We were disappointed the river jazz concert was moved inside, but the rain broke long enough for me to grill Cornish hens with a lemon/spice marinade. Wine was the 2007 Boulay Chavignol Sancerre, really a lovely expression, medium to light bodied, bright grapefruit, chalky notes. Just a hint of gooseberry, excellent length, very enjoyable. B+/A-
With pasta with a lobster tail/tarragon pink sauce 1999 Ellner "Seduction" Brut Champagne. Bigger, fuller, yeastier style of Champagne. Maybe atad coarse. B/B-
Friday we went to a potluck, a day early but we did our traditional reading of the Declaration (I blew my first try of pronouncing "usurpations"!) and enjoyed some great food -burgers, dogs, steak sandwiches, wings, assorted salads, ham, and seafood salad with grilled squid, shrimp and halibut (Betsy's offering). The hosts are AA, but welcomed us to bring wine and beer. I tried:
white
2007 Sciarpa Pinot Grigio
I thought the prosecco from this producer wasn't bad, but found this short, sweet, and uninteresting. C/C+
2007 Drouhin St Veran
Once again, clean, forward, brisk acids. Apples, citrus, soil. Great value. B+
2008 Anakena Sauvignon Blanc (Central Valley, Chile)
Grapefruit and grass, slightly sweet, rather short. B-
2007 Hogue Riesling
off dry, pear, vanilla, and ginger, low acid, not great but maybe ok for its (I assume) cheap price. C+
pink
2008 Houchart rose (Cotes de Provence)
clean, fresh, strawberries, not bad. B-
red
2005 Root 1 Cabernet Sauvignon
Cough syrup, weedy, herbal, others liked more than I. C
2007 Giovanni Rosso "Le Quattro Vigne" Dolcetto d'Alba
Good berry fruit, ripe tannins, low to medium acids. pretty good. B
2002 Franciscan Oakville Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Black currants and red plums, some vanilla/oak issues, moderate length, soft. A revisit shows mostly oak. I expected this to be a tad better. B-
Happy 4th to all in US!
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.