So Saturday night a few friends gathered for a bit of a communal dinner. I had volunteered for main course duty, Dana had requested seafood, so when Anne and Al picked me up, I had made my Veracruz sauce and had the dressed snappers in a pan. We arrived, and fish were sauced and went into oven. I kept my mouth shut as the white intended for the Huachinango Veracruz was opened and disappeared before we sat down. OK, I confess, I did my part of making the 2006 Bruna Riviera "Le Russeghine" Pigato (Ligure di Ponente) disappear (if you can't beat em, join em). Citrus fruits, herbs, some minerally notes. Medium weight, good acidity, long finish. A delightful bottle, even if not intended as an apertif (with a good liver mousse and a truly terrible vegan pate). B+/A-
A bottle of Liberty School Chardonnay came my way, but I think it had been open for a while. I hope so, while I like funky cheese, I don't like funky cheese smells in my Chardonnay, let's assume this was due to being open a while. Flawed, NR
The replacement was the 2007 Ch. St Jean Chardonnay (Sonoma). Vanilla and toasty oak, sweet pear fruit, a little movie theater "butter", not my style of Chardonnay, and definitely not what I would want with the snapper. C+
My red did ok with the snapper, the 2002 Gabriel Billard Bourgogne.
Red cherry and raspberry fruit, moderate acidity, a little earth. Not especially long or complex, but much better for my tastes than the Chardonnays! B/B-
My WOTN however was the 2007 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett (opened when I got home). I know some regard this as a bit of a weak link in the Donnhoff line, but I usually really like, and this is one of my all-time favorites. Racy, green apples and citrus, an intense slately minerality, a Nahe for MSR fans. Excellent length and concentration for a Kabinett, I'm quite happy to have bought a case (a rarity for me). Even better on Sunday night, the acids providing vivid counterpoint to the bright sugars. A-
While Betsy was gone, my job was to try and clean out some things she would never cook. I'm not sure exactly how we ended up with a "dirty rice mix" (just add meat), but I stopped her from throwing out last week. Made it Sunday and had with some leftover veggies. Everyone know the only thing to have with dirty rice is pink just off-dry frizzante, right? Well, maybe not, but with summer gone I wanted to drink up the Zucchi Lambrusco di Sorbara (Rosato), Billed as a rosato, but color of a light red. There's just a hint of RS, bright cranberry and raspberry fruit, light bubbles. A little Angostura bitters meets anise herby note. Interesting wine. 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.