We had four families over yesterday for some pool play, hamburgers, hotdogs, short ribs, and all the fix’ns. I have a few minutes so I’ll jot my thoughts down for several of the bottles that I opened for the thirsty parents 
.
2005 Soter Brut Rosé: A little something to get the nose perked up for everyone. Lovely bubbles here - I had everyone swirl and smell before tasting. The nose really jumped out of the glass with chalky cherry, hints of grass, and lovely levels of citrus laced acidity. Refreshing and clean.
2011 Domaine Charles Audoin Bourgogne Rosé Marsannay: All of the wines were chilled appropriately to really make them gulpable. This is a fine rose with plenty of pretty soft strawberry and balanced acidity/minerality. An overall wonderful summer rose here - loved it! We went through two of these bottles
2010 Domaine Bruno Clair Bourgogne Rosé Marsannay: The color here was a shade or two deeper when compared to the Audoin. Darker soft cold raspberry aromas, wild strawberries, pretty floral stuff here. A more serious rose here that was better the colder it was served. Many of the ladies liked this more than the Audoin.
2011 Château de Pibarnon Bandol Rosé: What a showing for this one - I need to buy more of this. Serious stuff and gained complexity as it sat in the glass and warmed a bit. There’s an extra layer of everything here it seemed - lovely and balanced fruit profile!
2011 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé: This one didn’t impress as much as the Pibarnon did - for me at least. Softer structure here with soft strawberry and clean/refreshing acidity. More floral aromatics here - also loved it. The first one of these was corked - the second brilliant.
2007 Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos: Crisp and rich - served extra cold. Lots of cool yellow orchard fruits here - salinity - touches of ripe apples. There’s some nice creamy citrus fruit here that everyone seemed to be drawn to. A nice showing - seemed perfectly mature.
2010 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis 1er Cru La Forest: Also served on the cold side - yummy! This is a fabulous and complex sharp little Chablis. Lots of savory acidity and cold pear fruit - saline laced chalk. Everyone commented on how refreshing this was - especially those digging into a burger at the time .
2011 Sebastien Dampt Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos: This also showed really good - maybe just a bit under the crisp Dauvissat if I were to rank them. Richer stuff going on here - touches of tropical fruit cream, minerality, and cold apples. A nice wine for sure and will open another in a couple of weeks to check in on it again.
2005 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis Grand Cru Clos des Hospices: Seemed extra “round” in personality when compared to the others - it did go great with my home made coleslaw though . Not pre-moxed for sure - natural all the way… There are certain Chablis producers that I like with more age on them but in general I love my Chablis in the 5-7 y.o. range I think.
1974 Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve: One of my friends over with his family is a '74er also so I had to grab something for him to go with the short ribs. What a great showing - hints of dill, tobacco, cassis, and clove. Resolved tannins - soft black fruits that really extend in the mouth. There are plenty of creamy fruit here that shows some very classy secondary notes - loved it.
Instead of digging into ice cream like the kids were - the adults asked me if I could get a few things for them to sip on.
2005 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Beerenauslese (375ml): Got this chilled down quick - this was AWESOME. Refreshing levels of acidity propped up the backbone of this wine - balanced. Quince fruit, lime honey, lots of minerality. Really extends in the mouth with a wonderful acid profile. Everyone loved it!
1976 Freiherr Heyl zu Herrnsheim Niersteiner Rehbach Riesling Beerenauslese (750ml): Nice and cold when served - the cork was a bit hard to pop out but I managed. This was full of cinnamon cream, soft tropical fruits, ripe peaches. Adequate levels of acidity here but seemed a wee bit to “thick” - really stood out and rich which is a good thing if put into a different setting.
CHEERS and hope you had a great holiday weekend!
.