Sunday we were invited to a friend's 50th birthday party. Her husband
had invited 4 couples to join them for dinner at a local restaurant,
with drinks and appetizers beforehand. I had volunteered to make the
appetizers, and dropped off some pickled shrimp and some
chutney-cheeseballs earlier. Once Betsy made it home from matinee, we
ran over, scarfed down a few samples of the appetizers, as well as a
couple glasses of bubbly:

NV Billecarte-Salmon Brut Champagne
Nice yeasty Champagne with a creamy texture. Light but not without
power, a pleasant surprise for me. B+/A-

NV Gruet Blanc de Noir Brut (New Mexico)
Nice lightweight sparkler, granny smith fruit with a light biscuit
note. B

On to the restaurant. Ron had said the crowd was pretty much red
drinkers. He had arranged for corkage, so I brought one bottle:

1996 Punset Barbaresco
Man, was this tight on opening. I said set aside and open something
else. When we revisited during main course, this was really beginning
to show it's stuff. Medium-bodied and elegant, some tar on the deep
cherry fruit. Glass at the end of the night was even better- tar,
roses, and leather blending with the rich red fruit. Alas, last one.
A-

2003 St. Innocent Temperance Hill Pinot Noir
Ripe red fruit, this seems more like a CA PN than an Oregon (at least
not a St Innocent Oregon!). Still, a nice medium bodied wine with warm
cherry flavors. A little tannic. B

2000 Behrens and Hitchcock Claret
I've not been a big B & H fan, but this was actually a pretty nicely
styled wine. Some oak, but not overwhelming. Medium-bodied, good
acidity, nice cassis fruit and a little coffee and cedar. Some floral
notes after while. B/B+

2001 Beringer Knight's Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
This seemed a little musty at first, but it didn't seemed cork- just
some bottle funk that mostly blew off. Bigger, richer, a fair dose of
oak countered by some deep black plum fruit. A return to the quality of
the '91-'94 Knight's Valleys, now if they could just return the
price........B/B+

2002 Franciscan Cabernet Sauvignon
I'd heard good things re this one, but this could have been any $12
oak-chip special. Red and black flabby fruit, vanilla extract, heh. C+

Fun night, with nice people. Most were jazz musicians, lots of funny
road tales.

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.