With assorted hors d'ouvers and a roasted chicken dish, we had the '04 Clos Roche Blache, PIF, Touraine(Louis Dressner Importer, $14 @ Crush in Manhatten, in the 40's as I remember). This is Malbec and very well made, at 12% ABV it is immenently drinkable, with lots of dark berries. The store seemed a little pricey so I picked this out and was not disappointed.
Last night, with grilled dove(our season opened last week), we had the '05 Brouilly, Domaine de Grand Croix from Duboeuf. Seems to live up to the hype of the '05 vintage. After 15 minutes of air this opened to a complete Beaujolais with earth, raspberries, dark cherries and a nice finish. A steal at $12 before discounts. Apparently most of these '05 Cru Beaujolais are again stunning values.
Tonight with tabouleh and grilled shrimp we had several Roses that worked well with the dish. From Librandi, the '05 Ciro Rosato(a Locasssio import), this seemed to be a complete Rose, light red fruit, with some correct austerity, and very nice with crostinni and the main dish as well. The Lamothe-Vincent '05 Bordeaux Rose had a touch of sweetness brought out by the dish but was under control (50% Cab Franc & 50% Cab Sauv). Both of these wines should last 2-3 years. Locassio seems to have a nice stable of roses from Italy and Spain worth checking out, their Regaliali '05 La Rose was out top wine in a recent tasting of 21 pinks.
Finished with an exploratory bottle of the '02 Rollan de By, Medoc, just to get a feel of this vintage, and not expecting much. This seem to be a nice wine and an early drinker. Maybe another year or so would not hurt, but it was a lush showy Bdx with black cherries, dark fruit, and earth that settled down a bit after an hour in the glass.