Pinot Noir vintage "wars"

With Passover starting today and Easter a few days away, I should probably pick one or the other - or both - religious holidays to give a few wine pointers about. But today I'm inspired to go a different route; so if it was  holiday wine you were hoping for my musings about,  I hope instead you'll use this as an opportunity to get your own feet wet in your local shop (if you haven't already - tisk, tisk!) and see what your local buyer might recommend. (A Riesling or Gewurtztraminer for your Ham dinner, perhaps? Or maybe you're having lamb and need a dynamic red blend from the Cote du Rhone or even California? But I digress...) We've been tasting a bunch of Pinot Noir again lately at the shop. (A tough job, but someone has to do it!) We usually get on the Pinot tasting wagon around the winter holidays because it pairs so well with Thanksgiving dinner and is often a special selection at Christmas. Well, it turns out we're at this crazy point in the year where two vintages are available: the 2006 vintage is still perfectly delicious, but the 2007's are starting to get a bit more of a 'push' from salesmen.  Just this week Wine Spectator magazine reported the same thing via Monday's Tasting Highlights article. And so here I am telling my own tale in the very, very informal "battle of the Pinots".

First, let's remember each vintage in each (sub)region of the world is unique. I recommend Googling various grapes and regions for vintage reports particular to a given year - and then reading a myriad articles for greater perspective on the lay of the land. Second, please, please remember good wine can be made in a bad year. That's what we call winemaker expertise.  (Of course, pretty much anyone can make good wine in a good year.) Finally, each individual wine sings its own tune. So ultimately, you have to taste to know.

By point of reference, I found 2006 largely produced a solid batch of domestic Pinot Noirs. Of course there were some hits, some homeruns (go Pedroia and Varitek! ahem, sorry...) and some horrible misses. But for the most part, the wines are solid across the board. You simply need to know what style you prefer (ligher, earthier, meatier/fleshier, coca cola or beets, etc.) and ask your wine buyer which one is likely to suit your palate - but I argue 2006 Pinots largely don't suck.

The 2007s, on the other hand, struggled out of the gates last fall. It was a rainy year here in the States, with varying results depending on when the grapes were harvested and how badly the rains fell in a given (sub)appellation. When we started tasting through these wines in anticipation of Christmas last fall, many were a bit rough around the edges, still tight and green and a bit disjointed, showing very little fruit at all. We suspected they just needed some time to 'settle in' and would improve in as little as six months.

Wouldn't you know,  it's been just about that time? Today, with some bottle time under its belt, the O'Reilly's Pinot Noir is more reminiscent of its fan-favorite 2006 counterpart; the Siduri '07 Pinots are absolutely sudductive; the '07 Dobbes Family Estates Assemblage Cuvee (and their less expensive offering under the "Wine by Joe" label) are solid, solid wines; and.... the list goes on!

This Wednesday I encourage you to get out and about and try your own grouping of Pinots from both vintage years (whichever part of the world you prefer) and see which strikes your fancy!

Have you had your own 2006 vs. 2007 Pinot Noir taste-off yet? Were they from the same vineyard, or different selections all together? Tell us your impressions!

Neighborhood charmer: wine find & more right next door

How many times have you driven or walked by a quaint little place in your neighborhood and never popped in? Sometimes the greatest gems are right in your backyard. And yet often enough we find ourselves wanting to get "out" and end up exploring elsewhere.  Funny creatures we are.... Well, I've learned my lesson. Pop on over to Wicked Local today to learn more about my adventures closer to home - and find out about a pretty great Pinot Noir to boot!

Wines for fall: don't forget about white blends!

White wines aren't just a summer thang. (One of the best turkey wines is actually Pinot Gris from Alsace or Oregon!) And this time of year it can be really fun to expand your white wine horizons by looking into fabulous white blends. Think of old favorites like Evolution 9. Conundrum. Luna Freakout. The list goes on and on! The trick is finding fun white blends that have a little extra oomph to get you through the colder nights. A little residual sugar might not hurt either (think Anne Amie Cuvee Amrit!). Since last week we talked about the awsome red blend SNAFU put out by the Local Wine Company, its only fair for me to let you in on the goodness that is their white wine blend: '06 JuneHog Oregon White. Yum. Oh wait, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself...

Ever heard of Mueller Thurgau? Mueller is another one of the man-made varietals we've talked about lately. Back in the late 19th Century Dr. Thurgau created this hybrid varietal. His goal was to create a grape with the intensity of Riesling but with the ability to ripen earlier; he used Sylvaner to achieve the latter.  He didn't quite get an A+ on his project, but he didn't do too badly either. Mueller wines are fruity, but low in acidity. They are medium sweet, too, and very smooth.  This varietal makes up the greatest component of the JuneHog, coming in at 33% of the wine's juice.

The next largest component of the JuneHog is Gewurtztraminer, or the "spicy white grape" that actually got its start in Traminer, Italy, but happens to have a German name. Go figure! Gewurtz is sweet, spicy, fruity, full-figured and has gorgeous floral aromas. (Trade "secret": Gewurtz is actually sweeter than Riesling!) This grape brings 22% of the juice to the JuneHog blend.

The third largest component of this fun blend is Pinot Gris (21%). Recall from earlier posts Pinot Gris is the genetic mutant of Pinot Noir. Alsatian-style Pinot Gris is full bodied and offers ripe-fruit sweetness on the palate.  These wines are down right lovely on their own, let alone in a blend!

Pinot Blanc clocks in at 16% of the June Hog blend, which gets finished off with just a touch of Riesling (5%, if I've done the math right). I'm not sure how much time we've spent on Pinot Blanc together. But the thing to know is when winemakers don't oak it, or stir it on the lees or otherwise "interfere" with it, PB offers terrific apple and almond flavors. As such, it can be one of the softest yet lightest (read: high acid) white wines on offer. A treat on their own and perhaps even better in some blends.

What do all these various components mean for the JuneHog experience? Let's put it this way: this is the wine I want to drink on a cool fall day when I'm sitting in my Adirondack chair on some beach or even on my front porch - glass of wine in hand, a blanket at the ready and my book propped on my lap. Something mouthfilling yet clean you don't have to think twice to enjoy. Warm sun, crisp air, relaxation. (Snacks optional - but with this wine you won't go wrong with the pairing you choose!)

What's your favorite fall white (blend) this year?

Much sadness: Oregon Pinot Pioneer Dies

Perhaps like you, earlier this week I learned the father of Pinot Noir in Oregon, David Lett of Eyrie Vineyards, passed away at the young age of 69. If you're familiar with the book Judgement of Paris or recently caught the Indie Film "Bottle Shock" you know a few Americans in the '70s went "to the mattresses" to prove the quality of New World wines, as compared with those in the Old World.  The story of their dramatic debut on the world's wine stage is noteworthy for many reasons. But first, in my mind, is what had to happen before they took their wines overseas. First they had to have the fire in the belly and the chutzpa to act: pioneers who took great risk in what Was Done and what was Not Done, to give birth to a much larger, global and hugely profitable industry.

David Lett was one of these men. In 1970 he and his wife planted the first Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir vines in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. (Today many of you appreciate the Willamette as the top Pinot Noir-producing region in the Pacific Northwest.) Just nine years later Lett showed his '75 South Block Reserve Pinot Noir in Paris at the Wine Olympiad, earning top praise and notoriety. The next year he did the same in Burgundy.

Today the rest is history, with 300 wineries in the Willamette alone producing tasty Pinot offerings. They pay homage to "Papa Pinot" Lett. And so should we all this sad week in particular. Appropriately, Mr. Lett's sons Jim and Jason (now lead in the fields and in the cellar) and his wife Diana plan to celebrate his life after the fall harvest.

What's your experience with Eyrie or Oregon Pinot? How are you taking this week's news?

unlock the magic this fall: alsatian-style pinot gris

Last week here in Beantown the weather went from gorgeous fall to stormy insanity. In some ways this is a wine buyer's dream. There's no other time of year where you can pick wines for the weekly tasting to straddle the warmer/colder, sunnier/rainier line and scratch almost every consumer's itch. And since there's so much new juice on the market, we can also introduce our customers to new products. See? There's always a silver lining (even when you now have a natural swimming pool in the backyard...)! But I'm jazzed about my topic for this Monday morning musing for another reason, too... remember last week we started talking about fall wine options? Well, for my white wine readers and gourd-lovers out there, I've also got some fall love to share!

Alsatian (style) Pinot Gris. Welcome to my happy place.

Let's start with a few basics. This grape is the genetic mutant of Pinot Noir. It looks almost the same as Pinot Noir (right on down to its leaves) but the grapes have a blue-grey hue. This is where it gets its name. Varietally speaking, Pinot Grigio is the same grape and simply the name used by Italian wine-makers. (This should remind you of the Shiraz (Australia/New World) vs. Syrah (France/Old World) conversation we had a few months back.)

Here's the thing. I don't like Pinot Grigio. Don't get me wrong. I know good quality Italian Pinot Grigio when I find it (so I'm happy to talk about it with those who do dig it), but it's not my personal bag. I find they are more often too thin and too high in alcohol to meet my palate's needs. I'm a sucker for bigger, fruitier whites, hence my appreciation of Pinot Gris. The Alsatian climate offers a warm, dry fall that allows the grapes to ripen fully; the grape's full, ripe sweetness is its tell-tale feature.  What's interesting is that Pinot Gris has become sweeter and sweeter in recent years, but often wine labels do not indicate any residual sugar remains. The CIVA (Comite Interprofessionnel du Vin d'Alsace) is trying to sort things out for consumers. The folks there are developing a system to help consumers navigate the range of Pinot Gris available, from sweeter to drier. (As you explore styles of Pinot Gris from Alsace, Oregon or elsewhere, be sure to ask your shop's wine manager what's what in any given bottle.)

Last week for our tasting we offered our customers a chance to experience the 2007 Helfrich Pinot Gris. For those who know what Alsace has to offer its Pinot Gris consumers, this wine sings true from start to finish. It is not a shy wine, offering a big, floral nose. It is equally rich and full in the mouth with the ripe fruit flavors carrying through to the palate. I was pleased to find the winemaker's notes accurately suggest the wine also offers a touch of smokey spice. It was a great wine to have at our tasting; many customers were surprised by the wine's sweeter edge. To me, the citrus and grass notes as well as its acidity impart a tremendous crispness to counter that effect and produce a well-balanced wine.

No surprise, I'm not the only one who is jumping on the Pinot Gris wine-writing bandwagon this fall. Katherine Cole took this topic for a test drive last week, in fact! I highly recommend checking out her musings and taking her up on her suggestions for other great Pinot Gris on the market. Oregon has been a hot bed for awesome Pinot Gris since the 1990's, with it really catching on in the last several years. Be sure to try a few offerings from that part of the world also as you investigate this versatally-styled wine. And definitely consider popping a cork when you concoct a fabulous dish of squash or pumpkin goodness this fall.

Which Pinot Gris do you fancy? What recipes do you find are great pairings?