WTN: Burgundy, Oregon, Beaujolais, Finger Lakes

I did sousvide duck breast with 5 spice and sichuan pepper mix, served with ramp pasta, broccolini, salad. Wine was the 2005 Catherine and Claude Marechal Savigny-les-Beaune VV. Lovely lovely wine. Black raspberry and cherry, anise and sandalwood. Light tannins, bright acids, good length. Great for village wine. A-

Chicken with caramelized ramps and farro. , broccoli rabe
2019 Goodfellow Richard’s Cuvee Chardonnay
Pear, green apple, lime blossom, fennel pollen. Quite full bodied but with good acidic tension and long mineral finish. Certainly seems built for aging, but really nice now. B+/A-

We were having fish on Cinco de Mayo, so gave it a little twist grilled tuna with a Veracruz sauce, Mexican rice, chard. I opened the 2018 Lapierre Morgon (S). I’m more tolerant of ripe Gamay that some- I happily own plenty of 09 and some 15. But this is a bit much for me- cassis and kirsch, this is just jammy. No+/B-

So I opened another wine. 2019 Pillot “le Ban” St Aubin. Clean, ripe Chardonnay, I usually like Pillot but this was rather anonymous. B-

Friday was just had assorted leftovers, I opened a recent gift, the 2020 Treleaven Dry Riesling (Finger Lakes). Nice info on label (ph 3.42, RS 0.7%, abv 12.5). Green apple and grapefruit, just a hint of ginger. This tastes like someone opened a nice bottle of dry Riesling, poured out 2-3 ounces, replaced with water. Nice flavors, but a bit dilute. B-

After dinner I got to work in kitchen for following day. Beef in Barolo, but instead of Barolo I used 2+ cups of the Lapierre, and a couple of cups of the 2013 Massimo Rivetti Barbaresco, leaving me a couple glasses worth. Red cherry, strawberry, rose petal. Light and floral, no need to wait on these. B

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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.

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for the Goodfellow note. I opened a 2018 Richard's a week ago that was closed like Broadway in a pandemic.

We were having fish on Cinco de Mayo, so gave it a little twist grilled tuna with a Veracruz sauce, Mexican rice, chard. I opened the 2018 Lapierre Morgon (S). I’m more tolerant of ripe Gamay that some- I happily own plenty of 09 and some 15. But this is a bit much for me- cassis and kirsch, this is just jammy. No+/B-

I don't mind ripe Beaujolais and never really went in for the critiques of 09. But 15 and 18 have had more worse offenders (at least among the wines I tasted across the vintages, admittedly neither comprehensive nor random). I don't mind some extra weight and I don't mind dark red flavors. But the worst offenders in 15 and 18 have had a chunky texture and roasted character to the flavors, which is not my bag. I'm still holding some 15 where I hope the texture will improve, but the roasted nature of the flavor is probably less likely to get more palatable. Will see!