Is very pleasing to see you enjoyed the New Zealand Marlborough Wine..
:-)
Is a very good drop.. and worth the BB+ you rated it.

On 26 Dec 2006 12:22:53 -0800, "DaleW" > wrote:

>Saturday was busy, and Betsy prepared a simple dinner of chicken and
>vegetables in parchment. I opened the 2005 Paul Pernot Bourgogne
>straight from the fridge, and found it surprisingly oaky. But as it
>warmed a bit the oak faded (usually I think oak shows more warm, but
>not this time) and a lovely pear and hazelnut middleweight showed
>through. By following night the oak was totally in the background, the
>wine all about wet stones, sweet white fruit, and good acidity. B+ ,
>solid A for value
>
>Christmas Eve I spent the day preparing for my organization's Christmas
>Party on the streets, but for only the second time in 16 years I wasn't
>going (lots of experienced volunteers, and for once I wanted more than
>2 hours sleep. After afternoon loading, we made it to two Christmas Eve
>soirees, a small cocktail party and a big dinner. '
>
>At the first party, my fave was the leftover Bourgogne, but I tried
>each of the rougecentric host's wines:
>
>2004 Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha
>Very popular with others, I found this overripe. I've consistently
>preferred the cheaper Borsao regular bottling. This was a bit raisiny,
>with prune and dark berry fruits. B/B-
>
>2004 Norton Malbec Reserva
>Very oaky, a vanilla milkshake poured on top of a bowl of blueberries.
>Yuckety yuck. Not my style at all, though it appealed to others. C+
>
>Later we moved to the dinner party, with a great spread including ham,
>roasted vegetables, pasta, and more, with wines that included
>
>2005 Babich Sauvignon Blanc
>Clean citrus and gooseberry fruit, a little capiscum edge, crisp and
>lively, a good Marlborough. B/B+
>
>2004 Dutour "La Roche" Pouilly-Fuisse
>I had some from an almost emptied bottle, whoa, corked city. I didn't
>think it would serve a purpose to point out , as others seemed to have
>enjoyed.
>I discreetly found a sink, later I tried from a newly opened bottle.
>This was a decent Chardonnay, sweet pear/apple fruit, some vanilla oak
>notes, ripe and fat. OK if not great. B
>
>2004 Finnegan's Lake "Fin" Cabernet Sauvignon
>Sweet ripe red fruit, faceless and bland. Red plum fruit, oakchippy
>flavors, dog on label is probably my favorite thing about this one. C
>
>2004 Giovanni Rosso Dolcetto
>Medium tannins, low acidity, heavy blueberry & blackberry fruit. Good
>length, nice Dolcetto (though it's not really my favorite varietal). B
>
>We flew to Atlanta early Christmas Day. Not wanting to depend upon my
>dad (a great guy, but likes one glass of Taylor Lake Country Red with
>an ice cube with dinner), I had wanted to carry along a couple bottles.
>I felt more like Pinot/Burg, but was worried the more delicate examples
>would be subject to travel shock. I decided to go with a sturdier Burg,
>the 2000 Bonneau du Martray Corton. Very tight at first and seemed to
>have a bitter note, but that faded. Some woodsmoke and spicy oak, , the
>big black cherry fruit that emerged had a nice texture and mouthfeel.
>Still some tannins, this is one 2000 that could use some more time, but
>I liked. Good acidity, medium-bodied wine that dealt well with a
>variety of Southern holiday food- turkey, ham, creamed corn, okra,
>turnips, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc etc etc. B+/a-
>
>Good to be with friends and family over Christmas!
>
>PS A side story: I thought the glazed carrots tasted funny, but every
>thing else was good, until I found a salad to have off aromas- I
>realized I thought the salad was corked! Laughed at myself, then today
>Betsy made another salad to go along with some leftovers for lunch, and
>put discovered the carrots had a distinctive TCA smell. Whodathunk?
>
>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.