WTN: 2 Loires- still white, bubbly pink

Wednesday Betsy opened the 2007 Domaine de la Pepiere (Ollivier) "Clos des Briords" Muscadet as a cooking wine. I had a glass when I got in. Lean but clean, citrus, saline minerality. Good, but a glass last night when I got in from a board meeting was better- it seemed broader yet retained good cut, the fruit more expansive, some oystershell meets wet rock minerality on the finish. Excellent wine, B+/A-

The dinner was lamb korma and aloo sag (with collards and kale in addition to spinach). The lamb was fragrant but not aggressively spiced, I considered spicy red, off-dry, white, and rose, but finally Betsy chose sparkling rose from the options I presented. I always like the NV Pinon Touraine Rose- excellent acidity, somewhat reserved petillance, a pleasant little hint of bitters to the cranberry/raspberry fruit. On Thursday night it had lost most of its effervesense, but was still quite interesting. 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. 

Wednesday Betsy opened the 2007 Domaine de la Pepiere (Ollivier) "Clos des Briords" Muscadet as a cooking wine... 

Such extravagance! The stuff is so delicious I would have a hard time cooking with it, even if it isn't very expensive.

And I usually cook with wines that have been opened from the night before and didn't get finished for whatever reason.

Wednesday Betsy opened the 2007 Domaine de la Pepiere (Ollivier) "Clos des Briords" Muscadet as a cooking wine... 

Such extravagance! The stuff is so delicious I would have a hard time cooking with it, even if it isn't very expensive.

And I usually cook with wines that have been opened from the night before and didn't get finished for whatever reason.

Rahsaan, that was what I was about to say!!

Down here, where such wines are scarce and expensive, the luxury of being able to do this seems even greater!

Opinions probably vary, but I read somewhere recently that using first class wine for cooking is recommended because it does produce better results, i.e., it doesn't all just blow off and become alcohol.

My general feeling is that any sound wine is ok for cooking, with the exception of a few vinocentric recipes where I think the character of the wine shows through (and then I still don't use expensive wines). I also use leftovers from night before (if not used in a couple of days, I now have a white vinegar crock as well as red).

In this case she needed a cup, and we only had a couple ounces of Matrot leftover. She went to the cellar, where there is a rack of "drink without fear of Dale being disappointed." She called me with choices (Briords, Pinon Tradition, and a Chassagne). The Briords was cheapest, and one I had most of. I've gotten some great closeout/blowout deals on some inexpensive reds recently (Chiantis, mini-Tuscans, CdR, WA Syrah, Bdx for $5-10 bottle), so am in great shape when she needs red cooking wine. But some $4 Macon & $7 Dr L (offdry in any case) last year were last great deals on cheap white. My goal for this week is to acquire some under $10 whites that I don't mind drinking.

Opinions probably vary, but I read somewhere recently that using first class wine for cooking is recommended because it does produce better results, i.e., it doesn't all just blow off and become alcohol.

Sure. I've never advocated using rancid wine. Of course Dale's cellar is probably a lot bigger than mine so he probably has a different attitude about opening bottles. I usually use technically sound wine but stuff that I didn't want to finish because it was too boring.