgo M Pinot Grigio (Venezie, I think)
A bit thin and dilute, not much here, but inoffensive. I think Cal got it on sale for something like $7, ok for that price. B-

2007 Ch. de Roquefort "Corail" Rosé (Cotes de Provence)
Tasty straightforward rose, light red fruits with a touch of bitter herbs. Refreshingly light and acidic. B

2007 Ch. d'Oupia Minervois Rose
Pretty strawberry and red plum fruit, a sense of wet rocks, a very nice rose. B+

2003 Duboeuf Moulin-a-Vent
This isn't the flower label, this one is aged in oak six months. The oak shows with some sweet vanilla, but at least there's no banana. Beefy for Beaujolais, quite sweet, not a lot of finish. Those who like vanilla in their Gamay will like it more than I. B-/C+

2006 Castle Rock Pinot Noir
I'm not sure which bottling this was, and it was served ice-cold from someone's cooler. Sweet and light pinot, not a lot there. A small frigid pour isn't much to judge on, and they have a variety of bottlings, but this did nothing to change my impression that like a lot of negociant Cali bottlings, this is a victim of its early rep as a QPR leader.

Fun night even if most wines weren't stellar, fun friends, and I'm glad to have my wife back.

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.
 

2006 Catherine and Claude Marechal "Cuvee Antoine" Bourgogne
I love the Marechals' reds, but I just couldn't warm up to this. Rather big, with flavors of tropical fruit, grapefruit and apricot, part of my lack of bonding with it was just it not being what I expected from a Bourgogne. I also got a hint of a strange tinny note on the finish. I tried, really tried to like this, but with no success. B- 

Aaargh, I picked up a bottle last weekend, maybe I'll let it sit for a while...

On second thought, maybe I should withdraw the Aargh because, as you say, it may be just a case of expectations thwarted. When I visited Maréchal in February, he said he had learned the craft with Jean Thévenet at Roally/Domaine de Bongran and both include botrytized grapes in their whites, making them fuller bodied than average. I happen to like that style, and really liked the 05 Roally Viré-Clessé I tasted at Chambers last Friday. Chambers calls the Roally dry and the Antoine off-dry (the young lady at the counter made sure I understood this wasn't your everyday dry chardonnay because some customers have commented that it wasn't what they expected). If the Antoine is at all like the Viré-Clessé, I would still call it dry, though on the veering-on-unctuous side of dry (and I would like it).

It didn't seem off-dry to me, but maybe because I've drunk a load of Rieslings in last week. Unctuous however fits it nicely. The botrytis makes sense, both with the fruit profile and the weight.