December 25,
2005 Silvan Ridge Pinot Noir 2000 Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and soon, Happy New Year! In our house, we had a very nice Christmas, and our Christmas dinner was a spiral cut ham from a mail order place in Bangor, Maine called W.A. Bean & Sons. It was wonderful. We invited a neighbor family to join us and we had a great meal together. For wine, I chose Pinot Noir from Oregon. Like Miles in the movie Sideways, I really like Pinot Noir wines. Unlike Miles, I don't like California Pinot Noir, which is often way too fruit forward for my tastes. It works great in Zinfandel, and the Cabernet is unbelievable, but Pinot is too nuanced for that kind of treatment. I opened two bottles for the eight people at the table. Both were decanted for at least an hour prior to dinner. The first wine served was Elk Cove La Boheme Pinot Noir from Gaston, Oregon. It was from 2003 and was 14.5% alcohol. I had expected this to be the better of the two bottles, and it was indeed excellent. The fruit flavor developed and changed while it was in the mouth, and it had a long finish. I tasted cherry, leather, and plum flavors, but they were subtle and developed over time. Midway during the meal I poured the second wine. This was a Silvan Ridge 2000 Oregon Pinot Noir from Eugene, Oregon. This wine was 13.2% alcohol, and was even better than the first, in my opinion. There were flavors of raspberry, cherry, plum, and some subtle spices I couldn't quite identify. But boy oh boy was it good. It was a nice match with the ham. Gaston, Oregon is southwest of Portland, and Eugene is about 100 miles south of Portland. This region is known for producing excellent Pinot Noir. Some say it is similar to the climate and soil of Burgundy, but producers here make some terrific wine. The winemaking tradition in Oregon is only about 30 years old, but they have really established themselves. My beautiful wife gave me a wine aroma wheel for Christmas. This is a chart that helps tasters identify wine flavors. There are three concentric circles, with more generic descriptions ("Fruity") on the inner ring, followed by a more specific description ("Berry"), and on the outermost ring a more specific flavor ("Raspberry"). There are 12 descriptors in the inner ring, 27 flavors in the middle ring, and 77 flavors in the outer ring. I'm looking forward to more wine discussions at the dinner table in 2006! On New Years, we are getting together with some friends and tasting sparkling wines. I'll let you know! |
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