1) Jed Steele's Shooting Star, Aligote', 2003 (Washington State) - This is the inaugural wine for a fun new endeavor... A co-worker found a periodic table of wine grapes and I went ahead and bought it.  Now a group of co-workers are resolved to eventually find and try every type of grape on the list.  So once a week we are popping a bottle and trying it together.  Aligote' was chosen to be the 1st one.  I found this in Pamplenouse (spelling?) in Salem MA (looks like a neat place to find a variety of weird wines).  Anyway, when we all sipped it was apparent that many in our group knew much more of the wine lingo and maybe had more sensitive palettes than mine.  In general we all liked it - didn't find it offensive.  Personally, it reminded me of an unoaked chardonnay, and probably not because it's like a chardonnay but I think I recognized the lack of oaking.  When cold and straight from the bottle it was easy to drink.  As it warmed a little a touch of foxy came out, which isn't surprising since it's a lesser popular grape.  I wouldn't want to drink a warm glass of it.  Anyway, I don't know of another aligote' to compare it to so I'm simply going to call it a low average (5 out of 10).

2) Domaine Sainte Anne, Appelation Bourdeaux Controlee, 2005 (France) - Shopping in the store this bottle didn't stand out from the other bourdeaux's due to label, sign, or any other info I may normally base a choice on.  It was because it's "made from organic grapes" so I wondered how that region would do with organic.  I was quite surprised and I liked this more than I thought it would.  First, it does have that classic bordeaux blend taste (cab sav and merlot and who knows what else).  It's smooth and balanced with just a hint of acidity.  There is a factor I haven't leared to describe yet but I recognized it in the Coturri wines I tried which also were organic... a different flavor/texture/smell which seems to be a hallmark of organic.  And like the Coturri wines I find the flavor of this changes quickly so the day after opening is not the same experience as when the bottle first popped.  Note I decanted the 2nd glass of this and although it was still good I don't think decanting gave any advantage.  All in all it's not the best bourdeaux I tried but it's definitely upper average (6 out of 10).