The night before Thanksgiving, a hurried meal before I had to go speak at an
interfaith service in Scarsdale. Betsy made an actually delicious casserole
with leftover ham, brussels sprouts, pasta,and a bechamel sauce. A 2000
Lignier-Michelot Gevrey-Chambertin showed good raspberry fruit, lighter body
than I expected, with bright acidity and an earthy finish. I've been impressed
with the 2000s from this producer. B+

On Thanksgiving itself, Betsy spent the day cooking, I was merely in charge of
putting leaves in the table, watching the bassett hound, and assembling
appetizers. By the time guests arrived, I had made boiled shrimp with cocktail
sauce, smoked salmon canapes, and other assorted finger foods. First wine up
was a cheapie, the 2001 Ch. Lauretan Blanc (a Cordier property). A little
grassiness, good acidity with melon and citrus fruit, clipped finish.
Unexciting, but not bad QPR at $5! B-

The 2001 Kurt Darting Dürkheimer Hochbenn (Pfalz) Riesling Kabinett was floral,
sweet, and a bit softer than most 2001 kabs. But very tasty with loads of pit
fruit flavors. This was supposed to be a segue into a Christoffel kab, but as
we never finished this one (light drinking crowd) it was the last Riesling of
the night. B

For the main event, Betsy made a Madiera-braised turkey with fried sage
stuffing. But some of our guests eat fish but not poultry or red meat, so I
grilled a nice side of salmon which a teriyaki-ish marinade (soya, sherry,
ginger, & garlic). There was also another pan of stuffing/dressing with
shiitakes, leeks with chestnuts, green beans, mashed potates, sweet potatoes,
and more. The salmon gave me an excuse to open a Pinot Noir, the 1994 Michel
Lafarge "Clos des Chateau des Ducs" Volnay 1er Cru. Spice and cherry nose,
nice medium-bodied wine with rich red fruit, good acidity, and a very long
spicy finish. Showed best of several recent bottles (it had shown decently both
at offline at Triomphe and a duck dinner, poorly at a beef dinner, where it was
overwhelmed). A-

I gave the only guest who cared re wine the options of a Rhone, a Zinfandel, or
a mature Bordeaux, he chose the 1982 Ch. Potensac (Médoc). While the Lafarge
gave its best showing, the Potensac showed worse than other recent bottles.
Actually showed as reasonably young- good red fruit. But while smooth and
pleasant, lacking in secondary aromas and flavors. B

While the pumpkin and sweet-potato/pecan pies were being sliced, passed a
variety of cheeses. As there were several blues (St. Agur, Montbriac, and
Stilton), it seemed a good time to try the 1982 Martinez Vintage Porto. I was a
little worried re bottle shock, as this had only arrived a week before -but no
problems. Immediately after decanting I was concerned about high levels of VA,
but it seemed to blow off. Cinnamon-spicy with some chocolate notes in the
fruit, seemingly fully resolved tannins. Not at all hot, actually seemingly a
little light for VP, but very pleasant. This was from the lode that Jason
(Jaybert41) had uncovered at Trader Joes for$15, not an outstanding VP, but a
good deal at that price. B+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a pretty 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.
Dale

Dale Williams
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>While the pumpkin and sweet-potato/pecan pies were being sliced, passed a
>variety of cheeses. As there were several blues (St. Agur, Montbriac, and
>Stilton), it seemed a good time to try the 1982 Martinez Vintage Porto. I was
>a
>little worried re bottle shock, as this had only arrived a week before -but
>no
>problems. Immediately after decanting I was concerned about high levels of
>VA,
>but it seemed to blow off. Cinnamon-spicy with some chocolate notes in the
>fruit, seemingly fully resolved tannins. Not at all hot, actually seemingly a
>little light for VP, but very pleasant. This was from the lode that Jason
>(Jaybert41) had uncovered at Trader Joes for$15, not an outstanding VP, but a
>good deal at that price. B+

Aahhh... I was wondering if you would pull the cork on one of those Ports on
"Turkey Day." Of the '82 and '87 Martinez I would expect the former to be a
lighter style as you said showing "fully resolved tannins". I think '82 was
not widely declared by major Port houses? I have yet to have a big enough
group around worth opening a full bottle of either, but I am glad to see that
the '82 was at least enjoyable for the price. I am curious as to how the '87
shows...

With Thanksgiving Brooke and I enjoyed a '01 Sinskey Carneros Pinot and a '01
Shafer Merlot being that we are in California for the time being... Both
were nice wines with the Sinskey surprisingly being very closed for the first
45 minutes or so. The Shafer too put on considerable weight after about an
hour and showed well for a Cali- Merlot. Maybe both a sign of the good 2001
vintage? Although both were in a complete different class than my newly
beloved '01 Paloma Merlot the Shafer is a pretty god buy. But that Paloma is
really unique...

As always Dale, very enjoyable notes. Thank you.

jason

On 30 Nov 2003 02:24:11 GMT, amnspam (Dale Williams)
wrote:

>On Thanksgiving itself, Betsy spent the day cooking,

Again, sorry I missed that. Reading your post got me drooling...

Mike

In article >,
(Jaybert41) writes:

>Aahhh... I was wondering if you would pull the cork on one of those Ports on
>"Turkey Day." Of the '82 and '87 Martinez I would expect the former to be a
>lighter style as you said showing "fully resolved tannins". I think '82 was
>not widely declared by major Port houses?

I think '82/'83 was a split, with more houses declaring '83. To date this is
only my second '82, though I've had lots of '83s. The '83s were indeed bigger,
but ny sample isn't big enough to know whether that was vintage character, or
reflection ofd house styles.


Dale

Dale Williams
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