After Wednesday's indulgence at Gramercy Tavern, some decrease in wine consumption was needed. We still opened some nice bottles over the past few days.
Friday evening we met some friends at a nearby restaurant and I brought the wines. 2002 Le Cadeau Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon - it's been over a year since I first had this wine and it has aged nicely by smoothing out any rough edges. Good acidity, less spicy than I remembered with a note of bitter chocolate on the end. My friends must have enjoyed it as well since the bottle didn't last long enough for the appetizers to arrive. Next, I opened a 2001 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape. Rich, meaty nose - lots of dark fruit with some tannins showing. It's entering a good drinking window if you don't object to the tannins (I don't), but will certainly last for years.
The next evening at home with roasted salmon over arugula and roasted potatoes and onions slathered with whole grain mustard, we had a 2000 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Weir Vineyard - the lightest WS I have had. Not much showing on the nose, very light color and texture, but berry flavors fill the mouth with a good finish. Nice wine - nothing more.
Sunday, I made a vegetable lo mein and opened my first 2005 German Riesling, Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spatlese - damn, this was good. Aromas of apricots and minerals, mouth coating, concentrated flavors of peach and light citrus, great acidity, with some Granny Smith apple on the satisfying finish.