TN: Good Picpoul, but a '90 Bdx is a minor disappointment

Wednesday Betsy was playing principal cello for "Tosca" ( which probably has the best solo cello pbuttages of any opera I can think of) for the first time. She went in early, and I fixed a quick dinner for those of us who were going to the performance. Cheese tortellini in a marinara sauce, with the 2004 Gaujal de St. Bon "Cuv=E9e des Dames" Picpoul de Pinet (Coteaux de Languedoc). Floral and citrus notes on the nose, clean bright orange and lemon fruit on the palate. A little hint of grbutt and oregano, a very nice light-bodied wine. The food was a bit much of it, though the bright acidity helped with the tomatoes in the sauce. The following night it showed credibly with lemon chicken. Very good QPR for $8ish. B (Betsy gets a solid A for her performance).

Friday Betsy was off, and it was supposed to be "date night". But David was sick, so a little less intimate than planned. Luckily he chose to have soup by TV while we ate in dining room. I grilled some dry-aged Porterhouses, Betsy made potatoes, a watercress salad, and red cabbage. I chose a recent acquisition, the 1990 Ch. Mazeris (Canon-Fronsac). In general I think of satellite Bdx and pebreast chateaux from 1990 as a group of overachievers, but this showed the faults of the vintage a bit more than most. I had this wine a few years ago, at the time it was a nice ripe mid-bodied Merlot that still needed to shed some tannins. Well, it had shed almost all of its tannins, and with very low acidity that left the fruit just standing by itself. Ripe-overripe blackberry and black raspberry fruit, with just a hint of roasted plum. A little bit of earth and forest floor, but the overripe (dare I say surmaturite?) notes dominate. B--C+

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. =20