WTN: onion pizzas w/CFE and rose, +Valtellina,PS, Sauternes

Friday we had a friend and her two boys over for dinner, while the dad is in Paris for a month (poor Alex). Betsy made a couple of pizza/flatbreads, a pissaladiere and a tarte flambee. I opened a wine for each. For the pissaladiere, no Provencal rose on hand, so went a bit northeast of Nice, to the Vallee d'Aoste.  The 2007 Larmes du Paradis Rosé was  a pleasant light red, with fresh strawberry fruit and good acidity. Not a lot there, but what is there is tasty. B

For the tarte flambee/flammekueche, the 2001 Trimbach "Cuvee Frederic Emile" Riesling.  Wow, this is young but yummy. Clean crisp pears with a dollop of ripe peaches, totally dry but with a impression of sweetness to the fruit. Wet stones, earth, a whiff of petrol. Medium-bodied but with a sense of strength. Good acidity, excellent length. A-/B+ with potential to be a truly great CFE.

Saturday Betsy made duck legs with turnips, along with braised escarole with a little sausage. Recipe called for a cup of red wine for recipe and a rustic unpretentious red as an accompaniment; it was easier to open bottle on counter than to go to cellar. The 2005 Vinum "Pets" Petit Sirah (Clarksburg) actually belonged to my dog, it was a gift at her birthday party. But Lucy doesn't drink so we consumed. For a PS this isn't very tannic. Fruit forward, with blackberries and black plums with just a hint of peppery spice. A bit on simple side, but enjoyable, and Betsy liked. B/B-

Sunday I was working running a meeting all day. Betsy used up rest of her duck legs in a ragu (with cloves, cayenne, and sweet wine) from a Batali recipe. When I came home I opened the 2004 Sandro Fay Rosso di Valtellina. Lighter end of Nebbiolo, spicy red fruit with good acidity, a bit of earth and tar. Gets more interesting with some air. Not heavy, but quite decent length for a $14 wine. B

Recipe had called for vin santo, which I didn't have, so had I had given Betsy a bottle of Sauternes I had somehow acquired, the 2000 Saint-Amand "Grands Vignes" Sauternes. Half a bottle left, I had a small glass with some blue cheese after dinner. Sweetness approaches cloying, this needs more acidity. Canned apricots, not much for complexity. 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.
 

2001 Trimbach "Cuvee Frederic Emile" Riesling.  Wow, this is young but yummy. Clean crisp pears with a dollop of ripe peaches, totally dry but with a impression of sweetness to the fruit. Wet stones, earth, a whiff of petrol. Medium-bodied but with a sense of strength. Good acidity, excellent length. A-/B+ with potential to be a truly great CFE.

Sounds like you got some pleasure from this one. There seem to be a lot of recent reports where some people find it great and showing lots of potential while others find it difficult to drink right now. Perhaps it depends on personal preferences.

I'm sure it's just preference. It's pretty seldom I find a white wine difficult to drink, though I often think there will be improvement. Maybe a really big (14% abv with lots of extract) dry Riesling. Or sometimes I find white Burgs and CBs that I think are really closed, but that's a little different from difficult to drink. Contrast that with reds where the tannins often mean I think a young wine doesn't offer any pleasure.

I guess thinking about it oak can also make something hard to drink.

In any case, I found plenty of pleasure here, PLUS potential for even more.

I'm sure it's just preference. It's pretty seldom I find a white wine difficult to drink, though I often think there will be improvement. Maybe a really big (14% abv with lots of extract) dry Riesling. Or sometimes I find white Burgs and CBs that I think are really closed, but that's a little different from difficult to drink..

I agree that white wine is not the same as tannic red wine in terms of 'difficulty' for drinking. But there are times when it seems like a waste because there is not much pleasure to be had. Which obviously wasn't the case for you here

I had been debating buying some of this for current consumption and will have to see how I feel. I have definitely been underwhelmed with young and tight Alsatian riesling in the past so I may be a bit more severe in my judgement.

We may not be drinking the same wines lately, but we're definitely eating the same food. We had a caramelized onion pizza yesterday, duck confit and duck confit ragu last week.