Chinon

It's been awhile since I drank a Chinon so that situation was remedied over the last two days. The wine in question is a Charles Joguet 2005 Cuvee Terroir. It was going for $15 and when I walked by the shelf at the market it asked me to take it home. Not wanting to be inhospitable I did just that. I even let it rest for three or four days before pulling the cork.

Bright, tart cherries and barely ripe strawberries on the nose and the initial taste. That carried through to the finish. There may have even been a few red currants lurking in the background. Good palate cleansing acidity and some nice tannins on the finish, and the finish was of more than acceptable length. A very nice food wine for this price.

The first half (well, two thirds) was a nice match for some veal scallopini with tomatoes, mushrooms, lemon and parsley. The veal was served with some fresh, porcini tortellini that were tossed into the sauce at the last minute. The Chinon (cabernet Franc) was just wonderful with this dish.

The last third was great with some spice rubbed chicken thighs roasted at high heat in the oven. I think the wine was better the second day. It definitely had not deteriorated.

The phone call has been made and there are three more bottles of this wine reserved.

While speaking on the phone to the market I learned that this year's lobster fest is set for Saturday, May 24. The market charters a plane and flies in a huge load of live lobsters from either Maine or Nova Scotia at an extraordinarily great price. This will be my tenth anniversary with this event. It has become one of my favorite days of the year because I buy enough to feed family and good friends and everyone brings good wine. This year we have committed a Chablis, a Sancerre, an Albarino, two California Chardonnays and one Australian dry Riesling. Good friends, good wines and good food. Life doesn't get much better than that.

The photo below is a bowl of lobsters and sweet corn from a couple of years ago. Yes, I'm excited about this.