Wednesday was a lovely cool spring day, after a hard day dealing with a death of a friend/employee I came home and decompressed with a glass of leftover rose on the front porch while Betsy gardened. When she was done, she went in to make mint/chili turkey burgers, with tzatiki and pita. I thought I'd just have the white she had opened for cooking the night before, the 2007 Ch. Haut-Rian (Bordeaux Blanc). Light and easy, lemon and grass. Nice and typical example of a lighter styled white Bordeaux. B/B-
But as I sipped, I decided after a shitty day I wanted something a bit more special. I thought I'd try the 1999 Ch.de Chorey "Les Vigne Franches" VV Beaune 1er. Frankly, this sucked with the burgers- tight, dense, fairly tannic, a little herby. I wished I still had the Bdx blanc in my glass. But, as is often the case, an hour or so of air made all the difference. Sappy red cherry fruit, earth, still a little bit of vanilla. The tannins need a little time, I plan on revisiting this is another 3-4 years. C+ to start, B+ to finish.
Thursday was a pan cooked duck breast finished on grill over greens, with roasted veggies. Recipe called for a cup of Madiran, with none handy opened Bordeaux, the 2005 Ch. Brown (Pessac Leognan). Really tight, just tannins and acids with little apparent fruit. Stays tight for couple hours. I switched over to leftover Beaune for the meal. We'll see how the Brown fares tonight, no real impressions.
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.