Japanese curry (ground turkey), broccoli, rice
2016 Hirtzberger Steinerterrassen Riesling Federspiel
Peach, herb and a surprising hint of mango on the nose, some petrol emerges, bone dry and tangy on palate with a gingery note. Nice crispness and a mineral finish, maybe I should cellar more federspiel and less smaragd. B++
Chicken with shallots, tarragon, and tomato, with couscous and salad
2016 Heritiers du Comte Lafon Vire Clesse
Lemon and a little gunflint on opening, with air it is generous and ripe but with plenty of zip. Pear, citrus and chalk, in a good place. B+/A-
2017 Clos de la Roilette (Coudert) Fleurie
Weird sediment experience. It had been upright in my "to drink" section, brought up and left on table for couple hours. Opened, poured a taste- omg, tons of sediment (from first upright pour, top of bottle). Ended up double decanting through fine screen. Load of sediment from second pour on sides of decanter , and chunks when I rinsed bottles. So asked friends any explanation of how a 9 year old Gamay has sediment worthy of a 60 year old Barolo or St Estephe, and how it was in suspension in a bottle that moved one floor carefully without changing orientation? Best answer was it was one of last bottles taken (unfiltered) from bottom of a cask.
Wine tasted fine, reasonably classic soil driven Coudert. Black cherry, violets, cocoa and earth tones. B+/B
Roast citrus/ponzu salmon, broccoli rabe with colatura d’alici, sweet potato
2022 Vincent Temperance Hill Pinot Noir
Raspberry, red plum, very floral. Not a lot of weight but not lacking in substance. Crunchy goodness. B+
Saturday up to Tarrytown, friends wanted to try out their new paella pan.
Pate, iberico ham, baba ganoush,and Betsy’s deviled eggs with boquerones
NV Gruet Rose
Another disappointing Gruet. I used to really like for value . Coarse mousse, strawberry jam, low acids. C+
Paella (squid, shrimp, and mussels) and salad
2023 Gomez Cruzado Rioja Blanco de Secundo Ano
My wine. Ripe peach and tropical notes, no apparent oak, round and I wouldn’t have gone white Rioja if blind. Comes across a tad sweet, this needs more acid. B-/C+
2023 Forjas del Salnes “Leirana” Albarino
Better zip, citrus and seashell, nice tangy mineral finish. B/B+
We were supposed to host some friends for Easter late lunch, but various maladies got in the way, we made the menu and delivered to friends and neighbors, then had our lamb that night.
Leg of lamb, potatoes, asparagus vinaigrette, salad
Originally, a friend was bringing ‘70 and ‘83 DDC, so I was going to open ‘83 LMHB. But seemed a waste with just us
2005 Ch. Haut-Bergey (Pessac-Leognan)
Better showing than in past. Plush texture, black plum and espresso, soft acids, mostly resolved tannins. Not super complex but fun enough in a mid modern style. 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 the only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.
