Benton Lane 2006 Pinot Noir, a superb wine. I highly recommend it.
Bob
Friday, November 28, 2008
Post Thanksgiving Post - The Pinot Noir Wins!
Thanksgiving is over. We had a great time eating and drinking. The turkey dinner prepared by Mary was sumptuous. My brother James came over with my wife's brother's family, Manny, Laurinda, Mike and Matt, our grandson Jonathan was with us, in addition to our two sons Dave and Chris with Dave's finance, Angela, and Chris' girlfriend Danielle. We finished off six bottles of wine: an Argentinian Pulenta Malbec, an Australian Rosemount Shiraz, a California Zin, an Italian Barabara D'Asti dry red, a Pinot Grigio, and a Benton Lane Pinot Noir. We did some serious damage to a German Gewürztraminer, and a fabulous 1989 Urziger Wurzarten Riesling Auslese (thanks Eric).
The winner was by far the Benton Lane 2006 Pinot Noir. I was a tad surprised at the overwhelming positive response everyone had to the Pinot Noir. My brother James was effusive about the merits of the Pinot in context of dinner as was my wife and sister-in-law. I had doubts because Pinot is a delicate red that some people find wanting. I was overjoyed to see how well the Pinot was accepted and enjoyed. It was a perfect compliment to the turkey dinner.
Today we are all in our pajamas and reminiscing about a day well spent.
Bob
The winner was by far the Benton Lane 2006 Pinot Noir. I was a tad surprised at the overwhelming positive response everyone had to the Pinot Noir. My brother James was effusive about the merits of the Pinot in context of dinner as was my wife and sister-in-law. I had doubts because Pinot is a delicate red that some people find wanting. I was overjoyed to see how well the Pinot was accepted and enjoyed. It was a perfect compliment to the turkey dinner.
Today we are all in our pajamas and reminiscing about a day well spent.
Bob
Sunday, November 23, 2008
What is Meritage?
In my last post I extolled the merits of a 2005 Estancia Meritage. It struck me that many of the readers of this blog may not know exactly what a Meritage is. Briefly, a Meritage is a high quality blend modeled on French Bordeaux that was established in 1989 in the United States. It was an attempt to monitor and control the blending of wines. Most blended wines have one dominant wine that amounts to about 75% of the wine itself. But what about wines that don't possess such dominance? That's were Meritage (prounounced like heritage) comes in. A red Meritage is required to include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot but not in the 75% levels of traditional blends. These are all Bordeaux varieties. The wine must contain at least three of the wines I just mentioned. A white Meritage need only have Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.
One of the great things about Meritage is that it doesn't have to be highly aged to be of excellent quality. You can purchase a good Meritage, go home, open it and enjoy it for the evening. In addition, only 25,000 cases of Meritage can be produced from a specific vineyard in any one year. This is an important quality control measure that helps distinguish Meritage from the ubiquitous "red table wine" sold across the country.
If you want to read more about Meritage, there is a good article in the Washington Post from 2004 containing a nice review of Meritage, its history and present circumstances: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57082-2004Sep28.html.
Enjoy!
One of the great things about Meritage is that it doesn't have to be highly aged to be of excellent quality. You can purchase a good Meritage, go home, open it and enjoy it for the evening. In addition, only 25,000 cases of Meritage can be produced from a specific vineyard in any one year. This is an important quality control measure that helps distinguish Meritage from the ubiquitous "red table wine" sold across the country.
If you want to read more about Meritage, there is a good article in the Washington Post from 2004 containing a nice review of Meritage, its history and present circumstances: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57082-2004Sep28.html.
Enjoy!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Estancia
Hey Bloggers,
Just opened a 2005 Estancia Reserve Paso Robles Meritage. This is a truly excellent wine. It blends 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot, and 3% Malbec. The nose is full. The texture rich. The overtones are just magnificent, berries galore, even chocolate with a nice long fruit finish. I love the balance and medium fullness of the texture and structure. The Paso Robles area in California exhibits extremes in temperature that help create very distinctive wines. This wine proves the point. I suggest you get hold of this as soon as possible. Enjoy it.
Have any of you indulged in a good Estancia Meritage wine or any other Meritage? I am sitting at my computer now and dreaming of later today when I will imbibe a rich glass of this Meritage 2005.
Bob
Just opened a 2005 Estancia Reserve Paso Robles Meritage. This is a truly excellent wine. It blends 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot, and 3% Malbec. The nose is full. The texture rich. The overtones are just magnificent, berries galore, even chocolate with a nice long fruit finish. I love the balance and medium fullness of the texture and structure. The Paso Robles area in California exhibits extremes in temperature that help create very distinctive wines. This wine proves the point. I suggest you get hold of this as soon as possible. Enjoy it.
Have any of you indulged in a good Estancia Meritage wine or any other Meritage? I am sitting at my computer now and dreaming of later today when I will imbibe a rich glass of this Meritage 2005.
Bob
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Thanksgiving Wine and Food Pairing
Greetings,
Mary and I just got back from Young's Wine Store in Manhasset, Long Island. They were offering suggestions for wines paired with Turkey and other Thanksgiving delights. We purchased a semi-dry Vouvray 2005 Domaine Bourillon-Dorleans to start off the festivities. For dinner we will go with a few choices of both red and white. For the dark meat crowd there are some great choices. The first is a 2006 Oregon Benton Lane Pinot Noir. This has been one of my favorites over the years. It is medium bodied and compliments the meal perfectly. For those wanting a more robust experience I have both a Zin and a Malbec. The Argentinian Pulenta Malbec 2006 is full bodied with a pleasing sense of spice. I can't wait. There's also a Sin Zin 2004. Zins work perfectly with the wide variety of tastes at a Thanksgiving meal. The berry and plum flavors seem to enhance and augment turkey and stuffing. For the white meat crowd I have a dry Alsace Willm Gewurztraminer and California Frei Brothers medium bodied Chardonnay 2006 which has peach. pear and citrus aromas and overtones. Both are refreshing and hold up well against the many aromas, textures and tastes of the meal. Mary and I intend to end dinner with a Pindar Duck Walk Vineyards 2006 Blueberry Port served with chocolate.
I'm looking forward to a delightful Thanksgiving with Mary's fantastic meal and a grand choice of delicious and perfectly paired wines. Let me know your thoughts on Thanksgiving wine pairing.
Bob
Mary and I just got back from Young's Wine Store in Manhasset, Long Island. They were offering suggestions for wines paired with Turkey and other Thanksgiving delights. We purchased a semi-dry Vouvray 2005 Domaine Bourillon-Dorleans to start off the festivities. For dinner we will go with a few choices of both red and white. For the dark meat crowd there are some great choices. The first is a 2006 Oregon Benton Lane Pinot Noir. This has been one of my favorites over the years. It is medium bodied and compliments the meal perfectly. For those wanting a more robust experience I have both a Zin and a Malbec. The Argentinian Pulenta Malbec 2006 is full bodied with a pleasing sense of spice. I can't wait. There's also a Sin Zin 2004. Zins work perfectly with the wide variety of tastes at a Thanksgiving meal. The berry and plum flavors seem to enhance and augment turkey and stuffing. For the white meat crowd I have a dry Alsace Willm Gewurztraminer and California Frei Brothers medium bodied Chardonnay 2006 which has peach. pear and citrus aromas and overtones. Both are refreshing and hold up well against the many aromas, textures and tastes of the meal. Mary and I intend to end dinner with a Pindar Duck Walk Vineyards 2006 Blueberry Port served with chocolate.
I'm looking forward to a delightful Thanksgiving with Mary's fantastic meal and a grand choice of delicious and perfectly paired wines. Let me know your thoughts on Thanksgiving wine pairing.
Bob
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