Betsy went to Maine for a chamber concert this weekend, and Wednesday I
was eating alone. A quick marinade of a salmon steak in a soy/mirin
combo, then the fish on the grill with a couple ears of corn (a little
early for corn, but I'm impatient). The wine was the 2001 Michel
Lafarge Bourgogne, a wine that has consistently shown well despite
being a tough year for Volnay ( I believe most of these vines are just
outside Volnay proper). A little acidic and even slightly tannic when
opened, a half-hour in glass lets out a pure clean wine. Cherry and
black cherry fruit with some clean damp earth and light spice aromas.
This is wine that makes me happy. A-
PS Wine went well with the fish, but funnily not the corn! Something
about the (reasonably sweet for early June) corn made the wine taste
thinner and sharper.

Thursday I had thawed a piece of Alaskan halibut, then found out David
would be eating with me. As he hasn't recently been eating cooked fish,
I also grabbed a couple pork chops. Both the fish and chops were
brushed with a bit of vermouth/evoo, and grilled along with some summer
squash. To bridge the pork/halibut divide, I chose the 2002 Johann
Donabaum Loibergarten Gr=FCner Veltliner Smaragd. Great GruVe typicity-
not so much lentil as sweet petit pois, with a clear and present
overlay of white pepper. Besides the pea there's green plum and a bit
of tropical fruit, and the finish has some clear mineral, if not the
pure wet stone of say Nigl. Very nice wine, 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