TN: poor 2001 MSR, good 2002 Burg QPR, decent Hirsch
 

Thursday David and I had some of his Japanese/Hawaiian grandmother's
porkribs, and I had the 2001 St. Urbans-Hof Ockfener Bockstein
Kabinett (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer). I had pretty good expectations- I like
the producer, I like the vineyard, I like the vintage. But this came
across bland and lifeless- sweet peach fruit , but even though there's
acidity there it seems flat. No real mineral notes, I struggle to find
something interesting about this, to no avail. Next night no real
improvement. It seems to me there's 3 possibilities (4, when you count
the fact my palate stinks):
1) This is a mediocre wine. Maybe, but I think I liked on release.
2) I've seen reports on lots of 2001s being closed down. This might be
the case, though usually by day 2 a sleeping wine seems to wake up
partially.
3) I noticed the tag from a Millwood retailer I no longer shop at. Too
many cooked bottles.
This particular bottle gets a C+/C, but it might be option #3 at work.

Friday my little village had their traditional Halloween parade, where
hundreds of kids trick or treat the downtown businesses. After giving
out thousands of pieces of candy, I headed home exhausted. David was a
away and Betsy was working, and there was nothing in fridge. So I
heated one of David's frozen pizzas (so sue me). With it, a 375 of the
2002 Faiveley Côte de Beaune Villages. Bright cleanly delineated red
berry fruit, light-bodied but still showing some concentration. Nice
acidity to make it food friendly, but without any over-acidic
tartness. This isn't a profound Burg, but it's really a delight for a
$10 half; I immediately ordered more. It's been a while since I
subscribed to a wine publication, but I recently subscribed to Claude
Kolm's Fine Wine Review (excellent newsletter if interested in Burgs,
Piemonte, Germany), where I think he described this wine as lacy.
Great way to sum it up. B+

Sunday I grilled pork tenderloins, with a mojo sauce from the new
Gourmet cookbook; broccolli & acorn squash on the side. The citrus
sauce made me wary of using a pricey wine, we went for the 2003 Hirsch
Veltliner #1. Stelvin! Nice easy fruity wine, enough acidity not to
be TOO juicy, decent QPR at $9. Green apples and a bit of tropical
fruit. 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