NYE & New Year's Day, mostly plonk Its good you napped New Years eve. If you work & partee you'll end up like me. I had a Clipper City yesterday(turned down Duetz & other spritzers as well as dessert wine from the Loire accompanying a home made triffle)---I had another stop & bagged it--one beer and 20 meds--I'm amazed I didn't run into Elvis......................... We took the redeye Fri evening from CA, arriving in NYC at 5 AM Sat. I don't sleep well on planes, so realized early on staying up till midnight for New Year's Eve wasn't going to work. We decided to skip the parties and have a nice quiet evening at home. Betsy got a whole red snapper, which she roasted with fennel (Rick Moonen recipe). I chose the 2004 Jean-Claude Thevenet Macon-Pierreclos. Clean chardonnay fruit, although maybe just the tiniest bit dilute. No sign of oak, a nice crisp Maconnais with a clean minerally finish. B-B+ New Years day we went to two parties. First had a nice spread of quiches, wraps, cheese, salads, and soup. Wines out included: 2001 Franz Karl Schmitt Niersteiner Hipping Riesling Spätlese (Rheinhessen) Some limey citrus over mostly apple fruit, good acidity, good finish. The fruit doesn't really seem to be showing its all, my guess is an awkward timing. B 2003 Montes (70% Cabernet, 30 % Carmenere) Good redcurrant and berry fruit, some light vanilla oak. Slightly awkward tannins, not very complex. If I had, I'd tuck away for a couple years to see if tannins integrate, but I wouldn't look for this. B- I tried not to eat too much before going to next party, but regretted it when we got there- a potluck with a lot of people who aren't really into food apparently. I did find some curried dishes that weren't bad, and tried a few wines: 2003 J & F Lurton "Les Bateaux" Syrah (Vin de Pays d'Oc) This is Syrah imitating California Merlot. Soft, red, innocuous, and anonymous. Very popular at party, I'm sure. Not challenging, but not offensive. B- 2003 Stone Cellars (Beringer) Merlot '03 Now this is plonk. If the Syrah was imitating CalMerlot, this CalMerlot was imitating Ch. ThamesEnbankment. No acidity, some sweetness, light but green tannins. Soft to the point of inconsequence. C-C- 2003 Cuevas de Castilla-Menade "Cuvee RS" Rueda Rather floral nose. Decent acidity for a 2003,the peach fruit is a little too much like canned peaches however- there's just a touch of that Del Monte sweetness. Drinkable, especially after the Merlot. B--C+ I kept looking at my simple Red Car and '00 Ch. Bel-Air, as well as a bottle of 2000 Barolo from a producer I didn't know & even Borsao, but felt it bad manners to open without hosts' invite when there were several open bottles on table. Hopefully my vinuous 2006 is better than its start. 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. 
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