Pinot Noirs ain’t just for movie buffs, and here’s a lucious list of the best

Hey, it’s not that I’ve been brainwashed by Sideways — I really just like the welcoming taste and body of Pinot Noir. And maybe you do, too.

So, aficionados: a don’t-miss piece by Food&Wine’s Ray Isle with four “star selections,” including a 2006 Innocent Bystander Pinot Noir for $20.

Sure, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon still dominate sales. But, as Isle says:

Pinot is undeniably America’s hot grape of the moment. Its sales have risen more than 20 percent a year for the past few years, and most top sommeliers sing its praises as a partner for food.

Bonus: Isle sipped 147 Pinot Noirs to come up with a longer list of 30 that serve up “complex, intense aromas; textures that are somehow both firm and weightless; and flavors that seem to effortlessly balance the fruity (raspberries, cherries, strawberries) with the savory (earth, mushrooms, pepper).”

Want to find a perfectly priced bottle of wine? Give the Smarter Wine Search a try.

‘Turkey wine’ and other Thanksgiving wine bargains to the rescue

Good news and bad news about Thanksgiving.

The good news: such a wide variety of delicious things to eat. 

The bad: such a wide variety of delicious things to eat — which can make pairing the right wine enough to give you mental indigestion.

But don’t despair.

Wine tasters around the nation are graciously coming to the rescue (tough work, but somebody’s got to do it).

Like white?

If you’re thinking of going with a white, for example, an eclectic  cast of tasters in Nashville — including reps of wine distributors, a wine collector, a sommelier and food columnist — came up with a tasty bunch of recommendations while chowing down with turkey, dressing, gravy and cranberry sauce to assure mouth-watering harmony.

Some of their selections fit nicely within the Wine News Review fairly frugal affordability index, or at least the holiday version of it.

Among their selections, Gewürztraminer, aka “turkey wine” because it goes so well with the main dish. One stood out:

2006 Covey Run ($8.99) serves up a “delightful aroma of cooked cling peaches, white pepper and floral notes.” It was the tasters’ favorite: “The wine withstood competing tastes and was not as sweet as the others.”

Second was a 2006 Columbia Winery Cellarmaster’s Riesling ($13.99) — tasters agreed that its “fruit and perfume ‘rocked’ with the multi-flavored meal.”

Versatile Pinot

Stacy Slinkard, wine guide at About.com, offers a list of 10 Thanksgiving wine suggestions, nine of which are $10 or under.

Her number one recommendation is a California Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay 2005, ($10), finding it a “delicious compilation of fruit and smoke, full-bodied and balanced.”

She also cites a few reds, including another Californian, a Rex Goliath Pinot Noir, ($9), which she finds supple and versatile enough “to go with everything from hors d’oeuvres to the main dish.”

To start off the festivities with some bubbly cheer, she suggests a Korbel Champagne Brut ($10), “a champagne stand by that is perfect for party goers.”

Don’t worry, be happy

While acknowledging the banquet-sized range of flavors to be found on a Thanksgiving table, Peter M. Gianotti at Long Island’s Newsday, takes a don’t-worry-be-happy approach: ” … drink what you like, whether it’s apple cider, brown ale or bourbon.”

But if wine is your Thanksgiving drink of choice, he recommends a diverse collection of whites and reds, including a nicely priced, “berry-driven” 2006 Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Pinot Noir ($14).

Speaking of nicely priced, he suggests a couple Italian Proseccos for the celebratory sparkling wine selection: La Vendemmia ($10), Lunetta ($13).

Of course, there are many other wine tasters standing graciously by to take the wine anxiety out of Thanksgiving. Stay tuned to Wine News Review in coming days for more of their suggestions.

Tip: Print out this list, and for that matter the lists from the links above, when you head to your local wine shop. If none is available, ask the salesperson to recommend something similar, and similarly priced.

Five tips from the ‘Ultimate Guide’ to Thanksgiving wine

Among the many things for which we should give thanks is that we don’t have to stumble around a wine shop wondering what wine would go well with Thanksgiving dinner.

But excuse me — did I say wine, singular?

If there was ever an occasion to have more than one wine at a meal, this is it.

Take it from wine diva Natalie MacLean, author of the bestselling book “Red, White and Drunk All Over,” who serves up an “Ultimate Guide” to choosing Thanksgiving wines, plural.

Among her tips (with my links to varietal backgrounders):

  • For starters, think bubbly. Not only does a sparkling wine complement soups or salads, it’s a festive way to kill some time while the turkey’s roasting.
  • Look for a “mouth-watering” wine to pair with the dry-textured turkey meat, say a crisp Riesling or Pinot Grigio. But then again the fruity flavors of Pinot Noir, Beaujolais and Zinfandel would go well, too.
  • Given the assortment of side dishes in the typical Thanksgiving banquet, there’s no need to choose between the reds and whites — you can offer both.
  • A “big, buttery” Chardonnay from California or Chile would suit the roasted, smoky flavors of squash, chestnuts and pecan stuffing, while a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc would provide a crisp contrast to cream sauces’ richness.
  • “End on a sweet note,” like a late-harvest wine or ice wine

Her number one recommendation for a Thanksgiving wine? A Pinot Noir from her current list of picks, she suggested in a recent e-mail message. Depending on your budget:

  • 2001 J. Labet & N. Déchelette Château De La Tour Clos-Vougeot Grand Cru 2001 Ac, Grand Cru, France – Burgundy:
    “Exotic aromas of earth, lovely sour cherries, beets (it’s a good thing) and a certain je ne sais quois pas.” $129.95
  • 2005 Maison Champy Bourgogne Signature Pinot Noir AC, France – Burgundy:
    With raspberry, cherry-drop and beetroot scents, a “staggering value” from a respected producer. $18.95

There’s a cornucopia of wine experts decanting advice about Thanksgiving wines. Stay tuned to Wine News Review in the days ahead for more of their recommendations and picks.

 

Latest Web wine buzz — from Spanish excellence to Bordeaux bargains

Tune in to what top wine bloggers and experts are decanting into cyberspace with handpicked highlights of their latest and greatest, ranging from “emerging excellence” from Spain and an un-frugal selection for the wine-lover in your life to Bordeaux strategies and South American bargains.


“Emerging excellence” is the theme of the latest column by Michael Franz at Wine Review Online — and decent prices might be a sub-theme — for what he calls remarkable wines from three Spanish areas.

Thirteen wines are listed, ranging from $12 to $30, and most are seen as terrific values, “balanced and packed with deep, satisfying flavors.”

There’s little doubt that Spain, of all the countries in Europe, is sending us the best bargains in red wine … The only bad news to be reported is that availability in North America is spotty from market to market … So, you may need to do a bit of searching to try these wines, but I believe they are well worth the search.


Warning: Utterly forget the Wine News Review fairly frugal affordability index with this item.

For Dorothy J. Gaiter And John Brecher at The Wall Street Journal, it’s that pre-holiday time of year when they like to recommend “one break-the-bank, you-shouldn’t-have bottle for the wine-lover in your life.”

This time around it’s the “lusty” Penfolds Grange, made from Shiraz and occasionally some Cabernet Sauvignon. They tasted 10 vintages, going back to 1971, and were blown away.

We have been writing this column for almost a decade now and have been drinking and studying wine for 35 years, but we have never had such a consistently exciting tasting. We expected to enjoy these wines, but we never would have guessed that five of the 10 wines would rate Delicious or higher.


Even the cost of Grange seems incredibly modest compared with Bordeaux prices, which as Joseph Ward at The Washington Post observes, have “gone mad.” Like, $8,000 for a case of wine?!

The good news is that Bordeaux lovers can continue to drink Bordeaux, and not go bankrupt — “with some adjustments.” Ward highlights five Bordeaux finds ranging from $20 to $120 dollars.

And he offers several strategies to help you latch on to other relatively affordable bottles, including:

Look for undervalued great wines from earlier vintages — another reason you’ll need a good wine merchant, although the Internet is useful, too. An outstanding vintage for the mainly cabernet-sauvignon wines of the M-doc is 1996, while 1998 favored the merlot communes of St. Emilion and Pomerol. High 2005 prices have put pressure on those earlier vintages, but there are still relative bargains. And those wines have several years of bottle age and are either close to or at their peak, so it won’t be long before you can realize a delectable return on your investment.


For more down-to-earth bargains, turn to Food & Wine, where Ray Isle serves up the “17 best values” from Chile and Argentina.

Isle starts us off with a little history lesson: Did you know that when the first Thanksgiving was being celebrated in Plymouth Colony in 1621, grapes had been cultivated in those two South American countries for nearly 75 years?

Not all of their wines today may be remarkable, “or even good,” Isle says, but “best bottlings” like those listed in this article, ranging from $9 to $20, are extraordinary buys that could easily grace a modern-day Thanksgiving table. A nice primer:

From Chile, look for crisp, citrusy Sauvignon Blanc from the Casablanca and San Antonio valleys, both located close to the Pacific Ocean, and reds made from Carmenère, a distinctively spicy French grape abundant in Chilean vineyards. In Argentina, the Salta province is known for Torrontés, a native grape variety with a distinctive, floral aroma that makes some of the country’s most interesting whites. But Malbec from Mendoza is unquestionably the country’s marquee variety—its rich blueberry and blackberry flavors, light smokiness and soft tannins lead to immensely appealing red wines.


Switching continents, Roger Voss at Wine Enthusiast tells us to prepare for another surprise from Austria.

That is, don’t just think of whites such as Grüner Veltliner and Rieslings when it comes to Austrian wines, because producers have been busily upgrading their red wine-making techniques.

Ten notable red-wine producers are spotlighted. But, as Voss explains, not all is rosy, at least from a pocketbook perspective:

There is, sadly, a downside to these deliciously fruity, sometimes complex, serious wines: price. High local demand has meant that for us—especially with the weak dollar—these wines are not cheap. The norm is $25 and up, although there are some wines under $20.

But it is worth seeking out a selection of the best (see sidebar). Austria has not yet reached the world league for its reds, as it has for its whites. But the producers are moving fast. Ten years ago, this article could not have been written.

Going green and liking it — organic wines grow in popularity, quality

Meinklang vineyard scenes
Meinklang vineyard scenes

Let’s be frank about this – the reason we drink wine isn’t just for what wine literati might call the lush aromas and fruity complexities.

Sure, those things are a big part of it. But the main reason I like wine is that it makes me feel good.

At lunch this past Friday, I discovered how to get an even better feeling out of it. I ordered an organic wine.

Knowing that the wine came from an earth-friendly vineyard somehow made it even more pleasurable.

Maybe it was because on that same day the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for a green cause. Or maybe it was my body subtly telling me something on a deep level.

The wine was a 2006 Meinklang Pinot Noir from Austria, fuller and more darkly aromatic than most other Pinot Noirs I’ve had. My lunch companion seemed surprised and pleased by a Zinfandel richness.

The wine is made by the extended Michlits family on a mixed-agriculture farm using biodynamic principles, in the belief that “vital and robust grapes thriving in healthy, living soil bring exceptional wines of character.”

Biodynamic winegrowing techniques are free of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. There’s admittedly also a strange mystical quality to some of the practices that followers say are aimed at promoting harmony with nature, like the one that calls for burying a cow horn filled with dung under the vineyard soil.

“Yet before you consign practitioners of biodynamics to the distant corner of your mind reserved for Shirley MacLaine and the weird sisters in ‘Macbeth,’ consider that among the people who practice biodynamic viticulture are some of the world’s great wine producers,” Eric Asimov observed in The New York Times a few years ago.

Not all organic wines are biodynamic. For that matter, not all U.S. wines made with organically grown grapes can be labeled “organic” if there’s been any sulfites added as a preservative, as this San Francisco Chronicle article explains in some detail.

In part because of those stringent labeling requirements, organic wines are still in the minority on wine store shelves in this country, but they have been steadily improving in quality even as they grow more popular and winemakers become more adept at organic methods.

“These eco-friendly wines, in many cases, have moved beyond their funky past,” according to this review by The Wall Street Journal’s Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher. “They’re worth discovering.” Four of the dozen wines they describe in the article were under $15 when they bought them last year.

“Tides are certainly turning as more vintners are discovering that the common-sense approach to both organic and biodynamic growing methods results in not only ‘healthier’ vines, but in wines with greater flavor, more distinct terroir character and at times a noticeable cost-savings on their bottom line,” adds Stacy Slinkard, wine guide at About.com.

In the Cooking Up A Story video below, Dr. Robert Gross of Cooper Mountain Vineyards in Oregon gives a nicely illuminating account of why he runs an entirely organic operation.



Click here if your RSS feed doesn’t display this video.

While doing research for this article, I ran across a Bon Appétit piece from earlier this year that offered as good an explanation as any on why that Meinklang Pinot Noir seemed so extra good to me. The explanation came from Mike Benziger of Sonoma’s Benziger Family Winery.

“We’ve become so disconnected from the environment,” Benziger said. “When we taste a biodynamic wine, we’re able to make that connection back to nature, if only for an instant. And that’s powerful.”

It only seems right. The earth gives us this great gift. We should give something in return.