With roast chicken, the 2014 Thivin Cote de Brouilly. Bright, light style with nicely tart raspberry & cranberry fruit. Straightforward, tasty and fun.. B/B+

Friday some littleneck clams , drinking/cooking wine was the 2014 Fresche Anjou (blanc). Fairly dry, light hints of Chenin wooliness, apple fruit. B

Then I went over to Rogers where our local group was to try Riojas.. Illness and family emergencies cut out group of 7 to 3. But the three of us had a good time (and enjoyed Rogers nice spread of charcuterie, cheeses, etc

2003 Lopez de Heredia €œGravonia€� Rioja blanco
Nutty edge (almond), pears with a little coconut, citrus zest, fuller style, good length. B+/A_

2010 Baron de Ley Rioja Reserva
American oak signature- dill and a little coconut. High acid, raspberry fruit, spicy. B/B+

2010 Muga Unfiltered Rioja Reserva
(is there a Muga Reserva that is filtered?) Largest scaled, a bit glossy, big black cherry fruit, some vanilla. B-

2001 Covila €œII€� Rioja Reserva
Fully mature, oak not as prominent, soft cherry fruit, pleasant. B/B-

Saturday was tuna steaks with the 1998 Ch. Vieux Fortin. Midbodied (on lighter side for a '98 RB), black plum and black currant, some cedar. Tannins mostly resolved, easy drinking St Emilion. B
(about half the bottle was left, tried again Sunday night, totally cracked up, went into vinegar crock. Decent wine, but not very typical for "98 RB)

Sunday night the hound joined Betsy and I hiking over the hill to some friends home for dinner.

Smoked clams and oysters, caponata
NV Evohe "X" Cava Brut Nature
This says Brut Nature, but I would have thought a fairly aggressive dosage. Sweet apple, lemon pith, a tad coarse and rather short. B-/C+

Dinner was rotisserie chicken (very good, I need to get a rotisserie attachment for my grill). sweet potato €œFries€�, green beans, salad

2003 Pesquier Gigondas
A bit raisiny, some "03 stewiness, still some tannin. C+

1997 Montiano
Red plum, ashtray, a little volatile, rather short. Past its prime. B-/C+

2012 Boxler Sylvaner
Gingered peaches, dry but with ripe fruit, good acids, nice length, I like more than the reds. B+/A-

Tonight roasted vegetable bibimbap, but no wine/

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. 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 in
:

> With roast chicken, the 2014 Thivin Cote de Brouilly. Bright, light
> style with nicely tart raspberry & cranberry fruit. Straightforward,
> tasty and fun. B/B+

I had the "Les Sept Vignes 2014" Cote de Brouilly Chateau Thivin last
monday in a restaurant in Morgon, no less.

What a little great wine, it went down so easily and with such a pleasure.
The perfect Monday night wine in my book.

s.

On Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 3:47:12 AM UTC+2, DaleW wrote:

> 2010 Baron de Ley Rioja Reserva
> American oak signature- dill and a little coconut. High acid, raspberry fruit, spicy. B/B+
>
> 2010 Muga Unfiltered Rioja Reserva
> (is there a Muga Reserva that is filtered?) Largest scaled, a bit glossy, big black cherry fruit, some vanilla. B-
>

You always have those godly wines that mortals never get a change to even see in real life, and suddenly you present notes of danish simpleton supermarket quelchers and "put it in the sauce" wines lol.

Michael Nielsen > wrote in
:


>>
>
> You always have those godly wines that mortals never get a change to
> even see in real life, and suddenly you present notes of danish
> simpleton supermarket quelchers and "put it in the sauce" wines lol.

Dale is spot on on both wines, as is usually the case. And both are
basically done in a very large production scale. Muga Reserva 2010 is
widely available in Europe and actually in Denmark:

https://www.vildmedvin.dk/muga-rioja-reserva-2010.aspx

Not that I think it is worth the hassle of chasing it down, even if it is
better than the ultra-boring Baron de Ley.

For me, at Muga, the interesting wine is Prado Enea which is more expensive
, though

On Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 10:03:15 AM UTC+2, santiago wrote:

> Not that I think it is worth the hassle of chasing it down, even if it is
> better than the ultra-boring Baron de Ley.
>

its available at all supermarkets in my town. Its ok but not at its price.Bordon, campillo and Riscal are better and cheaper.

Faustino reserva V is undrinkable in my opinion.

On Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 1:01:07 PM UTC+2, Michael Nielsen wrote:
> its available at all supermarkets in my town. Its ok but not at its price.Bordon, campillo and Riscal are better and cheaper.
>
> Faustino reserva V is undrinkable in my opinion.

ah it was baron de ley, not faustino V, but Id also never buy that. I only consider the gran reserva , if its on a really good sale as it costs the same as faustino GR, which is better.