On Mar 30, 10:26*am, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> On Mar 30, 10:00 am, DaleW > wrote:
>
>
>
> > A matching mistake, Betsy had said we were having salmon, so I pulled
> > out a Pinot Noir. Problem was the recipe she used steams the salmon
> > with chard and caramelized onions, does much better with whites. But I
> > already had the cork pulled on the 2002 Williams-Selyem Sonoma County
> > Pinot Noir. Red kirschy fruit, a little blackberry, a little earth.
> > Tannins are mostly integrated, the acids seem a little spikey. The
> > fruit is a little candied. Decent, not exciting. B-
> > (my early inclination is that is ready and needs to be drunk up.
> > But...it actually held up, and is better on day 2. Hmmm, what to do
> > with other 2?).
>
> > Sunday afternoon I prepped dinner, made an appearance to thank
> > volunteers at a benefit concert, but then headed to White Plains where
> > Betsy was leading cello section in a small string orchestra. Theme was
> > film composers and those that influenced them, sinfoniettas by
> > Bernard Hermann and Franz Waxman, and then Verklarte Nacht by
> > Schoenberg.
> > Afterwards I rushed home to do pork chops with a mustard/sage sauce,
> > with potatoes, salad, and some grilled vegetables. In honor of
> > Schoenberg, we went with an Austrian wine, the 2002 FX Pichler "Von
> > den Terrassen" Gruner Veltliner Smaragd. Peppery/ floral nose, ripe
> > peach and melon fruit on the palate backed by firm acidity. Nice
> > length, clean finish. With some time there's a little Riesling-like
> > petrol note, but there's also some pea and white pepper to show it's
> > GV-ness.
> > Nice wine, not one of Pichler's more expensive bottlings, but doing
> > well at 7- drinks nicely, but no hurry. A-/B+
>
> > 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.
> >
>
> I've never had a WS Pinot that blew me away. *I find many of them a
> bit candied and for the most part they never seem to deliver much.

I've liked quite few, but none blew me away. But Cali PN is not a big
interest to me overall. I do generally like the wines, and can always
put a piece of tape over the Selyem when serving at family
gatherings.