November 2008 Wine Club Selections

The Global Pinot Family of Wines At this time last year, we used November as a time for our Wine Club to explore the branches of the Pinot Family (Noir, Gris/Grigio, and Blanc) that had struck root in the USA. Forgive us for doing this on an election year, but this time around it seemed fitting to spread out a bit. Undeniably, some of the best Pinot grapes are grown in the US, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, and several of those are represented here. But to spend a month with this family of wines and not venture to the equally stellar growing regions of New Zealand, Alsace and Burgundy seemed a missed opportunity. (When it comes to drinking good wine, we never want you to miss an opportunity.) The Pinot family of grapes began with Pinot Noir and mutated to include a variety of colors and flavor characteristics, but they all have one very important thing in common. Pinot grapes are rather finicky, delicate, temperamental grapes to grow. So every region, and more importantly every producer that grows them, needs to do everything just right. Whether the Pinot gracing your table hails from Burgundy or Central Otago, Willamette Valley or Alsace, we hope you enjoy every sip of this "go perfect or go home" family of grapes.

2007 Mercer Pinot Gris Grape variety: Pinot Gris Region: Columbia Valley, Washington Food pairing: Onion tart For a winery that produced its inaugural vintage in 2007, Mercer certainly has some winemaking expertise under their belts. The winery is a joint project between two rather prominent winemaking families: the Mercers and the Hogues. Winemaker David Forsyth spent 23 years perfecting his craft at Hogue Cellars before taking on the Mercer Estates project. This Pinot Gris, born of a small crop in a warm growing season for Washington, was one of the first wines to pass through the brand new winemaking facility. The grapes were sourced from three vineyards (one in Yakima Valley and two in Columbia Valley) that produced their very first crop in this vintage. We call it a baby wine: first crop, first vintage for the winery produced in a brand new facility - fresh beginnings all around. And fresh is a fitting descriptor. Aromas of ripe pear and peach are backed by great acidity, making this a delightfully crisp and well-balanced autumn white 2006 Wallflower Pinot Noir Grape variety: Pinot Noir Region: Central Coast, California Food pairing: Eggplant gratin It all happened one afternoon when Gary and his team were tasting through some wine samples with a California supplier. We must have tasted through two to three dozen wines that day, none of them really striking our palates just right. We were just about to call it quits when we noticed a few unopened bottles pushed back in a corner. Nobody had tried them because the label was rather uninspiring: a disappointment, our supplier said, because the wine hailed from some great vineyard sources in California's Central Coast and had terrific value. Little Wallflowers, waiting patiently for their turn, and almost passed by. "No harm in trying a few more," Gary said, ".. we know an artist or two who could help with the label." We tasted the wine and found fresh cherries and garden herbs on the nose, an ample amount of red fruited flavors along with spices such as cinnamon, clove and nutmeg on the palate, typical of great Pinot Noir. And the rest, as they say, is history.

2005 Domaine Barmes-Buecher Pinot Blanc Rosenberg de Wettolsheim Grape variety: Pinot Blanc Region: Alsace, France Food pairing: Country pork paté Domaine Barmes-Beucher is a classic example of Old World winemaking at its best: a small, traditional winery with little international hype but ridiculously good wines. The husband and wife team of Francois Barmes and Genevieve Buecher founded their winery in Alsace in 1985. They began farming biodynamically in 1998, using herbal treatments made of nettle, wicker, chamomile and valerian rather than weed killers and chemical fertilizers. They currently have grape vines planted in nine distinctly different "terroirs", but their best for Pinot Blanc is on the pink sandstone and clay soil of the Rosenberg vineyard. In a lovely vintage like 2005, the Pinot Blanc turns out exceptionally delicate and with a depth of flavor many don't expect from Alsatian Pinot Blanc. White fruits and a hint of nuttiness give way to refreshing acidity. Skip the light white fish and serve with white meats, rich sauces and patés. 2006 Domaine Jean Guiton Bourgogne Grape variety: Pinot Noir Region: Burgundy, France Food pairing: Beet and fennel salad The tried and the true are all well and good, but there's something particularly special about a new find. Until March of this year, none of us had ever heard of Domaine Guiton. But on a spring trip to attend a tasting in the appellation of Beaune, Burgundy, our French Wine Buyer, Jon Visser, met a young winemaker named Guillaume Guiton, son of Jean Guiton. "Couldn't have been much older than 30 years old," Jon said, "and his wines were extraordinary." What Jon was really after on this trip was a $20-25 red Burgundy that could blow the rest in that category out of the water, and Guiton's did just that. It had fresh, bright red berry fruit, and a clean, pure roundness on the finish: a slightly more modern-styled Burgundy. Jon was excited about the find...only to return to the US and find that the wine had sold out from the Domaine! The young winemaker instantly morphed into a young diplomat, moving his French allocations around to find us a few cases...just for you. We love happy endings.

2005 Domaine Huguenot Pere & Fils Marsannay Les Echezots Grape Variety: Pinot Noir Region: Marsannay, Burgundy, France Food pairing: Roast turkey w/ wild mushroom gravy At the northern end of the Cote de Nuits in Burgundy, you'll find a small appellation named Marsannay. Within Marsannay reside several young and ambitious winemakers, carrying on the "Burgundian winemaking tradition." One of these winemakers is Philippe Huguenot, one of the "Fils" in Huguenot et Fils. It's Philippe's opinion, as well as his father's from the generation before, that Marsannay is one of Burgundy's best appellations, capable of fostering complex, soundly-structured wines meant for aging in the best vintages (and 2005 certainly qualifies as a "best vintage". ) The critics at the Wine Spectator seem to agree with the young Frenchman, awarding the wine with 91 points and noting graphite and cherry aromas (with a) beam of pure cherry (that) continues through the lingering finish. Complexity. Concentration. Bright structure and fine length. Sounds like it's a keeper! Drink now if you must, but save a few years if you can. Best from 2010 through 2020. 2006 Amisfield Pinot Noir Grape variety: Pinot Noir Region: Central Otago, New Zealand Food pairing: Pork loin with cherry reduction High altitude, cool climate, long summers and clean soils. These are the basic ingredients that lend themselves to Amisfield's benchmark New Zealand Pinot Noirs. Because the grapes are given the luxury to hang out in a cool, slow-ripening environment all season long, uninterrupted by inclement weather and untainted by pollution, the resulting wine is undeniably clean, balanced, and fresh. It's everything a classic Central Otago Pinot is supposed to be: dark fruited with spicy aromas, undertones of licorice and smoke and silky tannins. If the Burgundy to the left is for ageing, this is one for drinking now, when it's at its fresh-fruited best. The wine should, however, improve for up to five years should you decide to give it a bit of time. As we're seeing more and more, Amisfeld carries New Zealand's "Sustainable Winegrowing" certification, ensuring that your wine is environmentally safeguarded now and for generations to come.

2005 Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir Grape Variety; Pinot Noir Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon Food pairing: Grilled or roasted quail What's that saying, "The proof is in the pudding?" I never really got just what that means, but I think it has something to do with needing to taste it to believe it. And such is the case with this absolutely gorgeous Pinot Noir from Domaine Serene in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. At our Annual Grand Tasting just a few weeks ago, we opened over 600 wines for ticketholders, staff and press to taste, and there was one wine I kept hearing rave reviews about all night. You guessed it: Domaine Serene Pinot Noir. How could you not love a wine with such beautiful balance between velvety berry fruit, bright acidity, and just the softest touch of sweet earthiness and pipe tobacco smoke? And how do they do it? Vineyard Manager Joel Myers says it's all in the diversity: diversity of clones, rootstocks, microclimates, slope and elevation. The grapes for this Reserve bottling are sourced from seven different vineyards in the Dundee Hills and Eola appellations of the Willamette Valley, each with its own distinct slopes and microclimate, and within these vineyards three different clones (Pommard, Wadenswil, and Dijon for those who pay attention to such specifics) are utilized. Once those grapes are grown, it's all about selection: keeping those yields low so that every grape is distinctly flavor-packed and treated with kid gloves. And the proof, I like to say, is in the Pinot. 2006 Domaine Joseph Voillot Volnay 1er Cru Les Fremiets Grape variety: Pinot Noir Region: Volnay, Burgundy, France Food pairing: Pan-roasted salmon with blood orange zest and reduction In Burgundy, the best vineyards are part of a very intricate and complicated hierarchy of classifications. Premier Cru vineyards account for only 11% of the entire wine production in Burgundy, and thus are second only to Grand Crus in prestige. Volnay is a commune within the Cote de Beaune, and is known for producing heady, perfumed, and delicately textured Pinot Noir. Within Volnay there are 26 vineyards that qualify as Premier Crus, one of them being the venerable Les Fremiets vineyard, from which Domaine Joseph Voillot sources this stunning wine. Though the 2006 vintage has not been out long enough for review yet, The Wine Advocate critic David Schildknecht spoke about winemaker Jean-Pierre Charlot in his review of the 2005 vintage, commenting, "(He) promotes a brisk, aesthetically lean and often downright rapier style on which opinions are bound to diverge. If it sets you salivating to imagine the brightness, transparency and cut of a Riesling in the medium of Pinot Noir...then do not miss this address!"