The orchestra my wife plays in has been accompanying the Birmingham Ballet at
the Lincoln Center Festival's Ashton celebration, and she came home very
impressed with the conductor's job with the Elgar Variations, declared I had to
see it. So I got tickets with some other friends, and we met Betsy and Joe the
bass player at Afghan Kebab House on 9th for a pre-ballet dinner. This is a
good place to bring sturdy reds (no license, so no corkage), and we had a
delicious meal. We started off with both pumpkin and spinach bulanee, as well
as sambosa and aushak (new dish to me, boiled dumplings in a yogurt-mint sauce.
Joe had brought the 2000 Giuseppe Mascarello Langhe Freisa. Nicely chilled
light red, bright red almost Fleurie-ish fruit, but with a definite Piemonte
tar and spice notes. No fizz. Really refreshing wine on a warm summer evening,
and the lightness complimented the appetizers. B+

For the main course I had kabuli palow (lamb, beef,and chicken kebabs over
brown rice, veggies, raisins, and almonds). I had brought the 1997 Cantalupo
Ghemme . Ripe and round Nebbiolo, strong violet perfume, deep red fruit, soft
acidity, hint of leather. I prefer my Nebbiolo with a little more acidic
backbone, but this is nice. A few more years might help, though I wouldn't try
this wine as a real long-ager. B+

Last up, a half-bottle of the 1996 Karl Lawrence Cabernet Sauvignon. Vanilla
and blackcurrant on the nose. Sweet dark fruits, lots of toasty oak,
chocolately finish. Pretty decent example of California Cab, I was actually
glad we were done eating, it kind of made a nice dessert. B/B+

The Elgar was quite nice musically, and the dancers also did a nice job. That,
plus the glow of the wine, kept me awake through the cheesey second part of the
program ("Two Pigeons", music by Messager)

Saturday I was home alone, and noshed on leftovers rather than a proper dinner.
The wine I sipped was the 2002 Michel Bailly "Les Loges"* Pouilly-Fume.
Vibrant nose of flowers, citrus, and gunflint. Ripe fruit, yet tartly acidic.
Finish of wet rocks and a hint of capsicum. Got nicely smoky after being opened
a while. B+

Sunday was a day of working on house and cellar, then taking the basset to a
doggie playground (funny to watch her short legs trying to keep up with the
malamute, shepherds, and retrievers). We returned home to have friends over for
dinner.
Betsy had the cooking itch after a week with no opportunity, so outdid herself.
We started with an avocado-buttermilk soup, then chicken with sauteed radicchio
and fennel-mustard butter, orzo salad with tomatos and basil, & roast corn with
jalapeño butter. One friend is red-only, so we had the 2000 JL Chave "Mon
Couer" Côtes du Rhône. When I first saw this, I thought I was pretty savvy
buying a Chave for $13. But rather than gaining complexity, these have gotten
more and more boring. Ripe round international Grenache. I'd be happy with this
as an $8 CdR. B-

The whites:
2002 JM Brocard "Domaine Ste. Clair" Sauvignon de St. Bris. Yep, Sauvignon
Blanc from Burgundy. Grapefruit and gooseberry, a little grass. Clean
chalk-mineral finish. Excellent deal at $9. B++

2002 Louis Latour Mcon-Lugny Les Genièvres
Clean apple/chardonnay fruit with a slightly nutty edge. No sign of oak. A
little softer and rounder than say the Brun Beaujolais Blanc, but still an
interesting $7.xx chardonnay, I think this and the Melini Orvieto have taken
the worse urgency off my search for the cheap drink-or-cook-with house white. B

Hey, pretty good wine week so far. But Monday head to a MoveOn Kerry party, and
sample the wines. I'm glad I went, but not for the wines. I should have gone
for the dependable Borsao normale, but instead experiment:

Mystery white: bottle in icebucket sans label. Tastes like bad CalChard- Too
sweet, too oakchippy, and actually shy on the fruit. I hear the host say "would
you like to try this Long Island chardonnay?" Enough said, no need to
investigate maker. C+

2001 Murphy-Goode Sonoma Chardonnay
Oaky pear CalChard, but a relief after previous wine. B-/B

I can't find the vintage on the Campo Burgo Rioja, but it's one of the worse
wines I've tried in a while. I wouldn't try another vintage except maybe at
gunpoint. Behind the VA lies unripe fruit, overblown oak, and mustiness. A
short bitter finish rounds out the package. D+/C-

2003 Santa Isabel Cabernet Sauvignon (Mendoza)
An improvement, but that says more about the Rioja than the CS. Red fruit, a
bit weedy, clipped finish. C/C+

2001 Salisbury Shiraz-Cabernet.
Again, a bit of an improvement, but that's damning with faint praise. At least
this one is innocuous and anonymous, just a round slightly sweet soft wine that
doesn't have any hard edges. B-/C+

We escape to a Korean restuarant, where the mediocre OB beer is still a relief.


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.
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

Dale Williams wrote:

>
> Saturday I was home alone, and noshed on leftovers rather than a proper dinner.
> The wine I sipped was the 2002 Michel Bailly "Les Loges"* Pouilly-Fume.
> Vibrant nose of flowers, citrus, and gunflint. Ripe fruit, yet tartly acidic.
> Finish of wet rocks and a hint of capsicum. Got nicely smoky after being opened
> a while. B+

Sorry, but I have to ask: where do you find gunflint to smell in the first place?
:P

>
> Betsy had the cooking itch after a week with no opportunity, so outdid herself.
> We started with an avocado-buttermilk soup, then chicken with sauteed radicchio
> and fennel-mustard butter, orzo salad with tomatos and basil, & roast corn with
> jalapeño butter. One friend is red-only, so we had the 2000 JL Chave "Mon
> Couer" Côtes du Rhône. When I first saw this, I thought I was pretty savvy
> buying a Chave for $13. But rather than gaining complexity, these have gotten
> more and more boring. Ripe round international Grenache. I'd be happy with this
> as an $8 CdR. B-

Is the Chave CdR really Grenache? I'd have guessed that it's declassified or
young Syrah from the N. Rhone. If it's young vines, that could explain the lack
of ageworthiness...

>
>
> I can't find the vintage on the Campo Burgo Rioja, but it's one of the worse
> wines I've tried in a while. I wouldn't try another vintage except maybe at
> gunpoint. Behind the VA lies unripe fruit, overblown oak, and mustiness. A
> short bitter finish rounds out the package. D+/C-

LOL!! Thanks, Dale. I truly miss the excoriating wine reviews that used to get
published in CGCW and WA. Wine reviews now lack some of the entertainment value
that they had in former times.

Thanks very much for your notes, Dale!

Mark Lipton

In article >, Mark Lipton >
writes:

>
>Sorry, but I have to ask: where do you find gunflint to smell in the first
>place?

Do you really want to delve into my sordid past? In my long ago teen years (25+
years ago), I was more enamored of weaponry than Charlton Heston. Not only did
I handload my own bullets and shotgun shells, but hung out with Rev War
reenactors, gun buffs, etc. Not a smell you forget. I might be a Kerry voter
now, but I'd be happy to challenge Dubya in the "things that go bang" category
on Jeopardy.

>
>Is the Chave CdR really Grenache? I'd have guessed that it's declassified or
>young Syrah from the N. Rhone. If it's young vines, that could explain the
>lack
>of ageworthiness...

I'll confess to shooting my mouth off here, but tasted so ripe, round , and
red-fruity I assumed Grenache>


best
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

Salut/Hi Mark Lipton,

le/on Tue, 13 Jul 2004 22:35:22 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

>> The wine I sipped was the 2002 Michel Bailly "Les Loges"* Pouilly-Fume.
>> Vibrant nose of flowers, citrus, and gunflint. Ripe fruit, yet tartly acidic.
>> Finish of wet rocks and a hint of capsicum. Got nicely smoky after being opened
>> a while. B+

>Sorry, but I have to ask: where do you find gunflint to smell in the first place?

Naughty man!!! In fact Dale's use of the currently accepted terminology for
the characteristic smell in typical Pouilly Fumé, partly conceals the truth.
The use of the prefix "gun" is unnecessary, in fact. I am sure you must have
done this, if not, go and try it, because it's uncanny. Take two pieces of
ordinary flint, knock them together as if trying to create a spark (as is
done in a flintlock gun - hence the analogy) and then smell them quick. The
smell is a dead ringer for that in Pouilly Fumé. I remember discovering that
the day Jacquie & I got married. My father paid for a meal at Wheelers (a
famous London fish restaurant) and we had been recommended (by dad) to take
a bottle of Ladoucette, so being obedient (especially when it came to
spending my dad's money) we did. And the first sniff!! I understood
_exactly_ why the wine was called "fumé" - smoked.

>LOL!! Thanks, Dale. I truly miss the excoriating wine reviews that used to get
>published in CGCW and WA. Wine reviews now lack some of the entertainment value
>that they had in former times.

Chuckle...


--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website

>I'll confess to shooting my mouth off here, but tasted so ripe, round , and
>red-fruity I assumed Grenache>

Actually I just did some googling, and some notes show the 2000 Mon Coeur as
80% Grenache/20% Syrah (the 2001 is 50/50). With a Syrah-master like Chave one
might assume Syrah, but unlike the Voge CdR (his young Cornas vines), the Chave
is a negociant wine. And mostly from vineyards in the South owned by his
friends.
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

Dale Williams wrote:

>>I'll confess to shooting my mouth off here, but tasted so ripe, round , and
>>red-fruity I assumed Grenache>
>
>
> Actually I just did some googling, and some notes show the 2000 Mon Coeur as
> 80% Grenache/20% Syrah (the 2001 is 50/50). With a Syrah-master like Chave one
> might assume Syrah, but unlike the Voge CdR (his young Cornas vines), the Chave
> is a negociant wine. And mostly from vineyards in the South owned by his
> friends.

Thanks, Dale. I was just too lazy to Google for myself.

Mark Lipton

Dale Williams wrote:
> In article >, Mark Lipton >
> writes:
>
>>Sorry, but I have to ask: where do you find gunflint to smell in the first
>>place?
>
> Do you really want to delve into my sordid past? In my long ago teen years (25+
> years ago), I was more enamored of weaponry than Charlton Heston. Not only did
> I handload my own bullets and shotgun shells, but hung out with Rev War
> reenactors, gun buffs, etc. Not a smell you forget. I might be a Kerry voter
> now, but I'd be happy to challenge Dubya in the "things that go bang" category
> on Jeopardy.
>
Hi Dale,
Makes sense to me. Just fire (or dry-fire) your flintlock and the smell is
something you'll remember. Been there, done that.
On a curious note, is dubya something like booya - a concoction of various
meats, vegetables, and other (I don't want to know what else) stuff, and cooked
for "quite some time"? Even though I'm located in the midwest US, I've been
able to avoid booya all my life, and that's a good thing. :-)

Dick

>Take two pieces of >ordinary flint, knock them together as if trying to create
a spark (as is>done in a flintlock gun - hence the analogy) and then smell them
quick. I remember discovering that>the day Jacquie & I got married.


I hadn't realised that it took a shotgun to get you to the altar (nor that it
was back in the days of the flintlock.....;-)

>Take two pieces of >ordinary flint, knock them together as if trying to create
a spark (as is>done in a flintlock gun - hence the analogy) and then smell them
quick. I remember discovering that>the day Jacquie & I got married.


I hadn't realised that it took a shotgun to get you to the altar (nor that it
was back in the days of the flintlock.....;-)

Salut/Hi Bill Spohn,

le/on 15 Jul 2004 14:00:02 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

>>Take two pieces of >ordinary flint, knock them together as if trying to create
>a spark (as is>done in a flintlock gun - hence the analogy) and then smell them
>quick. I remember discovering that>the day Jacquie & I got married.
>
>
>I hadn't realised that it took a shotgun to get you to the altar (nor that it
>was back in the days of the flintlock.....;-)

Oh dear, oh dear, how unliberated you are.... it was to get Jacquie to the
altar!! And yes, we've been married a _very_ long time.


--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website

Salut/Hi Bill Spohn,

le/on 15 Jul 2004 14:00:02 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

>>Take two pieces of >ordinary flint, knock them together as if trying to create
>a spark (as is>done in a flintlock gun - hence the analogy) and then smell them
>quick. I remember discovering that>the day Jacquie & I got married.
>
>
>I hadn't realised that it took a shotgun to get you to the altar (nor that it
>was back in the days of the flintlock.....;-)

Oh dear, oh dear, how unliberated you are.... it was to get Jacquie to the
altar!! And yes, we've been married a _very_ long time.


--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website

>Last up, a half-bottle of the 1996 Karl Lawrence Cabernet Sauvignon. Vanilla
>and blackcurrant on the nose. Sweet dark fruits, lots of toasty oak,
>chocolately finish. Pretty decent example of California Cab, I was actually
>glad we were done eating, it kind of made a nice dessert. B/B+

Was this dessert-like because of the sweet fruit or because it was good enough
to drink on it's own? I've found a lot of the better California Cabs from 1996
display an abundance of cassis and chocolate. I felt that the tannin structure
of the 96's would allow for a decent cellar life and most that I'm drinking now
are drinking well with a number of years of fruit left.
Bi!!