TN: 2 Good Loire Whites, 1 Good Cali Syrah
 

I had a board meeting Tues, ate a little beforehand, but afterwards
Betsy had brought me home some sashimi, which I had with 2009 Rene
Mosse Anjou Blanc, A bit rounder/riper than I remembered from Dressner
tasting , but stll a lovely Chenin, sweet apple fruit accented with
honeysuckle and wool notes. I quite enjoyed, but this did poorly
overnight, seemed oxidized and tired on day 2. But B+/B on opening.

Wed was a great salad with fried Meyer lemons, trumpet royale
mushrooms, and calamari, wine was the 2009 Thomas-Labaille "Les Monts
Damnes" Sancerre. Bright, citrus, lighter than the Cotats I've been
slurping lately, but a clean, mineral, and refreshing SB. B+

Thursday I went to village court to fight a parking ticket (my time
was worth more than $20, but "principle of the thing"). After I won
Betsy came downtown to try a new restaurant, Harpers. She had a great
starter of brussels sprout leaves with guanciale and egg, I had an
equally good duck liver ravioli dish. My chicken with peas and
asparagus was very good, the only issue with meal was Betsy's duck
breast was more medium than medium rare (but a nice salad with
pomegranite and sprouts). Wine list is all American, with some
interesting choices and reasonable markups, I chose a 2008 Arnot-
Roberts Syrah (North Coast), based on comments on the wine intertubes.
Glad I did, a very nice restrained Syrah. Clean blackberry and
raspberry fruit, a light green note - more green olive than herb.
Sprightly rather than bulky. Bright, food friendly, good length and
quite enjoyable. Score one for the nattering nabobs of the winewebs! 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.

TN: 2 Good Loire Whites, 1 Good Cali Syrah
 

DaleW wrote:
> I had a board meeting Tues, ate a little beforehand, but afterwards
> Betsy had brought me home some sashimi, which I had with 2009 Rene
> Mosse Anjou Blanc, A bit rounder/riper than I remembered from Dressner
> tasting , but stll a lovely Chenin, sweet apple fruit accented with
> honeysuckle and wool notes. I quite enjoyed, but this did poorly
> overnight, seemed oxidized and tired on day 2. But B+/B on opening.

Interesting, Dale. I don't recall it being particularly ripe at that
tasting, either.

>
> Wed was a great salad with fried Meyer lemons, trumpet royale
> mushrooms, and calamari, wine was the 2009 Thomas-Labaille "Les Monts
> Damnes" Sancerre. Bright, citrus, lighter than the Cotats I've been
> slurping lately, but a clean, mineral, and refreshing SB. B+

I was just eying that wine in CSW on Wed. I might just have to pick one up.

>
> Thursday I went to village court to fight a parking ticket (my time
> was worth more than $20, but "principle of the thing"). After I won
> Betsy came downtown to try a new restaurant, Harpers. She had a great
> starter of brussels sprout leaves with guanciale and egg, I had an
> equally good duck liver ravioli dish. My chicken with peas and
> asparagus was very good, the only issue with meal was Betsy's duck
> breast was more medium than medium rare (but a nice salad with
> pomegranite and sprouts). Wine list is all American, with some
> interesting choices and reasonable markups, I chose a 2008 Arnot-
> Roberts Syrah (North Coast), based on comments on the wine intertubes.
> Glad I did, a very nice restrained Syrah. Clean blackberry and
> raspberry fruit, a light green note - more green olive than herb.
> Sprightly rather than bulky. Bright, food friendly, good length and
> quite enjoyable. Score one for the nattering nabobs of the winewebs! B
> +

Thanks for this note, too. We had the '09 of this at the winery in
March and really liked it. I'm glad to see that the '08 is doing well.

Mark Lipton

Thanks for this article. It is very useful, hope you will share with us more.