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A well deserved lunch to kick off the weekend !
Ribeye steaks with homemade fresh truffle, bone marrow and roasted garlic butter.
Paired with a very decent Barolo from the unloved 2011 vintage.
All you want from a Barolo, some evolution and development plus plenty of freshness and tannin. Very robust and pleasurable wine 
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@Rafa - your food and wine both look and sound delicious !
No complaints whatsoever with this here tonight either.
A Ridge ‘East Bench’ Zinfandel 2014.
Despite being at the end of TWS drinking window and a year beyond the advice on the label it’s still in a very good place.
A bright red purple colour with nothing in the way of bricking or browning to cause concern. Ripe bramble berry and blackcurrant fruit seasoned with clove, cinnamon and pepper spice and a touch of polished leather on the nose. Similar notes on the ripe and intensely flavoured palate which apart from some leathery tertiary notes retains plenty of primary fruit and spicy integrated oak flavour. Resolved tannins and fresh acidity* provide elegant structure and an easy to drink balance and there’s good length on the, pour another glass, finish.
*the list of ‘ingredients’ on the label, and fair play to them for actually doing so, admits to the addition of tartaric acid and 0.27% water.
All the best for the weekend everyone.
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Adding my entry 
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Meandering south now, first stop the Lapin Liha outlet in Rovaniemi for a choice selection of frozen vac-packed reindeer meat; these being packs of two fillets for about £12; not too bad !; thence towards the Baltic coast and resting up at an automated campsite just south of Oulu. En route a welcome stop-off and leg-stretch in Oulu itself for a beer and a Poropiirakka ( which is a reindeer version of the traditional snack Karelian pie; appears to be a wholemeal pastry crust, cold creamed rice base, and a cream cheese with reindeer bits layer, topped with a slice of smoked reindeer)
Just south of Oulu we’re parked for the night and made culinary use of a bag of Finnish girolles / chanterelles, creamed and parsleyed on toast with a half decent b-i-b Californian pinot, which at €33.50 for 3l works out at about £7.40 a bottle which is Not Too Bad considering.
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Phew, end of a looong week. So, Campari and soda to start, my aperitif of choice
And then a Dom de la Soufrandise Pouilly Fuissé VV 2017. Lovely nose of vanilla, coconut, maybe some struck match. Quite full and a nice balance of acidity with the creaminess from the oak. Some sweetness as well. Not especially long however, but satisfying and welcome.
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Well finally home after drive back from Hull ferry to Fife, Scotland. Decided to open one of the Seefeld Spar €11.50 purchases. I know this will not match the first wines this community goes on about but brilliant intense lemon with a hint of peach and grapefruit with plenty acidity to complement the salmon fillets we had.
I am finding this community deadly to both bank balance and storage challenges because I can see a serious need after my holiday to acquire some Schloss Gobelsberg and Brundlmayer wine.
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After the chat earlier about the the latest 874 EP, I couldn’t get my mind off opening my penultimate bottle of the 2013. Still tasting great. Definitely a step up on the Alberdi/Exhibition Rioja and just below the stunning Ardanza.
This is a great example of TWS at its best for offering such a great wine.
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It does seem to have been a long week, and I’m very thankful that it’s Friday. I cooked some cod marinaded in miso butter, on creamed savoy cabbage, with bacon and a caper and gherkin beurre blanc, and I opened a bottle of Dirler-Cadé Riesling, 2017.
There’s not much to add to what I’ve written many times about this wine. Tense, vertical, saline, zesty, mineral, light and intense all at once. Super-classy.
Hope everyone has a good weekend.
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Vina Zorzal Graciano 2020, opened a couple of hours back and just poured.
Glows in the glass. Subdued nose (so far), lots of red cherry on the palate and very long. Would have guessed it was stronger than the 13.5 on the label - nicely warming on the way down.
A very nice but uncomplicated wine.
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That’s very good for about £10 ib!
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I was looking for chat about this EP, but can’t see it, for some reason. I am subscribed to the EP group 
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No chat in any EP group. It all started randomly in a chat about the site not working this morning, you haven’t missed anything but if you want to chat about it start a thread or add a comment to the Rioja thread.
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Ok, thank you, FOMO averted 
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Glad I still have six of this vintage in Reserves, which I’ll withdraw as soon as I have space… Some time around 2026
Opened an Exhibition Rheingau Riesling 2020 tonight. Very aromatic, fresh, fruity, paired well with chicken and kimchi fried rice.
Then I thought I’d try a glass of Moulin St Georges 2002, which I’m planning to have with a sirloin chop tomorrow. As I may have previously mentioned I took a punt on 12 of these a couple of years ago and I’ve enjoyed them more and more. Fully mature and soft. A great purchase.
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This was a gift from my very eco-minded BiL, I think from Vintage Roots. Rien de rien, Grinou, from the Perigord. Don’t think I’ve ever had a white from there before. Sauvignon- Semillon. Somehow this seemed surprising but it’s not a million miles from Bordeaux, so it shouldn’t be a surprise at all. I hoped it would be a good match for some mussels.
A powerful, peach and lemon sweet nose carries through on to the palate, but the most striking thing about it is the ‘soft’ mouthfeel, with none of the zing or bite I was expecting. A short and rather empty finish. Quite interesting but not one I’d seek out again.
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I’m thinking this is the same Grinou family from just outside of Bergerac … I’ve visited them twice … great wine
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Domaine de la Noblaie Chinon, Les temps des cerises 2020.
Cherry time by name, cherry time by nature. This is Loire Cab Franc at its refreshing, tart fruited, slightly vegetal/sous boise/leafy best. Lots of cherries on the nose and palate, leading into some very well balanced leafiness, then more lingering graphite on the finish. Even the colour is black cherry!
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My usual mix of excitement and trepidation, when broaching bottle one of a wine bought EP back in the day, was even more elevated this evening. I should probably add I was surprised to receive an allocation too.
So, a Saint-Joseph 2013, Pierre Gonon.
A vibrant medium crimson colour with a watery rim in the glass. Black cherries, liquorice, dried flowers and smoked bacon on the savoury nose. All of which, plus a touch of tapenade, carryover onto the fresh and deeply flavoured palate. Sourly ripe black cherry fruit and fresh acidity hit the palate initially before its savoury complexity and firm tannins become apparent on the mid-palate and finish. No doubt, due to its reputation, I’m giving it more thought than usual but there’s no escaping the fact it’s a thoroughly engaging and characterful wine.
As for food, I couldn’t have wished for a better match to my steak and chips meal.
Incidentally, the dry aged AA sirloin, courtesy of Waitrose, was equally compelling. As I’m not an adventurous cook, no doubt, the rest of the case will be paired with something similar !
Edit - by the way, the steak is topped with caramelised red onions and not quite as charred as it might appear. 
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Decided to go Australian tonight. Leeuwin estate has a terrific reputation. This Shiraz has a much more northern Rhone structure than those of Barossa valley. The tannins are a very fine velvet. The black fruit has a very thin coating of brightness and a steel like sheen that coats the fresh blackberry/ blackcurrant fruit.
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