No wine Monday (leeks with miso and egg, veggie patties) or Tuesday (halibut, maqluba, braised Tokyo bekana). Wednesday we had our St Patricks dinner early (since Betsy and her sister go to CA Sat) Corned beef and cabbage is basically Hibernian choucroute, so I opened the 2002 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling. Lovely lovely showing from an unheralded vintage of CFE, peach and citrus with the lightest accent of petrol and a long stony finish. Delicious. A-
Takeout Thursday from the Parlor, shaved broccoli/pepperoncini salad and 2 pizzas (white with mushroom & bechamel and red with meatball).
1995 Banfi Summus
So still some good dark fruit, but this is glossy and lacking any Tuscan character. A bit of tannin remaining, but acid is pretty deficient. Move on to another wine. C+/B-
2006 Barone Ricasoli “Castello di Brolio” Chianti Classico
Replacement is much better and much more Tuscan. Black cherries, dried cherry, saddle leather, nice sandalwood finish. Very nice mature Chianti. 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.