As I am in city tonight, we decided instead of meatless Monday to do it Sunday. Plan was for artichokes and some soup from freezer. Then Betsy invited a friend and her daughters to dinner, so we decided to do a mushroom (cremini, shiitake, and dried chanterelle) risotto as well.

With a soup (not what we thought we were thawing, apparently squash with curry) and artichokes with a curry mayonnaise, the 2002 Trimbach "Cuvee Frederic Emile" Riesling. Young but giving, apple and lemony citrus fruit with a spine of acid, minerally finish, very good length. Very nice wine. B+/A-

With the mushroom risotto, the 2009 Bertagna "Le Village" Chambolle-Musigny.. Ripe, dense, some tannins, this doesn't especially say Chambolle to me. There's some unintegrated wood notes, time might help this, but I think maybe always more International Pinot Noir than Chambolle-Musigny. But it was cheap! B-/C+

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.

DaleW wrote:

> With a soup (not what we thought we were thawing, apparently squash
> with curry) and artichokes with a curry mayonnaise, the 2002 Trimbach
> "Cuvee Frederic Emile" Riesling. Young but giving, apple and lemony
> citrus fruit with a spine of acid, minerally finish, very good
> length. Very nice wine. B+/A-

That's good to hear, Dale, as I believe that I recently acquired some of
this wine (Crush or Envoyer, I forget which, had it for a very
attractive price). Are you planning on giving yours more age, assuming
that you have more of it?

As an aside, I have steadfastly avoided buying much '09 Burgundy, both
because of pricing and because of the merits of both years surrounding
it ('08 and '10). It's interesting to read others' notes about the
wines, though. As I have no experience with Bertagna, do you think that
the "International" character of the wine is due to the producer or the
year?

Mark Lipton

On Tuesday, March 6, 2012 2:52:12 AM UTC-5, Mark Lipton wrote:
> DaleW wrote:
>
> > With a soup (not what we thought we were thawing, apparently squash
> > with curry) and artichokes with a curry mayonnaise, the 2002 Trimbach
> > "Cuvee Frederic Emile" Riesling. Young but giving, apple and lemony
> > citrus fruit with a spine of acid, minerally finish, very good
> > length. Very nice wine. B+/A-
>
> That's good to hear, Dale, as I believe that I recently acquired some of
> this wine (Crush or Envoyer, I forget which, had it for a very
> attractive price). Are you planning on giving yours more age, assuming
> that you have more of it?
>
> As an aside, I have steadfastly avoided buying much '09 Burgundy, both
> because of pricing and because of the merits of both years surrounding
> it ('08 and '10). It's interesting to read others' notes about the
> wines, though. As I have no experience with Bertagna, do you think that
> the "International" character of the wine is due to the producer or the
> year?
>
> Mark Lipton

I have another 5 or so 02 CFEs, I think it will age well.

As to the Bertagna, it seemed more a case of oak and extraction than ripeness, so I'd guess producer. I don't usually buy Burgs from producers not on my short list, but it was $15 for a Chambolle from a more expensive than usual year, so I took a chance on a couple.